Activity Report
Location: Kisumu & Maseno University
Activity Date: 15.09.2023
Start Time: 10:00 AM End Time: 12:00 PM
Facilitators: Kelvin, Paul, Adelaide, Samambo, Tom, Ruth, Sophia
Number of Participants: 450
Male: 300 Female: 250
Activity Purpose/ Summary:
World cleanup day unites volunteers and partners worldwide to rid our planet of trash, litters and mismanaged waste. By joining hands together we are able to achieve incredible things. The idea for the cleanup day has become a great force that binds people together who would never dream of working together towards the same goal.
Personnel Input:
We mobilised local stakeholders and organisations to participate in the activity having a position in the planning committee , local secondary school sending 150 students, Maseno University students UNESCO Club mobilising 120 students for day three cleanup.
Our team led by one of our volunteers Paul, was in charge of warm up activities before the events started.
We visited Kisumu County Ministry of Environment for planning and collaboration in waste pick up and for a permission to conduct the event.We led a warm up session before the onset of the activity during the three days.
We participated fully in the cleanup process in areas like community sensitization, distribution of waste bags gloves to the community and waste pickup volunteers, awarding ceremony at St teresa Girls to the students who participated in the cleanup.
Achievements:
– Approximately 6 tonnes of non-degradable waste was cleaned up.
– The collaborating approach employed during the activity played a great role working with different organisations. Despite the fact that they couldn’t offer financial support due to short notice, they sent their volunteers who helped a lot.
– Community sensitization and waste collection worked so well, the community members joined and offered their support. We did a 10km walk and we picked waste and talked to them.
– Local learning institutions supported the activity greatly.
– Community members who were not part of the activity joined the activities.
– Country wide Media attention:
https://www.kenyanews.go.ke/locals-volunteer-to-clean-kisumu-slums/
Unanticipated Achievements:
– The turnout was amazing, we had young people showing up for the cleanup, especially from the local organisations.
– Working with schools was such a great opportunity, especially St. Teresa Girls who allowed 150 students who really did a great job. They could dance as we did the cleanup and it attracted community members to participate in the cleanup.
– Community members are becoming aware of the importance of a cleaner and safer environment, some of the areas we highly thought would be so dirty during our survey, we found out that the community had already done a great work.
Lessons Learned:
An activity such as the one we conducted needed a lot of partnership and collaboration with the community, CSO’s and schools.
Earlier preparation would highly help in terms of resource mobilisation and better distribution of responsibilities during the event.
Next Steps:
Work closely with local schools and community to do more sensitization.
Supporting Partners:
– County Government of Kisumu- permission to conduct the activity and donated waste collection trucks.
– Jijenge Youth Organization- mobilised the organisations to participate in the activity.
– St Teresa Girls High School- mobilised 150 students from environmental to participate in the cleanup
– The UNESCO club Maseno University- organised for the cleanup at Maseno University.
– KMTC Kisumu- allowed us the access of their ground for warm up and mobilised students to participate in the cleanup
– Carrefour- donated water and snacks for the second day of the cleanup.
