A man on a mission

Sean Williams with a local child who eagerly helped on clean-up day. A future eco-warrior.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

PROFILE A Man On A Mii

By Anthea Campbell

In the early part of 2020 before the pandemic and when things were a little different we had the pleasure of meeting Sean Williams a true eco warrior. Sean is a man on a mission, who is making a difference wherever he goes, be it school talks, clean-ups, his message is still the same and with purpose. We catch up with Sean to see how things have changed in his life and what he is up to.

EBL: YOU HAVE HADE SO MANY MILESTONES IN YOUR LIFE, TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF?

SEAN: Well, that is a hard question to answer as I have done so much in my life, but the most important one is starting this Live Life Always Initiative in September of 2020. I am a complex but very passionate person and I believe in showing kindness, determination and consistency, we can change the world. I believe my journey on this planet won't be as long as most, but it will be filled with many footprints in the sand, leaving behind a legacy and hopefully a cleaner and kinder planet. I know that Mother Earth is in dire need of attention and I have taken up the offer to help her as much as I humanly can.

EBL: DO YOU SEE YOURSELF AS AN ECO WARRIOR AND WHY?

SEAN: absolutely, because I put the planet first and ourselves second.

BL: WHAT WAS THE DEFINING LIGHT BULB MOMENT THAT CHANGED THE PATH THAT YOU ARE ON NOW?

SEAN: I worked in a rehabilitation centre for injured Turtles in the Maldives for one month and saw the carnage that “ghost rope” did to the marine life and how badly polluted the island are all around the Maldives, strewn with plastic bottles, nappies, lighters, straws, bags and so many other harmful plastics.

I then decided to come home and start really concentrating on cleaning up, at that stage Lonehill, then it moved onto Fourways, eventually we did many suburbs, around the Northern Suburbs and also rivers across Johannesburg and two major township clean ups in Alexandra and Diepsloot. I have now moved to Zanzibar and really making a strong message about their HUGE waste problem on this island.

EBL: TELL US ABOUT YOUR INITIATIVE?

SEAN: The initiative is about education, where I have done as many as forty five talks to schools all around SA and now three in Zanzibar, bring light and awareness of the impact single use plastics and dumping is having on our environment and the oceans.

Second is employment and trying to give many disadvantaged people around Johannesburg and Zanzibar, by getting community funding to help create jobs for people to clean up the beaches, villages and cities.

Third and most important is trying to save this beautiful planet, from complete human Greed and lack of ethics and Morals, about caring for HOME we all share as living beings.

EBL: I AM SURE YOU HAVE FOUND THIS TO BE AN INTERESTING JOURNEY, WHAT WOULD YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR NUMBER ONE ACHIEVEMENT?

SEAN: My number one achievement is I am changing peoples lives every day and making people aware of what I happening to our planet, even though it is right in front of our eyes. Seeing the light go on, in so many people's eyes once they have spoken to me and their lives are changed to join the mission of saving our precious planet.

EBL: YOU HAVE BEEN ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN MAKING FURNITURE, BINS FROM ECOBRICKS IS THIS STILL YOUR PASSION? DID YOU RESEARCH HOW TO MAKE YOUR PRODUCTS?

SEAN: Well the bins are mostly made from bricks, cements and sand and we have placed 2 – 3 ecobricks on the bin to create awareness and uniqueness for Live Life Always. We are currently on bin ninety eight and will reach our goal of hundred, within the next two weeks, (at time of publication goal reached) which is an incredible achievement, considering I have had ZERO support from local and national government in SA

EBL: ARE COMPANY'S STARTING TO COME ON BOARD WITH YOUR HARD ENERGISED WORK THAT YOU DO?

SEAN: Not really to be honest, but we have recently had Kaefer Foundation, from Germany come on board and donate around R16k a month, which is stunning but we need around R50k a month to keep 10 people employed and this is excluding myself. We also receive R6500 from Fourways Crossing and a wonderful Lady named Michy Mish, who donates food and R2500 a month. We are around R25k short of our target and it is very stressful most times, trying to figure out, how I am going to keep this initiative alive, but a year and an half later, we are still going, which makes my heart so full.

EBL: HOW CAN PEOPLE CONTACT AND FOLLOW YOU?

SEAN: They can follow Live Life Always on FaceBook or my personal page Sean Williams. Instagram Sean71_lvlife or, email me on sean@swtrust.co.za Photos in article supplied by Sean Williams