Hello from Watamu!

This weekend on Saturday 26^th of January 2019, Watamu will receive the Flipiflopi dhow as it sails from Lamu to Zanzibar.  The dhow has been made  from plastic and flipflop waste and it is on a mission to raise awareness on the threats of plastic in our ocean – a worthy mission indeed!

It is an important day not just for the ocean but also for the Watamu community whose role in ridding our beaches off plastics and flipflops is a daily activity.  For some of the community groups it is an opportunity to see the results of some of the plastic and flipflops they collected on the beach and what it has been made into.  LOC and groups in Watamu and Jacaranda had the opportunity to coordinate and collect plastics and flipflops for to be used in this ingenious idea of building the boat.

A big shout out to our community groups and individuals who spent months picking up beach plastics for LOC, so we could supply Regeneration Africa who made all the plastic components for the Flipiflopi dhow. And congrats to TheFlipFlopi team for turning the FlipFlopi dhouw into reality!

An amazing job all round! Many people in our local communities regularly pick up ocean plastics from our beaches with little fanfare or acknowledgement. We’d like to take this opportunity again to give them huge credit. Asanteni!

In Watamu the amount of rubbish washed ashore is an eyesore for many who depend on the beach and Ocean for their livelihoods.  As a turtle nesting site, the rubbish on the beach disturbs the sea turtle as she digs to find a suitable place to lay her eggs.  We fully share the message carried by the flipflopi boat as it sails through our village.

The LOC team wish theFlipFlopi  bon voyage!