RECYCLING PROJECT NOW A TEACHING AID

One cannot express with enough satisfaction the joy this project is bringing to the community. This morning I met with the School Board, and they all expressed their excitement and appreciation for having their school chosen as a pilot school for the introduction of recycling in peri-urban and rural areas. I am particularly grateful for the support they have pledged towards ensuring that the recycling program goes on, even when I have left.

On another note, this morning I went to the project site to take some pictures. As I was approaching the site, I noticed that a group of students had gathered around the area where the workers are digging in preparation for placing a foundation for the recycle centre. As I came closer, I noticed that a teacher was with them, and some students were actually inside the already dug trenches. My initial thought was that the teacher had decided to punish her unruly students by giving them manual labour at the site (a practice I am very much opposed to, but very common around High Schools in Swaziland). However, it turned out that, the students were a Form 1 agriculture class. Their teacher had decided to use the opportunity of having a dug trench to let them make observations of the soil profile and feel the soil texture. Both topics are in their agriculture curriculum, and it was just a good coincidence that they covered those topics at the same time as construction was going on. It was quite impressive to see the teacher taking advantage of the project and turning it into a teaching aid.

Other than that, everything is going great ......

ANNOUNCING NEW DEVELOPMENTS

Following the beginning of construction of the recycle centre at Esigangeni High School, as part of my Davis Project for Peace Initiative, I have approached Anthony Armstrong, a Mbabane based recycling company to see if they could be of assistance. I am happy to report that Anthony Armstrong, as of today, is fully behind my project.

Anthony Armstrong has made a commitment that they will supply me with bags to put recycled material in, in preparation for transportation. They have also offered to come to Esigangeni High School once a week to collect all recycled material from the recycle centre. I have personally met with the company director to talk about the project. Not only was he greatly impressed with the initiative I'm taking, he was also of great help, seeing that he has been involved in the recycling business for quite some time. He offered me great advice regarding implementation of the project. As it stands, I look forward to a healthy working relationship with Anthony Armstrong.

Considering that Anthony Armstrong is around Mbabane, and has offered to come collect the recycled material from the recycle centre at Esigangeni High School, the school will no longer need to transport it to Swazi Paper Mills and Swazi Waste Recyclers as initially proposed. This is mainly due to the fact that Anthony Armstrong is within close proximity to the school, compared to Swazi Paper Mills, which will greatly reduce operating costs  for the school.

On another note, work on-site is taking full form tomorrow, and I am not anticipating any challenge in that regard. Updates and pictures will be posted as the project progresses on.   

Work on site commences

Construction of the Recycling Centre at Esigangeni High School is beginning tomorrow morning. More building material will be delivered on site by the end of today, and the contractor will begin early morning, tomorrow. 

It has been very interesting trying to put everything together, meeting with the school administration to deliberate on certain logistics regarding the entire process involved in establishing the Recycling and Composting Program. The greatest challenge has been trying to ensure that everybody understands the finer details regarding the project and its imminent benefit to the school and the community. Being in Swaziland, where the whole recycling idea is still a foreign concept, it remains to be seen how everybody's perspective changes as the project begins to reach fruition. Nonetheless, I remain positive that the rest of the community will realize the benefit of having the 'first of its kind' recycling centre at Esigangeni High School.

The school administration, faculty and staff have been very supportive since day one. They have made known their excitement about having their school selected as a pilot school for the introduction of a recycling and composting program in the community. 

Project launched

The Davis Project for Peace has been launched, albeit unofficially. Building material has been purchased, and construction will begin on site on Tuesday, next week. An official launch is coming up very soon, to be possibly graced by Hon Minister of Tourism and Environment or his designate ...... it's gonna be awesome ....... Let's go ..... Sigangeni Goes Greener 2012!!!

Summer 2012 .... let's go

Hello all .... this is my new blog, dedicated to my summer 2012 Davis Projects for Peace Award. I will be dropping by sometime (depending on internet availability .... ehem) to share on progress for my project, post a few pics from here and there, and provide an inside scoop of what will be going on over the entirety of my project.