Sunday, July 12, 2009

Recycling- Samoan Style

07/08/09

Ben Harding, one of Group 78’s Survivors, is as conscientious and dedicated a Peace Corps Volunteer as there is. After writing proposals and helping to build water tanks and a school fence for his village, he built of recycling bin with left over materials, placed it in front of the school, arranged for the recycling NGO for a pickup, and got the school kids to energetically comb the village for refuse. In two days, the children crushed cans and the bin overflowed with litter. Then…

· A school inspector stopped the children from collecting trash. Explanations unclear, saying it is the Women’s Committee job to keep the village clean.
· The NGO responsible for recycling did not return phone calls. The prearranged pickup never happened.
· Ben stands by one of his monuments wondering what went wrong.

1 comment:

Barb Carusillo said...

Looks like Ben tried to do something that would be good by most standards, but the Samoans of his village have other priorities at present. Frustrating for Ben.