Friday, 9 August 2013

Swa+ch Community Leadership Project

This is the project Mioni, Amy and Bekky are working on. On Thursday we went to the Swa+ch office at a massive college/university campus the other side of Pune. We learnt how the workers turned wet waste into compost in just 15 minutes + 15 days maturing! There was also a dump site for all the dry waste collected on site by the workers, which they then sort to take out the recyclable items. It was astonishing the amount of plastic that had been thrown away. Seeing the dump really brought home how dire the situation to clean up our planet is, and how important Swa+ch's work is. I know that, as a team we have a huge amount of respect for the waste pickers.
Our group even had a go at sorting the rubbish, though we most likely we slowed the workers down, as they were very quick and efficient.

To help spread the awareness of Swa+ch's work, we went out and talked to the students on the campus. This was mainly about separating their wet and dry waste, and sanitary disposal methods. We even managed to speak to the Principal of the College, and hopefully left a lasting impression!

It was great to give the waste pickers more self confidence and try and make their working conditions better.

On Friday, after a short car journey and long wait, we went to a secure residential complex to talk to the residents about a variety of Swa+ch messages. This was particularly humbling because the residents won't speak to the waste pickers much as they cannot speak English.

Our next stop was a residential complex where all the Swa+ch methods are fully fledged, including it's own composting site. All the people we meet were really pleased to have us there. We have all had some great experiences so far and looking forward to the rest of the trip.

Added late due to Internet problems.

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