Since its inception, WIG has successfully implemented over 40 environmental and waste management projects across the country. Our flagship endeavors are in the fields of plastic recycling and fire briquette production. In plastic waste recycling, we provide skills training on turning plastic waste into plastic craft and training on the commercialization of recycled plastic waste products (entrepreneurship, record keeping, marketing, group management, and customer service).

In briquette production we train people in creating alternative cooking fuels from discarded groundnut and coconut shells, mango leaves, dried grass, and other organic waste to replace traditional charcoal briquetting—which causes deforestation and air pollution—and  training on resource mobilization.

We also have a wide variety of other programs including school gardening, nutrition, and agroforestry/agriculture and bee-keeping. All of these projects work to improve underserved Gambians’ quality of life while reducing waste and improving environmental outcomes.

PROJECT OUTCOMES

In WIG’s years of existence, we have numerous successful outcomes of our work. We highlight some of them:

•       Increased Personal Incomes: Individual women make money that they then use for buying children’s clothes, education and improved nutrition. (Njau Community is one such example among numerous ones).
•       Financial Empowerment of Women, youth and the disabled: Our collaborators make and control money and then gain experience in making decisions for their family.
•       Community Empowerment of Women, youth and the disabled: Increased participation of women, youth and the disabled in decision-making at the village community development level shifts traditional power equations and creates new roles and strategies moving forwards;
•       Increased self-esteem and cooperation among the village community; 
•       Modeling a new and empowered lifestyle for the next generation of women, youth and the disabled; and
•       Sustainable income generation for which women, youth and the disabled have ownership. They are learning to help themselves g{“type”:”block”,”srcClientIds”:[“6a72359c-a5a1-4d53-9c4b-e5ceb9167fba”,”ca4938fd-a5f9-41a5-9f7a-cd7a8d370895″],”srcRootClientId”:””}row and be accountable for their own success.