Every year, people in the West donate tons of used clothes to poor countries. But a large part of the clothes is in such poor condition that they end up directly in the dump or are thrown in nature.
At the Katmandu market in Ghana’s capital Accra, clothes that has been donated from all over the world are sold at the free market!
It is a common misconception that all donated clothes are donated to poor people. Most charities charge a fee when the clothes arrive here in Ghana, later they are sold per kilo!
Many of the clothes are sorted out even before they come to the market. It’s about so-called fast fashion garments that do not last for more than a couple of washes. An estimated 40 percent end up in the landfill. Behind the market, the fires are constantly burning. These are the clothes that no one wants to buy.
“It was better quality before, but now a lot of the clothes are in very poor condition. We throw them away and burn them”, a saleswoman has told me when contacting me, here at Windmush.com
The dumps are full and it’s almost just clothes. It has become a huge environmental problem, as much of the clothes end up dumped in the sea, for the lack of space.
Several African countries have wanted to ban the import of second-hand clothes because it knocks out the domestic textile industry. But in Ghana, thousands of people live on the sale of second-hand clothes.
An estimated 15 million garments come to Ghana every week. This is a lot considering that the population is just over 30 million.
“We don’t want to be drown in bad clothes; it is not the case that we want the West to stop donating. But please, dump your stained and broken clothes somewhere else.” The saleswoman that I learned know, told me.
Unfortunately, the donating of money is even a bigger problem!
In time of crisis, we are told by ads in many types of media, or even by our government, to donate cash to an organization. The sad true are that only 10-15 % of the donated capital will reach its meant destination costs! The other part (85-90%) is “overhead costs”, like commissions and payments to “free workers”.
Donating has become a big business!
Thank you for reading,
Windmush/Curt, 12-04-2022