“We have been living here for the past 20 years and Bamenda City used to be a citadel admired by most visitors for its outstanding cleanliness, but over the past two years the filthy dumpsters that littered our streets have not only made my children develop respiratory problems, but also produced pungent smell making our once envied City, a no visit City” Nde Helen explained.
The upsurge of the Anglophone crisis, causing intense influx of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), institution of ghost towns and frequent gunshots slowed down the activities of Hygiene and Sanitation Company (HYSACAM) - the company hired by the Council to manage urban waste. The Council could only remedy the situation by burning which emit toxic gases causing respiratory problems to inhabitants of the neighborhoods and emitting green house gases, thus climate change. The wetlands which use to be very much cultivated are littered with inorganic material making it unfertile thereby depriving urban poor women farmers whose livelihood depend on it to live in pitiable conditions. These farmers are therefore left with no option but to use heavy doses of fertilizers to make ends meet. These fertilizers, coupled with silage containing heavy metal are consumed by the population thereby posing health threats and environmental pollution.
WACameroon’s mission is to reach out to the vulnerable and the marginalized persons of the society. She therefore submitted to UNDP an innovative initiative project on Promoting Women Resilience for Improved Environmental Hygiene and Sanitation in Bamenda II Subdivision. The aim of this initiative was: to contribute to proper waste disposal practices within the Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) chain in Bamenda City Council. This was achieved through advocacy with waste producers (women) on the use of the 3Rs - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
WACameroon’s strategies to achieve this objective were:
- Discussion forums and mobilization of community volunteers
- Door to door sensitization by community volunteers and raising of income to clean existing waste dumps
- Putting in place a local hygiene and sanitation committee
- Radio sensitization carried out by community members
- Homes regularly monitored to ensure their waste is separated
- Periodic community clean up campaigns
- Sign boards posted with accompanying fines on defaulters where waste had been cleared
- Periodic evaluation meetings
The success of this action was the talk of the town as it encouraged HYSACAM to move from one end of the town to other clearing existing waste and placing dumpsters at strategic places in town. Community champions of this initiative were rewarded by their quarter heads. Soon neighboring quarters to the pilot project area copied the good scheme.
Outcomes of this initiative are:
- The pilot population has learnt the 3Rs concept. Now they separate waste at source,
- Due to waste sorting, they have organic manure that has increased yields - so they eat bio and some testified making more gains on the sales of farm produce.
- Moreover their environment is clean and disease free especially at this time of Covid-19 where cleanliness is imposed.