Here are a couple excerpts from my project proposal, starting with background info:
“The current waste disposal system is inadequate for handling the large quantities of waste generated by Mora’s large population and the heavy commercial traffic it attracts from the region. There are no trashcans or dumpsters in the entire town. Government hygiene trucks do collect trash along the main road a couple times a week, but hygiene workers are under-equipped and have no fixed dumping site for the trash they collect. Instead, they dump the trash they collect in random spots throughout town, usually in ditches or streambeds. Used plastic bags cover the ground, as market-goers have no trash receptacles. Vendors and shopkeepers leave their waste exposed in piles easily dispersed by wind or rain or roaming animals. There is also little organized trash collection outside of the town center. Neighborhood residents dump their trash in large communal piles at road intersections or simply dump in disorder in front of their houses or in the drainage canals roadside, contributing to water pollution.
The large amount of trash is particularly problematic because of the river running through the center of Mora. Mora’s market is located directly on the river. Without trash receptacles, much of the population’s waste ends up in the river. Community members often deliberately dump their trash in the river. The river is an eyesore to the town’s inhabitants and to town visitors. Indeed, Mora has become famous for its “trash river.” Unsavory characters loiter in it and community members defecate in it. During rainy season, villages lying downstream are polluted as well. This polluted environment in the center of town results in a lack of town pride and a higher occurrence of water-born diseases.
In community meetings held by PCV Jessica Clarke and Chief of Hygiene Hubert Weyamay, the residents of Mora expressed their dissatisfaction with the current trash collection system. They are concerned by the fact that the ongoing pollution of the town’s water sources leads to greater prevalence of water-borne diseases. In particular, standing water in the littered plastics provides breeding grounds for malaria-carrying mosquitoes, and low hygiene standards increase the town’s vulnerability to another cholera epidemic. They emphasized the need for city-wide environmental education as to the negative effects of littering.
In short, trash reduction efforts in Mora are essential to clean up water sources, increase general hygiene, promote higher health standards, encourage commerce and tourism, and prevent environmental degradation.”
Excerpt 2 outlines the goals of the project:
“The long-term goal of this project is to reduce environmental pollution and increase community health. It aims to make Mora a cleaner, healthier, more desirable place to live in, and to encourage community respect for the environment. The short-term goals of this project to be completed by the end of a six-month period are as follows:
1. Install trashcans in the town center and marketplace and equip hygiene agents for a new and improved system of trash removal to a location outside of town
2. Significantly reduce the amount of litter in the town center and market area
3. Significantly reduce river dumping
4. Educate Mora’s population on how to use the trashcans and why they are important
5. Put in place four functioning hygiene committees whose members are trained to be effective environmental educators and organizers of neighborhood trash clean-ups
All inhabitants of Mora will benefit from this project, as well as the people living in villages downstream from Mora.”
I’m pretty excited to get started. My project is essentially a remake of another volunteer’s project; he put trashcans in place in his town last year, so one of the first things I did was call him for advice. Next on my agenda is to organize a conference with all actors who could influence the project- the Delegue d’Environnement, Women’s Center, Town Chief, Sultan, etc.-to inform them of the starting date and get their input/contributions. Then I have to start ordering the materials, and getting the message out to community members to engage in the project.
I want to use the project as leverage to get the Mayor’s Office to act on the aspects my project couldn’t cover. For instance, the hygiene agents have no uniforms and I wasn’t able to include that in my budget, so the Mayor’s Office has agreed to buy them uniforms. Actually the Mayor’s Office agreed to everything I suggested, but the question is whether they will actually follow through…I intend to be very persistent.
I’ve already hit a few hitches. My partner the Chief of Hygiene asked if there was any money in it for him: “Est-ce qu’il y a la motivation?” The mayor didn’t show up to our first meeting. And very unfortunately, with elections coming up, all public officials will be preoccupied with the campaign until the middle of October. I planned to have the trashcans installed by the first week in November, so that puts a lot of pressure on the end of October in getting them to take part in launching the project.
All in all, it’s going to be a verrry interesting process and a huge learning experience for me. Fingers crossed that all the pieces fall into place.
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