Jewish-Led Marine Cleanup Reaches Lake Victoria in East Africa.
Shana Tovah umetukah to everyone who is celebrating, whether you are in Africa, Eretz Israel, or anywhere overseas. At a time like this, it is very important for the Jewish people to put aside the pain and suffering we have experienced and are still experiencing around the world and celebrate the pilgrim holiday with joy. The High Holidays are a time of repentance and forgiveness, followed by joy and celebration of Sukkot, the time of our gladness. During this time, our people are instructed to dwell in the sukkah, which brings Hashem’s protection for the new year ahead.
In the buildup to the feast, otherwise known as the festival of booths (tent), an important global event took place that had to do with protecting the sea, ocean, and water bodies around. This happened between Rosh Hashanah and the fast of Yom Kippur. All of these mentioned dates are parallel events closely associated with water: tashlich on Rosh Hashanah, the global marine cleanup, and the mikveh bathing on Yom Kippur. Interestingly, in the ancient tashlich rituals, we cast crumbs of bread representing our sins into the water; however, on the other hand, we tend to reverse that narrative during this global cleanup outing.
The marine cleanup event, referred to as “Reverse Tashlich,” took place on September 28th and aims to address human impact on our waterbodies, which collectively encompass 72% of the Earth’s surface. However, we are confronted with unprecedented and concerning levels of pollution from various types of waste substances that adversely affect both aquatic life and the ecosystem. This initiative makes a lot of sense as a bold response to our human responsibility for the environment and is tied to a Jewish concept.
This reverse tashlich concept, introduced by the nonprofit organization Repair the Sea in the United States, represents one of its global initiatives that resonates with the human duty of repairing the world, tikun olam. Under the guidance of Rabbi Ed Rosenthal and a committed management team, the reverse tashlich marine cleanup has expanded across various continents, with Jewish groups and communities engaging in efforts to collect debris to prevent it from entering nearby water bodies. This year, an impressive total of 300 teams participated, representing 30 countries from 6 continents.
One of the teams in East Africa, where the reverse tashlich in 2023 first made its debut on the continent, was the Save the Nile group operating in Uganda. There is a staggering amount of plastic waste building up inside Lake Victoria and waiting to be washed into the lake’s waters. The group, made up of Jews, Christians, and Muslims, responded to the call of the Repair the Sea mission, which aims to remove human sins in the form of marine debris, such as used plastic bottles, while uniting like-minded individuals and communities around the world through the Reverse Tashlich initiative. It was on this backdrop that I registered for the 8th annual global event with the team in Uganda.
During the inaugural pre-Pesach global cleanup, when the historic first bedikat hamayim reached the mouth of the Nile, the Masese landing site played a crucial role in facilitating sailing into both the lake and the Nile. Again, the team assembled at the landing site in Jinja and set out first to Samuka Island, a tourist destination inside Lake Victoria where a first-ever mikveh in the lake is being considered. From Samuka Island, the next stop was at Kisima 2 Island, where we were greeted by a crowd of children. They must have wondered what brought these strange men dressed in yellow-colored reflectors to their home island.
The brief stop at the Kisima 2 island was part of the routine to run a physical assessment of the extent of plastic pollution in the island, which is on an elevated height, making it pretty easy for plastics to drift into the waters of the lake. Then from there, the team arrived at the Kisima 1 island, which is already a familiar work site for the Save the Nile group. The next 45 minutes were spent collecting plastics littered close to the shores on the beachfront of the island that is home to more than 3,500 people.
Even though humans occupy only about 14.5% of the total surface of the planet, they have continued to cause devastating harm to the sea and ocean, both of which sustain life and humanity. Today, it is reported that there are 51 trillion tons of plastics in the ocean, as every day according to a 2024 article by the CNN, the world dumps approximately 2,000 truckload of plastic into the Ocean. The journey of these plastics into the ocean begins right on land, either being discharged directly into the ocean or from streams to rivers and lakes, flowing without interruption to its final destination, the ocean. Ultimately, many harmful effects persist, including the risk of plastic poisoning in humans when fish consume these microplastics.
By the time the cleanup team on Kisima 1 Island filled up their individual sacks, they proceeded to a portion of the island mapped as a temporary plastic dump yard. The final plastic bottle count stood at 4,121 bottles collected, making it the first consignment to be stored in the dump yard. Speaking to Martins, one of the senior coordinators and supervisors of the team, I learned this will be the second dump yard now operational in Lake Victoria by the team.
“About 6 weeks ago, we opened a temporal plastic collection point in the Yebwe Island, an island in the eastern district of the Buvuma Island. But with the launch of a second site here in the Kisima 1 island, the project of removal of 5M plastic bottles from the lake has now officially begun.”
In reality, there are fewer significant actions on marine-related cleanup in comparison to on-the-ground plastic collection, as we can see around several corners along the road. Thanks to the motivation from the Save the Nile group, a dedicated team of marine enthusiasts committed to a large-scale cleanup project over an extended period. The team is motivated not only to prevent millions of plastics from drifting into the Nile but also to trap them for recycling, thereby making waste plastics find usefulness again. However, sustainability is a giant consideration, ensuring the project stays on track as it navigates the roadmap to achieving the target outcome.
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