Student collects used clothes to sell in Ghana
■ >— ■
SCOTT MIlfcR. NORT* TfcXA$ ; A L v U Of NORTH XA
Akwasi Botang collected 16.000 articles of used clothing to sell in Ghana. West Africa.
By Leslie Huehoit
■ The North Texas Daily
U. of North Texas
A L of North 'Texas graduate student
has purchased 16,000 articles of used
clothing to sell in Africa
Akwasi Botang will he on his wav
home to Ghana, West Africa, to accom
plish his mission of selling clothing in an
impoverished country.
For more than a year. Botang visited
garage sales and searched for unclaimed
clothes m laundromats Botang’s find
ings have left him with enough clothing
to make a difference in a place that is
close to his heart
"I've been thinking about doing this for
a long time because when 1 first came
here an 1983), I noticed an abundance
of waste I grew up in a society where
there was so much poverty Here, people
throw away usable stuff on a daily basis
“Incomes are low m Africa and mans
people can't afford to pay even $15 for a
pair of jeans," Botang said
"I saw what Goodwill stores were
doing Goodw ill is a multimilhon dollar
industry and it survives on used cloth
ing 1 figured inexpensive jeans would
make it big m the African market,'
Botang said.
Botang's clothing collection consists
primarily of blue jeans, he said “I think
there’s a market for jeans everywhere. A
friend of mine goes all over Texas and
gathers large amounts of jeans (3,000
pairs) for me.”
Botang said he hopes to return to West
Africa this summer with five or It) times
as many articles of clothing as he has
right now He said his luck m finding
inexpensive deals and contributions
should improve during the summer
“Spring and summer are the best
times to go to garage sales because the
weather is good and people like to clean
and get rid of old clothes during these
times," HoLang said
Hotting has received several loans that
help him maintain his business and
transport the cargo to Africa, he said
“I borrow here and there and my stu
dent loan helps 1 don't even know how
I’m going to pay my rent next month
because I put everything into the busi
ness I'm a student and I have little sav
mgs.”
Transportation of the clothing is the
most expensive part of Botang's busi
ness.
"It costs about $4,000 to ship the
clothes to Africa I’m paying an average
of 22 cents to ship each pair of jeans "
THIS
IS
NOT
MARKER.
Work Abroad
Continued from page 12
Britian" program is co-sponsored by
British Universities North America
Club and the exchange.
Northern Arizona U freshman
Kerry Ann Chapely discovered the
BUNAC program when she was
searching for a job overseas. She was
primarily interested in living and
working in England
“1 looked into a lot of different oppor
tunities before I decided on the BUNAC
program." she said
After working in Northern England
from July to December 1988, Chapely
said, “You experience a whole different
perspective by actually living and work
mg there than vou do iust travel’
in Lii^milU, w pt/tii as ii^i
much as a British worker would for per
forming the same task
A former Michigan State geography
major, Ann Callanan, went to London
last June for six months through the
Council on International Educational
Exchange and found a job in two days
Students should obtain passports in
advance because they sometimes take
as long as eight weeks to process.
Council Travel, a travel division of the
exchange, helps students obtain 1 I),
cards, airline tickets and reservations
Student 1.1) cards provide additional
discounts.
"My I D card came in handy,”
Callanan said “Especially in Ireland
and Italy. I used it for discounts on my
ll
rm' • 1
ticket 11
.lent and fens
Chapley worked in Northern
England, a depressed area. Most people
who worked in London made two to
three times more money
To apply for work in countries where
English is not the primary language,
proof of language proficiency must be
demonstrated before students are
admitted to the program The process
usually takes three weeks
Each country has specific time periods
in which work visas may be issued: West
Germany, Costa Rica and Jamaica
begin June 1. New Zealand begins its
program in the spring All four coun
tries’ work visas expire October 1
In Great Britain, students can work for
six months at any time during the year.
But It
Applies
Vivid
Color.
Cowpatties
Continued from page 12
run lights, milking machines and motors
costs $400 to $500 per month.
Lehman estimated the process will
save Mason approximately $30 per
month.
While the biogas helps shrink energy
bills, another product of the process
helps grow plants.
The sludge left after the biogas has
been siphoned off can be further separat
ed into a liquid and a solid
The liquid part of the sludge is a high
grade fertilizer, which Lehman said is
actually better than raw manure
Changes occur during the breakdown
which make the nutrients in the liquid
sludge more available to plants
The solid part of the sludge is a rich
foamy material that can be used for ani
mal bedding or potting soil.
Lehman said that since the solid still
has some nutritional value, it can also lx*
used as a feed supplement for the cows
Although this may not sound very
appetizing, the cows don't seem to be
offended by the broken-down manure.
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