Task 3

GREAT IDEAS ARE BORN FROM SMALL CAUSES

I presently live in a fairly large community in the northern part of Nigeria though I am from a tribe in the south western part of Nigeria. My community is largely dominated by energetic youth, promising children and inspiring adults but poor infrastructure, damaged roads and poor waste disposal system  has adversely affected the environment, human development and productivity.

I am particularly interested in the environment which directly or indirectly has affected the health of the populace and their living conditions negatively due to poor waste disposal system and infrastructure. Recently there was an outbreak of cholera in the community which threatened many lives most of which were children.

Most houses in my community don’t have waste bins, wastes are thrown out of the home directly into the streets, the streets don’t have good drainage system which has caused rainwater and flowing waste water from homes to spoil the access roads, the waste also block gutters hereby stopping the flow of water which creates a breeding medium for mosquitoes (stagnant water) and other agents that cause deadly diseases.

Many of these wastes end up in piles at road sides and unwanted places hereby causing a great mess, the waste, aside reducing the aesthetic value of the environment; it creates a suitable breeding place for mosquitoes and other disease causing agents which will eventually affect the health of the people living around the place.

WHAT I INTEND TO DO

I plan to help clear out the waste in my localized community using volunteers and some labourers, the labourers will be paid from money gained from sales of useful scraps (metal, plastic, glass ,e.t.c) in the pile of waste while the useless scraps will be properly disposed of by taking them to the locally made incinerators.  The useful scraps will be sorted and sold to raise funds to;

·         Pay the labourers.

·         Buy waste bins that will be distributed free to homes.

·         The remaining money will be donated to Hope orphanage.

I also plan to create environmental awareness on the negative effects of reckless waste disposal, though the community lacks good waste disposal system, the message of proper waste disposal will still be passed by informing them not to throw waste directly into the street but instead take it to any incinerator located near them, though may be far, and also to buy waste bins in their homes. A “keep your environment clean” awareness will be created. Sign post showing “do not dump refuse here” will be put in cleared sites to discourage people from dumping waste at such sites that have been cleared by me, the volunteers and labourers.

HOW I PLAN TO ACHIEVE THIS

·         I will first of all map out and select the piles of waste I want to clear in my community

·         I will go and check the type and amount of wastes that are available in the pile so as to determine the number of volunteers I will involve in the clearing.

·         I will inform the volunteers about my plan to clear out the piles of waste in the community and sell useful scraps such as metals and plastics to raise money to pay the labourers that will be working with us, buy waste bins and give it free to homes so as to reduce improper waste disposal and donate the remaining money to Hope orphanage.The useless scraps will be properly disposed in the incinerator rather than leave them on the road side and on the streets.

·         I will also inform them that the whole exercise is not just about raising money alone but also help to secure the health of the people by clearing the piles of wastes that are hazardous to health.