E-Waste Show Me What You're Made Of

'Today on Show Me What You're Made Of,

our kids are in Africa, at its toughest.'

-OK?

-No, I don't want to do this.

'Facing the biggest challenge we've ever had.'

-Do people live here?

-Yes, people live here.

'Working on a toxic waste dump where our technology can end up.'

I don't think this is living, I think this is staying alive.

'Can our kids take the pressure?'

This is hot.

'And it's not just our gadgets we throw away

'that end up here.'

'Can the team get to grips with tonnes of second hand shoes?'

Urgh! They're mouldy!

'And what happens when it all becomes overwhelming?'

-Tell me, talk to me.

-I just don't understand.

'Our five kids are...

'Emily the rebel.

I get into trouble daily.

'Fancy pants, Rob.

I've got a lot clothes.

'Style queen, Jasmine.'

I am a trendsetter, hey!

'Canny Kathryn.'

I prefer spending other people's money, usually my mum's money.

'And techno-mad Ed.'

If I put all my gadgets together I think they'll be worth over £9,000.

'We've left the Ghanaian countryside

'and are headed 70km south, to the big city.

Today we're in Ghana's crazy capital, Accra,

and this is the famous Kantamanto Market.

You can come here to get anything, really.

It's so smelly.

Today our five are going to be working

in the second-hand shoe business,

where they are going to have to get really stuck in.

-What?

-Second-hand shoes?

-SHE LAUGHS

-Bleurgh.

-That's disgusting.

So shall we go meet our boss, go see what the plan is?

-Yeah.

-Come follow me. This way.

'Have you ever wondered where your old clothes,

'gadgets and, even your old trainers, end up?

'Well, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of them are sent here

'every year, after we finish with them in Europe,

'and thousands of people make a living from them.

'Like the workers in this massive warehouse,

'just one of many in Accra,

'which is full to the brim with our second-hand shoes.'

Come meet your boss. How do you do? I'm Stacey.

-I'm Kay.

-Kay, lovely to meet you.

When the shoes arrive here by the container loads,

they're all jumbled up,

so Kay's workers have to sort them out

and put them into pairs so they can be sold onto markets around Ghana.'

This is quite a sight!

Guys, did you ever imagine that used shoes from back home

would end up in a massive warehouse in Ghana?

-ALL:

-No.

-I've never seen anything quite like this before.

-Eh?

I don't imagine anyone from Britain that would do that job,

cos they would probably be like, "Garbage."

It's not rubbish to the boss, who's starting the kids

off with the job of separating men's, women's and children's shoes.

You have to work hard.

I'll show you how to separate it, yeah?

Then you work hard, OK?

And you're going to go through a thousand shoes in one hour.

It's hot in here, as well. It's very warm.

-It looks hard.

-Ready?

'To get through the thousands of shoes in the warehouse

'as fast as possible, Kay's employees work in teams,

'so that's how our kids will have to work'

You're all going to be judged as a whole on this task right?

So if one person plays up, if one person's lagging behind,

no-one is going to do well.

You'll be promoted or demoted, as a team.

I think there's a lot of pressure, cos if you don't do well, then,

the whole team won't do well.

I don't mind us all being together, we just need to really focus

and try keep as we're going, cos I think we're doing quite well.

'Rob seems to have appointed himself team leader.

Men's, men's. Pick them up off the floor.

This is confusing.

Look at the pattern on the inside, if it has one,

look at the label... Men's.

I think Rob is the closest thing to a leader, cos he's barking out

orders and stuff.

'And Rob's efforts are getting him noticed by the boss.'

Robert, you are very good, keep doing.

I really, really want to impress the boss today,

cos I really want to prove myself

in every factory we go to, so I'm top of the leaderboard type of thing.

'14-year-old Rob from Hampshire loves the limelight.'

I love being the centre of attention,

I like being the one that's being looked at,

or, I like trying to show off a bit.

'As a part-time model, it's all about appearance.

'Perfect hair, fashionable clothes and shoes for every outfit.'

I always try to keep up with the latest fashion trends and all that.

Robert appreciates things for about five minutes

and then it's the next thing,

so, as soon as he's got it, he then wants something else.

'And staying on trend isn't cheap.'

I go shopping about three times a month.

I do spend about a £100, £150 depending on how much,

or what I'm buying, really.

'I would love to be able to say

yes, I think he understands the value of things,

I think he knows the value of things,

but whether he understands them or not is a different thing.

'His parents are hoping Africa will be a wake-up call for Rob.'

He's not particularly well-travelled

and the places he does go are usually quite luxurious,

so, yeah, I think it will be a bit of an eye-opener for him.

OK, guys, come on.

Don't just chuck them here cos none of them mix with this pile.

'In Ghana, Rob might be in his element giving

'the orders out but the problem is he's got Emily on his team.'

SHE SCREAMS

It's all right, come on. Just carry on, just carry on.

'Emily's hated every task

'she's been given so far and today is no different.'

It's like all the shoes are, like, stale.

They're all, like, all smelly.

Emily, what's going on?

I'm trying my best.

Are you trying your best? I don't think you are.

What's the issue, you don't like touching the shoe?

If you want to give this a good go,

you're just going to have to get over that.

All right.

Urgh! They're mouldy! Eurgh!

There's no point in saying it's disgusting and all,

cos, at the end of the day, we have to do it as quick as we can

and it's just stopping us.

I think she's the weakest link cos she's, like,

"Urgh, shoe, it's mucky don't want to touch it."

Who would wear something like that? That is just gammy as.

Emily is not doing very well today.

Yeah very, very bad.

Very, very bad.

Fast, fast, work hard, yeah?

-SHE GASPS

-Whoops.

These piles are getting so muddled.

Some of them aren't even in the correct pile.

People are just throwing them everywhere,

they're not going in the piles, they're falling down

and making more fall down into the spaces that we've got.

Like, here, we've got women and men now mixed up.

'Once again, Emily's the main culprit.

Emily, the way you're

throwing them, you're throwing them in the wrong pile.

This is really serious.

I don't mean to go on, but if you don't do this correctly,

Kay is going to have to come and redo all your work.

'But before the others can tidy up the piles,

'Emily's carelessness gets out of hand'

Ooh!

Oh, my God, are you OK?

-Agh. You hit me in the face.

-Are you OK?

Are you OK? I'm so sorry.

Are you all right, Ed?

Yeah.

'As she was throwing it, I saw it came out and hit me

straight in the eye.

I'm all right now.

'Ed's injury is the final straw

for the boss and he calls a halt to the task.'

OK, guys you can stop.

'Will it be promotion or demotion for the team?'

Robert you have done well, cos you, you have done a good job.

Emily he was particularly disappointed with you.

'Yeah. You didn't prove yourself, you are just standing there.

But, you are a team, next time you have to improve.

To be honest, it doesn't matter too much

what you were doing individually,

cos you knew from very early on this was a group effort,

so you've all failed, you're all demoted.

How do you feel about that?

Bit gutted, but we know we have to step it up now

and we know we have to focus a lot more and work harder.

So the other four need to try and follow suit,

need to try and take a leaf from Robbie's book.

I think Rob is like Mr Perfect, he's never going to get anything wrong.

Emily, would you demote you?

I kind of feel wholly responsible for the demotion, actually.

I don't think that's fair that I let my whole team down,

just cos I was larking about.

You're so brilliant when you don't have to work,

but the minute you're put into a working environment,

you just seem not to be able to get to grips with it.

'We all got demoted and I think it was mostly my fault, wasn't it?

'Yeah.'

'Failing the task has been a massive blow for the team,

'but I hope it will make them think.'

I do worry that our kids don't yet truly understand

just how hard you have to work here in Ghana, for so little.

'I think Emily, especially, needs a reality check,

'so I'm bringing her and Jasmine to meet someone

'working in an even tougher part of the second-hand business.

'18-year-old-year old Isiah works at the city's electronic waste dump

'and lives here in one of the poorest parts of Accra.'

Hello. Isiah?

-Hello. How you do? I'm Stacey.

-Hi. Nice to meet you.

-This is your mum? Hello, Mum.

-Yes, she's called Elizabeth.

Elizabeth, can I come in?

'Although he's only a teenager, Isiah has been juggling school

and work for as long as the girls have been alive.'

You work hard, you study hard. so incredibly driven.

TRANSLATION:

When I was five years old I saw that my family was very poor.

Some of my friends would come and bring some money in,

so I asked them, where did they get that money, so they showed me.

and I said, OK I will try and do some of that work.

When you were five years old, five,

you take it upon yourself to start working to give your family money.

-Yes.

-That's phenomenal.

'After school, Isiah scavenges at the dump

for scrap metal to sell and, at best, he brings home

about 70p a day.'

So what do you want to do in the future?

TRANSLATION:

I want to be an accountant, I am now in an Accounts class.

In the future I want to be someone, I want to get a better house.

I also want to take care of my mum and dad.

My mum's work is not good enough.

She carries around a sewing machine on her head.

If your shirt is torn she will sew it for you,

Sometimes she gets no work, if she's lucky she gets five cedis.

'That's just under £1.'

You want to better yourself so you can help Mum out?

So Mum doesn't have to carry the sewing machine on her head

-every single day.

-Yes.

'Even with both Mum and Isiah's wages,

they can still only afford the most basic accommodation -

one room to live in, no running water

and the only place to cook is in the street outside.

Where do you sleep?

TRANSLATION: I sleep here, here is my bed.

This is my mum and Dad,

where they are sleeping, these are their pillows.

So we've got Mum, Dad and Isiah in the one room,

can you even imagine that?

I don't even know what to say, to be honest.

'Tell me what you're thinking?

I just feel like this...

This... I don't understand.

'With Isiah, Emily was nothing like her usual chatterbox self,

'so I take her aside to find out why.'

Yeah, in there, I just...

I felt like I had to... I couldn't show my emotions to him,

without seeming rude or upsetting him in any way.

So I kind of felt like I had to put a brave face on

and it's just... when I came out,

it's just really upset me.

What's upset you? Tell me.

I just don't understand

why he has to live like that.

All he wants to do is help his parents, really,

and all we do is get our parents to do stuff for us.

I mean it's pretty full-on, isn't it?

But that's the reason you girls are here, you know.

This is the reality. That's his life.

Don't go crying on me. I'm saying it because I care.

I don't want you lot to go home

and think I didn't do it right, you know what I mean?

Yeah, I just feel really spoilt, awful.

Well, you are a bit spoilt Emily, you are.

-I am.

-But you're a beautiful person inside deep down.

You are. I know you are.

That's why I get so frustrated cos you are so capable,

so funny, so wicked, but you can be so lazy, at times.

-My mum would say the same thing.

-Yeah, I don't doubt it.

So tomorrow, a fresh day, get up, do our teeth, get going.

-And work.

-And work.

I mean it this time.

Oh, she means it this time. Yeah.

All right, just get a wiggle on, then.

Down here. Yeah?

'Back at the hotel,

'Emily and Jasmine can't wait to tell the others

'what they've seen.'

We met this boy called Isiah,

and we went to their house and, I'm not kidding,

their house was the size of that bathroom in there.

They don't have a fridge, they don't have anything,

like, anything.

He wants to grow up one day and help support their family.

Basically, he started working when he was five.

What does he do?

He sorts out metal from electronic parts, or something.

And now we've asked if we can meet him up tomorrow.

So we're going to go there tomorrow.

And we're going to try his work job.

'I'm hoping that meeting Isiah will inspire Emily

'to put in a bigger effort tomorrow'

It's the morning of day two and we're just getting ready now

to leave our hotel.

We're going to go visit Isiah at the place he works

alongside many other kids.

It's very shocking there

and I have no idea how our kids are going to react.

'This is where we're going to be working.

'It's one of the world's largest electronic waste sites.

'If you live in Europe, when you get rid one of your old computers,

'phones or TVs, there is a good chance they could end up here.'

You guys, look!

'Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of unwanted appliances

'and gadgets are shipped to Ghana and the local people work all day

'to strip the re-usable materials from them.

'What's left over is dumped here.'

Ooh, look at all the smoke!

If I have to stand by smoke, that's not good for my asthma.

'As the old computers are stripped down here,

'they release toxic gasses into the air,

'so it's a very polluted place to work.'

I want you to meet Mike.

-ALL:

-Hello.

-Hello.

Mike is going to be our expert today.

'Mike knows the dangers of the site well

and he is going to be our guide.'

You're very welcome to Agbogbloshie, a dump site

for discarded electronic equipment,

but these things contain a wide range of chemicals that are toxic.

So that is the reason why we'll have to put on our suits.

Can I just get this straight? We're wearing suits?

Mmmhmm.

Are they like radiation suits like the big...?

Well, they look like radiation suits,

but they are basically to protect you from the pollutions.

It's really scary.

It's a bit daunting, but it's not scary if you follow

every single thing that Mike asks you to do.

Ooh.

I'm ready for action!

'Our UK safety advisor has all insisted we all wear

'these suits and breathing masks to protect us

'from the chemicals at the site, but there are hundreds of Ghanaian

'children here with no suit and no mask.'

'We're fortunate enough

'to have a whole team helping us to go down there.

'We've got a medic that's just fitted our gas masks,

it does really make you think about the kids down there

that have no protection at all.

-OK?

-No, I don't want to do this.

This is really scary.

'Emily's not fooling around anymore

'and all of us are shocked by what is around us.'

This place is absolutely unbelievable,

I've never seen anything quite like it.

'Everyone is searching for copper, aluminium and steel,

and that'll be our kids' job in a minute, too.

Have you ever wondered what happens to your unwanted computers,

cellphones, electronic gadgets, basically?

I thought they went to car-boot sales.

Is it quite shocking to think you were moaning about having to

work in the shoe warehouse? Is this a wake-up call, I guess?

I had no idea. It's like,

I don't think I'm ever going to see anything as bad as this.

Ed talk to me, what do you make of all this?

HE SIGHS

What's up?

ED STAYS SILENT

-You want to say something in a minute?

-Yeah.

I just... I don't think this is living, this is just staying alive.

Robbie, tell me what you're thinking.

I think it's a bit sad, really, that people have to go through

this every day. A bit unfair.

Oh, my God, there's cows coming towards us!

This happens to actually be their grazing grounds,

but as you can see there is no grass for them.

'And these poor cows are about the only wildlife left here.'

This river had so much fish,

but now nothing can be found in this particular river.

Do people live here?

Yes, people live here.

Why would you want to live here?

I know, I know. That's a very good question.

-That's bad!

-Yeah, that's bad.

Why would you do that?

For some of them, they really don't have a choice.

Guys, I want you to have a look at that little girl selling stuff,

with no protective clothing on.

You find a lot of young people,

six years, four years, five years having to sell here,

they do fall sick very often.

We look like idiots wearing all this protective clothing,

because, if you look around no-one is.

They're having to go around...

in flip-flops, most of them, cos they have no choice

because money here is so hard to get hold of.

Do you want to go and see if we can find Isiah?

-BOTH:

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

This is hot.

'We might be protected,

'but we are getting hotter in our suits, by the second'

I've never been this sweaty in my life.

'And it's wearing everyone down as we search the site for Isiah.'

I'm really sweaty on my chin

and I think it's going to slip off, my mask.

Isiah!

How are you doing?

Nice to see you again, we've brought the girls.

Hi.

'And just as we're about to start work ourselves,

'the heat becomes too much.'

-OK?

-Can I just like...?

-I'm sweating so much. I'm a bit light-headed.

-OK.

I can't. I just want to get back, so I can take the suit off.

'With Rob and Ed feeling light-headed,

'we have to abandon our plans

'to scavenge for metal, alongside Isiah.'

'The local kids are here all day.

'Our five haven't managed an hour.'

Oh!

I was really tired and the gas mask was really hard to breathe in.

You OK?

That was so much to take in.

If you mixed hell with computers

and old junk that's how I would explain it.

'I was trying to pretend it wasn't real cos it was over beyond.

'It's literally just a wasteland of our old used computers and TVs.

'I think some of my stuff might have ended up there or

'some of my old computers and all that, which is kind of bad.

'As our kids can't cope with the dump,

'I've asked Isiah to come and meet us by our van.'

Going there now was a lot to handle for all of us

and it was just shocking.

That place is very dangerous.

Have you ever got sick from working down there?

Yes, we use our bare hands to pick the metals,

so there is dirty in our fingers

and we got some cuts, as you can see.

How much have you earned today?

Today I have only four cedis.

'He said he made four cedis,

that's like 70p, so basically he's just doing a lot for so little'

-In the UK, we are so privileged, in many ways.

-Yeah.

And, despite that, Isiah works much harder than all of you.

I didn't realise how bad the world was until I've had this opportunity

to come and see for myself.

We came down here today to see what it's like

and I think our eyes are opened - all five of us.

'I've earned 20 cedis, at a cocoa farm, working

and I'd like to give it to you, to support you, on your way.

-So here you go.

-Thank you and God bless you.

'We were there for an hour

'and it felt like hours and hours and hours.

'And I was so upset, I don't even know how people can go there

'every day, let alone live there.

'As our five haven't managed to do anything themselves at the dump,

'I'm taking them back to work at the second-hand shoe warehouse.

'This morning was such a whirlwind for our five.

Each of them said they had never experienced anything quite like it.

Well, now we're back at the shoe warehouse

and it's time for them to put their words into action.

'Today their boss, Kay, has had a last-minute delivery

'of men's shoes and he needs our kids to pair up a batch

'for a regular customer.'

IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE

So are there definitely pairs in there?

-Yeah.

-Right good.

-We happy?

-ALL:

-Yeah.

Three, two, one... Go!

-Is that a pair?

-This is mental.

You fast, eh?

-Ah!

-They're not the same shoe.

Now, just remember where you've been this morning,

remember how hard you said you were going to work.

I'm determined to get a wage this time

because we were disappointing last time.

After meeting Isiah it's inspired me to work harder,

so that's what I'm going to do.

'But finding matching shoes in this pile is not an easy job.'

-Nine, six.

-That's a seven.

-Six.

-six.

-Oh!

You don't understand how happy I'll be when I find a pair.

They all look the same, it's really hard to pair them.

'And Emily's determination to do well soon gives way to whingeing.'

It's just like too much I don't know where to start.

Try and find it, it's there. Every shoe has a pair.

SHE GROANS

Emily, talk me through what's going on,

cos I'm getting a bit frustrated watching you.

What's going on? Tell me.

Cos there's so many shoes, I just don't know where to start,

it's so irritating.

Do you think it's as irritating as working on toxic waste?

Obviously, no.

Rob impressed the boss last time and he's the first to strike gold.

HE GASPS

Found my first pair.

You found your first pair.

EMILY APPLAUDS

Good lad, all right, Emily.

-Less of that let's get working, then.

-OK.

Go, go, go, go.

'If the others want to be in with a chance of a wage they need to

'up their game.'

SHE GASPS Oh, no!

'Ed's keen to do as well as Rob today

'and he's going great guns.'

This is a pair. This might be a pair.

This pair.

Yes!

It's not pair, see.

So the lads are the only one with a pair. Girls you're lagging.

OK. Let's play rock, paper, scissors for it, you ready?

'And Emily is going from bad to worse'

Rock, paper, scissors. Rock, paper, scissors.

-Yes!

-No!

What on earth is going on here?

We're playing games, we're shouting, we're throwing shoes,

this is just not cool. It's just...I'm flabbergasted.

'And the boss has seen enough.'

Finish, I will check the pair.

I didn't get any.

'The girls haven't found any pairs at all

'and the boys end with just two each.

'Kay's workers will have to finish the job.

'It's not been our lot's finest hour.'

'It's time to take stock of the last few days.'

'Local expert Mike is back to translate for Kay

'and he reminds our group why the work they've been doing matters.'

The second-hand market is so important to Ghana.

Many people depend on these second-hand items,

they make money from them, basically.

And, Kay, I wonder if you could talk to us a bit about who impressed you.

HE SPEAKS IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE:

Well, Robert did very well and Edward, fantastic.

Rob, how are you feeling?

I'm quite proud, I guess.

Ed you seem to have really impressed the boss today.

Yeah. It's actually nice having the positive feedback for once.

And the girls?

HE SPEAKS IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE:

The girls did not impress me.

I would want them to work really hard next time.

Emily, it's literally like you didn't meet Isiah -

it's like you don't know that places like the dump exist.

It's like you don't understand how precious these jobs are.

If Isiah had that job, doing the shoes, he would like grasp it

with both his hands and do an amazing job,

but I think I've really let myself down.

And you can do it. I know you can.

You're amazing when you're on form.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

So would the boss hire any of our five?

Robert and Edward.

OK. So wages just for the boys today.

20 cedis, so remember how precious this is for you.

And Ed, this is your first wage, so well done.

Well done, boys. You should be very, very proud.

'Next time on Show Me What You're Made Of, they're pineapple farmers.'

SHE GROANS

'The bosses get tougher.'

Everybody have to work hard.

Hurry up, hurry up.

And when Rob takes charge...

You will do what I say.

What? I'm off!

...will the rest revolt?

So livid with him.