trash day YAY

Nothing like picking up trash to bridge cultural differences. I think it’s gross, you think it’s gross, but we’re both all about getting our hands dirty to clean it up.

Today was Sikoroni’s first ever Journée de Salubrité, organized by MHOP, a youth group, and several local GIEs – unions of trash collectors, sort of. The plan was to get everyone together in the morning and get rid of as much garbage as possible in a central location. We wanted to raise awareness and enthusiasm about picking up trash – all as part of Cari’s project to put a functional waste management system into this town.

Frankly, I thought it would flop. I expected only a few people to show up, and didn’t foresee much enthusiasm. I was pleasantly surprised! In all there were about 20 of us, going from house to house and taking their trash to a central dumpster via wheelbarrow and trash-moto (think motorcycle with a pickup truck bed in the back). We also used shovels and rakes to clear up a couple random trash piles in the area. By 1pm, the dumpster was almost full and people were still coming with buckets-o-trash.

What pleased me most about this event was the mish-mash of people coming together for the same cause. There were a bunch of GIE guys. Most of them were pretty badass, especially this one who would move piles of lord knows what kind of waste – with his bare hands. Some teenage boys and girls came with CAMS, the youth group. A bunch of MHOP’s health committee members showed up… as did two microfinance committee women Nasuru and Maimouna.

These two were great – they came decked out in nice outfits, jewelry, and handbags. Don’t ask me why. (I suppose the microfinance committee ladies are a little more educated than most in the town, and like to keep up a good appearance?) I took one look and mentally gave them 10 minutes before they’d head home. There was one initial episode of slime spilling on Maimouna’s dress. She was not happy about this, and tried to rinse it out with water. Soon, though, they got really into it and proved me wrong. They kicked ass, handling shovels and lifting wheelbarrows like the GIE workers. I have wonderful photos of this, and will post ASAP.

Other people who helped out: Niang, of course (MHOP’s director). Me, the token tubabu. Finally, and to my surprise, a lot of unaffiliated neighbors lent a hand! One guy took my shovel and got right into it. Women and kids practically flocked to the dumpster with buckets of garbage on their heads. The event became a real community effort, and I couldn’t shake Obama’s catch-phrase “Yes we can!” from my mind. Cheesy, but true.

It all put me in a really good mood, and I felt very integrated with the community. We were all trying to do the same thing – there was an unspoken understanding between everyone. Afterwards, we exchanged lots of “A ni baara” ‘s and “A diara!” ‘s. The first means “to you and your work.” The second means “that was super fuckin great, yo!”