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IVP
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Vanuatu 08 Workcamp (For photos from this workcamp and others, see the gallery page.) CULTURAL EXCHANGE IN MAROU There were heartfelt goodbyes and plenty of tears at a colourful farewell ceremony for a team of international volunteers as they left Emau last week. Bonds of friendship had been formed during the highly successful ‘workcamp’ in which International Chief George had ambitiously planned four tasks to be undertaken with villagers and volunteers working together. As one of the tasks was recycling of waste material and rubbish, volunteers had been asked to do some research before coming to Vanuatu, about waste disposal in their own countries. Clean Up the World Day began with the village assembled for an awareness raising meeting at which each volunteer gave a short presentation on rubbish problems and waste recycling systems in their own country. There was also discussion of global problems such as whales dying from ingesting plastic bags, cancer-causing gases given off by burning plastic and the huge soup of plastic waste floating in the Pacific Ocean that covers an area twice the size of United States. It became clear that non-degradable rubbish is a massive world-wide problem and urgent action is needed to find solutions. After the inspiring talks, the volunteers and the villagers set out with rice bags to clean up Marou. Simply dumping rubbish is no longer an option as it poses risks to the health of humans and the environment. So the collected rubbish was tipped out and sorted it into paper, plastic, metal, glass, batteries, clothing and shoes. With ‘Reduce, Re-use, Recycle’ as the aim, solutions for disposal of each type of waste material were discussed. More research is needed to find long-term solutions, however there was agreement about the need to reduce the amount of non-recyclable rubbish arriving on Emau and for manufacturers to take more responsibility. ‘Burn, bash and bury’ was applied to the tins, to reduce the amount of space they take up and start the decomposing process. Aluminium cans can be collected and sold in the capital city, Port Vila. Some clothes could be recycled but most would have to be buried along with the plastics, in a hole deep enough to prevent leaching of toxins. The sorted garbage was carted up to an area on the mountainside where Chief George supervised the digging of a huge hole. Batteries are a serious threat to the environment as they contain mercury and other heavy metals which endanger marine life. The only solution at present is to bury them in a separate hole lined with concrete. Ideally, alternatives should be found such as using re-chargeable batteries or solar panels. Keen to get the children thinking about the problems caused by non-degradable rubbish, the international volunteers ran a short workshop at the local school. They created some short theatre pieces to demonstrate ways to reduce waste, for instance by using baskets made from local plants instead of plastic bags, to remind each other not to drop rubbish, and to recycle as much material as possible. The children then enthusiastically helped the volunteers to clean up the school yard and then sort the collected rubbish. Back in the village, other projects involved the volunteers in making bricks ready for the construction of a community hall, carrying stones and helping to erect a wall for cyclone protection and removal of Crown of Thorns starfish from the marine reserve. Ecological imbalance has allowed the Crown of Thorns to overpopulate in reefs around the world and they cause great damage to the reefs. The volunteers were pleased to feel useful while having a great experience in a beautiful environment. They appreciated the wonderful hospitality of Marou village and were delighted to get to know the people and the culture. The villagers agreed that the project was a great success and Chief George is keen to follow up with another one next year.
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