“They are our foot soldiers,” said Ndumiso Nongwe, Environmental Manager of Makana Municipality, referring to the 16 participants in last year’s Makana Youth Ward Waste Management Initiative.
“They are our foot soldiers,” said Ndumiso Nongwe, Environmental Manager of Makana Municipality, referring to the 16 participants in last year’s Makana Youth Ward Waste Management Initiative.
The young people, from seven of the wards in Grahamstown worst affected by waste and litter, were celebrated last Wednesday for their successful involvement in the programme.
Along with learning principles of recycling and conservation, they developed the organising and diplomatic skills necessary to promote change in their communities. “We built experience and faced the problems in our areas," said Christeice Duiker, of one of the trainees from Grahamstown. "We went out and interacted with people and were hands-on with the whole thing. It was very exciting.”
Only a year ago, Duiker who is also from Grahamstown, was jobless, but she said getting involved in the waste management project had given her the skills and confidence she needed to look for work. She now works in Adult Basic Education and Training (Abet), teaching communities how to save water, plant gardens and recycle waste and hopes to extend her expertise by completing a Diploma in Environmental Affairs.
Behind this environmentally and socially centred initiative, lay the expertise of the Environmental Learning and Research Centre at Rhodes University working in partnership with Makana Municipality.
The collaboration, focusing on developing youth citizenship, intended to creatively address the host of social and economic factors that contribute to the problem of waste in Grahamstown.
"Because poverty, unemployment and lack of education compound the issue, it was important to design an initiative that could speak to all these factors," said the centre's Professor Rob O’ Donoghue.
Amongst the criteria for selecting the participants was evidence of previous voluntary work, an interest and involvement in environmental activities and being young and unemployed. It was also important that the youth be from wards recognised as waste hot-spots, said O' Donoghue. "I think we have come a long way in fulfilling the dreams of Makana and Rhodes,” he said.
Speaking about the centre's vision, O’ Donoghue said, “We really intend this to be a place where people can begin to meet and learn together.” Although the participants' formal training has finished, the project will continue. Many are already doing waste-monitoring and education in their wards.
"They will remain passionate campaigners for the environment in their communities – some might even carry their activism into the workplace," O’ Donoghue said. "In whatever form, we hope the project has sparked a desire for learning and education."
