6 Sep 2011 • Humanitarian crises Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: Waste management at schools – young people take the initiative

- Published by Darcissac, Marion

Like many other developing countries, Sri Lanka has a waste problem. Lack of financial resources for equipment, insufficient salaries for workers and a lack of knowledge are the main reasons for insufficient waste management by the local authorities. The problems related to this situation are manifold. Apart from environmental pollution, the health of human beings is at risk. Children and elderly people are especially affected. As the waste problem was also contributing to heavy floods in January and February 2011, Terre des hommes launched a small dustbin project at school-level in order to improve waste management in schools and to sensitize children to the topic.

The beginning of 2011 was dramatic for the people in the coastal villages of Sri Lanka’s east. Heavy rains led to floods which affected thousands of families in this already war- and Tsunami-prone region. 80 percent of the harvest was lost and ten of thousands houses and wells were damaged. Terre des hommes, which has been working for more than fifteen years in this region, reacted quickly and non-bureaucratically with its Flood Intervention Project. With well cleaning and hygiene promotion sessions the project contributed to the reduction of the risk of waterborne diseases which usually spread immediately after the occurrence of floods. Now that the people have recovered from the floods, Terre des hommes is contributing with a dustbin project to the prevention of future floods and related waterborne diseases.

Terre des hommes has involved the “Youth Clubs” in this mission: aged from 16 to 25, these young people feel extremely concerned about the increasing problem of badly handled waste. They voluntarily took on the responsibility for making part of the community more aware: schoolchildren. “Usually, we have to burn or bury our garbage behind the school”, explained one member of the Periyaneelavnai Youth Club. “The smoke pollutes and it is very bad for the children’s health, too. And more than anything, the wind blows the refuse all over the place: it blocks the drains and contributed heavily to this year’s flooding.”

And so these young people went to the schools, armed with dustbins supplied by Terre des hommes, as basic tools for the correct handling of garbage. Simply having dustbins could, at a first glance, seem to be a trivial thing. But it is new for those schools that have never had any system at all of collecting refuse. The youngsters were given training by Terre des hommes so they could make the children aware, in a lively and varied way, of the importance of using the dustbins, and of all the problems triggered off by the lack of proper garbage handling.

This cooperation with members of the Youth Clubs has many advantages for Terre des hommes: the young people now know far more about garbage management and have also learnt to make other children aware of the facts. Their participation gives the communities a sense of responsibility and is an example of cooperation for sustainable development.

Further information on Terre des hommes intervention in Sri Lanka