According to Mercer's Quality of living Survey of 2010, Dar es Salaam
ranks the 10th among the dirtiest cities in the world with a Health and
Sanitation index Score of 40.4. The list of dirtiest cities is based on levels
of air pollution, waste management, water portability, hospital services,
medical supplies and the presence of infectious diseases.
Waste disposal is the greatest problem prevalent in Tanzania community
and this is true to Buguruni Community. There are hardly any dust bins or areas
for waste disposal so most of the litter usually ends up on the road side or
places where it attracts pests and water borne diseases such as cholera.
Through environmental education, there is a high chance of behavioral and
attitude change towards waste management and a possible avenue for wealth
creation through waste sorting and composting.
Thus the aim of this seminar is to encourage and
put youth in the lead in preventing environmental problems such as waste
disposal that the Buguruni community encounters and also to take advantage of
decomposable waste by making compost which can be a commodity that can be sold
to urban gardeners in Dar es Salaam. The awareness is not only limited to the
BYC youth but will also target Buguruni and Kiwalani primary school pupils,
their teachers and the Buguruni and Kiwalani communities. Following the
seminar, the 10 BYC youth will create awareness to the aforementioned primary
schools where it is expected that they will assist the pupils to create
environmental clubs. These clubs will spearhead debates and clean up events as
part of environmental conservation in their communities.
The Climax of the environmental awareness will
later target the wider community including local leaders and citizens where
there will be a clean-up day, which will be followed by a football bonanza. BYC
will also provide dust-bins within Buguruni and Kiwalani communities.
BYC is very excited to work in this project which
has been funded by VSO Tanzania and it is an initiative that will create a
long-term impact in the two communities and their youth on environmental
conservation.
Through BYC's environmental program in the past, the youth have been
able to participate in cleaning the community through unclogging drainage
systems. This has built an equal measure of environmental awareness among BYC
youth. Thus through this project, there will be more sensitization of the
community on importance of proper waste management.
