Congo/ Waste management in Madibou schools: the NGO PEA and public authorities called upon to contribute

On February 7, a workshop brought together public authorities, school administrators, students and the non-governmental organization (NGO) Protection environnement association (PEA) to discuss how to strengthen the waste management capacities of public schools in Brazzaville's 8th arrondissement, Madibou.

On the theme of "The social responsibility of schools in waste management", the aim of the workshop was to encourage exchanges between stakeholders, notably students, school administrators, public authorities, the Congo Parents' Association and NGOs, in order to identify local and appropriate waste management solutions.These included students, school administrators, public authorities, the Congolese Parents and Students Association and NGOs, with a view to identifying local and appropriate waste management solutions. Ten problems were identified and ten solutions proposed to improve waste management in the schools of Madibou, in the Congo.Ten problems were identified and ten solutions proposed to improve waste management in the schools of Madibou, as part of the Tokonga 2 project, financed by the French Embassy in the Republic of Congo, and run by the NGO Protection environnement association (PEA).

This project follows a diagnosis carried out in the schools. Indeed, the NGO PEA noticed that there was a lot of rubbish in the schools, requiring the implementation of best practices in waste management. Hence the implementation of this project, which also involved the students. The general manager of the NGO PEA explained that it was a question of gathering their ideas about what they think, even though they are still children. As a result, local solutions need to be found together and adapted to waste management, which is not the same as in the schools of Makélékélé, Madibou, Poto-Poto... There may be similarities, but there are small differences, because these schools have their own specific problems. "What is expected today is to indicate ten problems and ten solutions. That's why there was group work, so that they could list problems and propose solutions, because at the end of the day, it's not a question of PEA sitting in an office and imposing solutions or identifying problems. It's up to the schools themselves to identify problems and propose solutions. PEA's mission is also to build capacity, train and raise awareness," explains its general manager, Serge Patrick Mvouama.

Possible solutions

After presenting each school and its current waste management actions, workshop participants identified problems and found solutions. Among the problems pinpointed with regard to waste collection were tree leaves, paper, bags, plastic bottles, plastic bags and so on. As for solutions, these involve sorting waste, recovering useful waste and transforming it into manure for market gardening...

Madibou's socio-cultural attaché, Jean Gaspi Bazolokoutaka Vouka, praised the NGO PEA's initiative. "As residents of arrondissement 8, Madibou, we are ready to support the NGO PEA in its work, and we are also asking all those who can give it a helping hand to come to its aid. Today, we must all pitch in to make Brazzaville what it used to be", he stressed.

Aurèlie Blandine Bakekolo, educational advisor in the Madibou district, representing the head of the district's school district, also praised the NGO PEA's initiative. "From this workshop, I learned that after collecting waste, we put it in the garbage cans. We collect those we can reuse for the gardens, and those we can no longer reuse we make available to the town hall," she said.

The general manager of the NGO PEA took the opportunity to point out that the "Kotonga2"/PEA project, financed by the French Embassy,is different from the "Plaidoyer sur la gestion durable des ordures ménagères à Brazzaville" project funded by the European Union (EU), through Precap-Ccod. The "Kotonga2" project is based on awareness-raising, while the UEA-funded project is government-funded. PEA's areas of expertise are the environment, corporate social responsibility, education and human rights.

Source: www.adiac-congo.com/