Isatou Ceesay
Although forced to drop out of school at a young age, Isatou Ceesay seldom lets anything stop her from learning or taking action. She has worked for the U.S. Peace Corps office in the Gambia, the Swedish organization Future in Our Hands, and as a consultant for development organizations. Her project, the Recycling Centre of N’Jau, which she began in 1997 in her home village in Northern Gambia, is still thriving today. The picture book ‘One Plastic Bag’ that she and Miranda Paul collaborated on, chronicles the story of that project. In 2012, she was awarded a TIAW “Difference Maker” award in Washington, DC. Isatou is known as the ‘Queen of Recycling’ and hopes her story will inspire others to join her cause or be a changemaker in their own communities.