Work has officially started a few weeks ago. I am working for an NGO (non-governmental organization) called Thusano Lefatsheng (TL), which means something like ?communities helping each other?. It works to reduce poverty in remote areas of Botswana through the sustainable use of natural resources. They work with communities to teach them how to grow certain plants that they can harvest and sell themselves. The project that I?m working on deals with littering of major roads coming out of Gaborone, the capital of Botswana. Although government workers pick up the litter on a regular occasion, there is considerable litter buildup on the side of the roads. If the current growth rate of the city doesn?t decrease, it wouldn?t be unrealistic to predict that the litter buildup will increase rapidly, according to the growth rate of the city. I am involved in evaluating the degree of litter on three roads for each of Gaborone, Thamaga, and Mmankgodi (the latter two being small communities to the south of Gabs). Once we collected our nine samples, I sorted through the litter to separate it into categories of recyclables (paper, plastics, glass, aluminum, tin,
cardboard) and garbage. This will give us a good idea of what main industries we will need to communicate with to see if they are interested in starting a type of recycling program. Then, we?ll go into the communities I mentioned to speak to the Chiefs and residents to learn about their opinions concerning the litter. We want to know whether they believe that it is a problem, and if so, how it has been affecting their lives or livelihoods. We also want to learn whether they would want to develop, implement and maintain an anti-litter program, where they could be responsible for the drop-off location of recyclables, for the pickup of recyclables, or for the recycling of the material. The end purpose of the project is to develop a community-based anti-litter program, funded perhaps by the government, in order to protect the environment of peri-urban communities while creating employment opportunities in those communities. So, my project focuses more on the indirect conservation of resources, which are contaminated by litter.

I very much look forward to meeting various stakeholders in the community that can guide me in determining why the presence of litter is so widespread, and whether a successful recycling program could be established. I am also looking forward to doing a literature review to widen my knowledge on current African waste management programs. I hope that enough literature exists in order to determine the challenges that other African communities have faced with regards to litter, how they overcame the challenges, and assess whether their solutions could apply to the southern communities of Botswana.

My name is Emilie Morin; I am from the University of Waterloo in fourth year Environment and Business. I am from Ottawa, Ontario and have been interested in world issues since a young age. Like the many others that will be volunteering with SWB, I wished to see first-hand what was really going on in developing countries, in contrast with what we, in the ‘western world’, learn about them in the media. I believe that the most important part of any issue, environmental or social, is the local people who experience the real pain of conflict and disasters; in that aspect, I wish to hear from them about how they face and survive the challenges that confront them. Working with a local partner through SWB will allow me to communicate and learn from real, local people that have a very unique perspective on life. I was most interested in a rural placement to better experience the sense of community that I have so often heard is prevalent in ‘developing countries’. To me, the sense of community is a part of my culture that has been lost in many regions, and I wish to feel what it is like to be included a tight community; hopefully, this is what I will encounter. By living closely with local people within their communities, I wish to appreciate what their real needs are as they perceive them, free of subjective definitions of development and prosperity.I will be volunteering in Botswana for an NGO that wishes to alleviate poverty in rural areas by sustainably managing their natural resources through local partnerships; I understand that I will be helping the management of, and education about, litter being produced alongside rural roads. My experience in waste management and my education in finding solutions to pollution and waste in localized areas will help me implementing a waste management and an education program for the community. My experience with communicating with farmers and industry members will help me create partnerships that will support the roadside waste management program in the community.

I suspect that my first difficult task will be to learn everyone’s names; it will surely be a challenge for me to remember everyone in the whirlwind that will be the first weeks. Following that, I suppose that I will be learning about the NGO and traveling the polluted roads to get a feel for the current situation. Through this program, I hope to accomplish the development of a realistic and effective program at reducing litter that will be embraced and managed by the community. Personally, I hope to grow into a more culturally-rich human being who better understands the issues that people in
Botswana face, and who has made a positive mark on an aspect of their lives.

From previous traveling and from having conversations with people who are avid travelers, I expect that all of my expectations will be wrong. I reasonably know that I must expect to be surprised every day, by the culture I will be submersed in, by the pace of conducting business, by my living conditions and by my adaptability to a new world. However, I expect to finish this experience feeling extremely rewarded, and, hopefully, to feel some sorrow when leaving newly-acquired friends. I hope to bring loads of intriguing and insightful information to my friends and family in Canada. I very much look forward to meeting like-minded volunteers at the orientation in Botswana; if you will be living in the Gaborone area, please obtain my information from the SWB so that we can make first contact prior to departure!

I look forward to all of these things, and more!