Konke Kuyenzeka, loosely translates to everything happens. On Thursday 7 April members of this Phola Park-based non governmental organisation (NGO) made things happen when they rolled up their collective sleeves to remove litter in their surroundings.
The NGO works mostly with people living with disabilities to ensure that their needs are addressed.
However, on Thursday they took on a new challenge in order to bring a change in the community. They swiftly moved around the area picking up litter for a healthy living environment.
Organisation founder Primrose Taiwo labelled the initiative as a way to inspire and educate the community about the importance of hygiene. “The fact that we are living in the shacks doesn’t mean we mustn’t take care of our environment. We need to take care of our surroundings. It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that the area that we are staying in is clean,” said Taiwo.
According to her, the area has not been cleaned for almost two months.
Taiwo stated that there are shipping containers to store the rubbish but residents discard it anywhere.
“We have shipping containers even though they are not in good condition because some of their doors are damaged. Now people just throw the rubbish anywhere,” she said, raising fears about the well-being of the children.
“Some people are not only discarding rubbish but dog and cat carcasses. It stinks, especially when it’s hot. We encourage people to put whatever they are discarding in a plastic bag,” she stated.
One of the NGO members Olga May described the initiative as educational. “We were talking to people residing near the dumping site and asking them to stop illegal dumping. Also people mustn’t wait for the government to do everything for them,” said May.