Ghana: From a rubbish dump to a craftsmen's village

The Cosmos Centre, a therapeutic education facility in Dormaa, in western Ghana, has been in existence for over 20 years. Here, 22 children and young people with severe disabilities - only one of them can walk independently - are currently cared for and taught. They receive three warm, healthy meals a day, which are prepared by the Mmas living at the centre and a cook. The team of colleagues, consisting of the teacher Ayala, the manager Owuso, the Mmas and the support teacher Patrice Reinhardt from Aachen, have wished for some time that the "big ones" in the Cosmos Centre could pursue a meaningful occupation and, for example, work as craftsmen in their own workshops. Until now, the centre lacked the space for this, but now - via some detours - the property directly opposite could be acquired.

For many years, the area opposite the Cosmos Centre has been used as a rubbish dump. This was not only an unsightly sight. It was also feared that the rubbish could contaminate the groundwater. The Cosmos Centre draws its water, and thus its drinking water, from its own well. So, the idea was to buy the land, remove the rubbish and build the planned craftsmen's village there. In Ghana, all important decisions are made by the official, democratically-elected government, together with the traditional leader, whose structure is based on the organisational system of the pre-colonial Ashanti Empire. At the local level, in the case of the Cosmos Centre, this means that, in addition to the municipality, the Omanhene of the Dormaa district also had to agree to the transfer of the land. However, after an initial discussion, the latter refused on the grounds that he wanted to build something for the general public on the land. In a second conversation, however, he could be convinced that the Cosmos Centre workshops were providing a service to the community, and so he gave them half of the land, which he had already largely cleared of rubbish.

The Cosmos team was also able to negotiate with the municipality that the dumpster around which the landfill was originally built is now emptied daily, so that residents can continue to dispose of their rubbish in the usual place.

"As soon as the rubbish is gone and new soil has been piled up, things can start. We are already thinking about which professions would be a good fit for our young people, and how construction can be done," Patrice Reinhardt reports enthusiastically in an email to us. The expansion will allow the Cosmos Centre to accommodate more children in the future. Donations are urgently needed for the construction of the new buildings and the additional staff who are needed to look after the children and young people.