The women in a village in Burkina Faso are turning waste into money and saving lives at the same time.
The village of Boganday in the east of Burkina Faso was once riddled with rubbish and disease. Discarded litter lined the streets and it was more of an eyesore than anything else. But all of that changed one day when the women of the village started a waste management scheme.
Their day starts at 6am when they meet and prepare for the day’s work. That includes prepping the donkey and its pull cart, checking their safety gear (overalls, boots, gloves and mouth masks) and the route for the day. Soon it’s off to work, where they go around to special refuse bins that have been sold to businesses and homes since the project’s inception in 2009.
When they started, the community approached Swiss interco-operative Helvetas. They assisted the entrepreneurs in setting up their business and have supported their dreams and desire to improve their community.
The community that came to Helvitas, they wanted to do something with solid waste collection, so we’ve decided to support them,” says Helvitas member Christian Mouloki, who has helped the women with their waste management project.
So far, the waste team has signed up numerous clients, with households paying $1 a month (50 cents at the beginning of the month and the other 50 cents at the end of the month) and businesses paying $2 a month. The team has also found tremendous support from their government, who pay them $130 a month for their services. That’s not the only place the team makes money though…
While sorting through the waste material that has been deposited at a specially built refuse dump site, the teams often come across materials that can be converted into extra money. Often they will find recyclable items such as plastic bottles and containers which they take to recycling plants, reusable materials such as wood that can be sold as cheap fire wood, as well as clothing that has been discarded and can be resold.
The women have not only contributed greatly to their communities through income generated, but also in the health care that they have improved upon. Clean streets and special areas for refuse means their villages are cleaner and easier on the eye, and disease has also been all but eradicated since refuse is no longer left to rot among the community and germs aren’t spread through this any longer.
The women in a village in Burkina Faso are turning waste into money and saving lives at the same time.
