The SustyVibes Street Conference, which was held in 7 states, and 8 locations, had Ogun state as one of the locations wherein the clean-up took place in Iloye community, Sango-Ota, Ogun State.
World clean up day is globally commemorated in 190 countries to bring the world together to actively combat indiscriminate disposal of waste and pollution, working to reverse its adverse effects on the environment, which is becoming more predominant by the day. And for Sustyvibes, we annually hold our Street conferences commemorating the day.
EVENT ACTIVITIES:
Sustyvibers, Partners and Volunteers converged between 7:00 – 8:30 am at the premises of FourSquare Church, Iloye, where the event started at 8:30 am with welcome remarks by the team-lead, Omotoyosi Idris. She welcomed everyone, briefly explained SustyVibes, introduced the collaborating organisation (SamCleans Initiative), and also shared some safety precautions with the volunteers.
Safety kits and cleaning materials (Gloves, Facemasks, Shovels, Spades, Rakes, and nylons) were distributed to the volunteers. Everyone proceeded to the cleaning site, which consisted of solid waste and weeds.
The volunteers were divided into two groups, all hands in the first group – the clean-up team, were on tools, shovelling the soil to uproot the weed and rooted wastes, rakes for clearing, and spades doing the packing. We had help from four informal waste pickers within the community; they made the evacuation of the heaped areas easy.
The second group; the advocacy team, was led by the Environmental Sanitation Officers, as well as the chairman of the community, they admonished the community members on the need to keep their environment clean, also, to be more alert to rid the intruders that come from their various destinations to dump refuse in the community. It was mentioned that anyone caught would be sanctioned and charged by the authorities. Feedback from the community members showed that the situation is worrisome for them, and they are pumped to ensure they get it right and maintain a clean community.
Afterwards, we proceeded to plant 5 trees. This is a measure of ensuring that the site is being nurtured and sustained.
PARTNERS AND VOLUNTEERS:
We partnered with SamCleans Initiative and the community leadership, and we present the chairman and officials from the environmental sanitation unit.
We had our registered volunteers from sustyvibes and members of the community as well who turned up to take part in the street conferences, all totaling 51 volunteers present.
IMPACT:
The Clean up lasted for 3 hours and we had 7000kg of waste in total evacuated from the clean-up area.
CONCLUSION:
After the clean-up, Snacks were shared with all volunteers, with closing remarks and hugs. We took group pictures, and volunteers had time for networking. The event was concluded by 12:20 pm.
NEXT STEPS:
We plan to conduct timely Community Engagement to ensure the site is productively utilized and maintained.