A Visit to the Rcycling Plant at Hegstadmoen

12/05/2016
Today the Ghanaian delegation from Akosombo to Trondheim paid a visit to the Hegstadmoen Waste Recycling Plant. They were given a tour of the facility by the Operations Manager as well as the Managing Director. The Ghanaian delegation was the various fractions of the plant and taken through the whole process of waste management with respect to the city of Trondheim. The company in charge of the recycling plant also offered to provide assistance to the city of Akososmbo in order to umprove the waste management system there. The Mayor of Akosombo was very grateful for this. It was a very educational tour and there were a lot of lessons learnt which the Ghanaian delegation intends to take back home.

The tour begins.

MoU on Sustainable Cities between Akosombo and Trondheim.

The Mayor of Akosombo and the Deputy Mayor of Trondheim have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the aim of implementing the Eco-school program in all schools also in Akosombo, and to further develop the collaboration between the two communities towards meeting the global sustainable goals locally and beyond. Other parties in this relationship are the Akosombo International School and the Byaasen Skole as well as the Eco-school coordinator in Trondheim, Mr Gronn Barneby.
The Ghanaian delegation also honoured Mr Gerard Dahlen, the Director for International Relations, Trondheim and Mrs Hilde Opoku, the Deputy Mayor of Trondheim for their immense contributions and commitment towards building the relationship between the two cities and helping to develop the  program in Akosombo.

The signatories after signing the MoU.

Without the Bees We Have No Food - the Beehive Project in Eco-Schools

The Ghanaian delegation from Akosombo Int. School today visited the beehive on the rooftop of the Byaasen Skole. Thye beehive is managed by a beekeeper called Sigrid . She not only gave the teachers and students of Akosombo Int. School a tour of the beehive but she also gave them a really insightful presentation on bees, their importance to our daily lives and the beehive project which she is currently undertaking. She is not only managing the beehive project at the Byaasen Skole but also at a number of schools all over Trondheim.

New Garden at Byaasen Skole

13/05/2016
The Byaasen Skole began to recreate its school garden today together with the students and teachers of the Akosombo International School. The school used to have a garden which had to be destroyed because of a building project. Today however, the school planted some potatoes to start their new garden with help from their Ghanaian friends. Two trees were also planted symbolising the relationship between the cities of Trondheim and Akosombo, as well as the Byaasen Sole and the Akosombo International School respectively. The Mayor of Akosombo, Mr Edward Ofori and the Deputy Mayor of Trondheim Mrs Hilde Opoku were also present to mark the symbolic occasion.

Teachers and students of Akosombo International School and Byaasen Skole ready to start planting in the new school garden at Byaasen Skole.

Presentation on Fairtrade Farms in Ghana to Inspire Byaasen Fairtrade School.

There was a really insightful presentation by Master Emmanuel Blay on the Fairtrade Organic Banana farms in Ghana. He explained the systems that the organic farm uses to produce bananas for exportation to other parts of the world like South AFrica and Europe.More so, he also explained how the usage of the premium money from the traide is democratically decided by the workers on the farm. Representatives from Trondheim has several times visited their farm in Ghana, and in 2013 the school delegation with principal Wenche Kjellby nesset was there. Imidiately they came home they started the work of becoming a Fairtrade school. The same year they met the criterias and became the 2nd Fairtrade basic-school in Trondheim and Norway. This time Emmanuel Blay is updating the staff at Byaasen school on the developments at the farm.

Master Emmanuel Blay with his presentation.

Beach-cleaning in Trondheim.

Marine life across our common seas are treathened by the increasing amount of waste, plastic waste in particular, filling the oceans. It is crucial that we prevent the waste from entering the water. Today we therefore participated in a beach cleaning exercise at the Korsvika beach in Lade, Trondheim. With the purpose of increasing the awareness of the problem. It was an interesting experience and we got to learn a lot from some divers about what they do and what they find. There was also some really delicious sea food made from some blue shells and vegetables. That was a lovely meal prepared by some really great chefs at the beach. The most fulfilling part was being able to get rid of some of the micro plastics at the beach which usually cause a lot of damage to the aquatic life and the birds around the beach.

Students from Akosombo participating in the beach-cleaning exercise.

THE OPENING CEREMONY - A COLOURFUL DAY.

Today the formal visit of our Eco-School visit to Trondheim Norway started. It has been a memorabel day with big smiles and cultural exchange. Here you can read more about what met us: