Week 4: Smells Like Burning

Wow! I've already been here for a month! (and only 30 days until Dan visits!! :) )

The new thing I noticed on this visit was the very strong smell of burning in the morning. Mixed with the dust and dirt, it smelled a bit of Camp Shelly/Lake Tahoe back home, but that smell quickly passed, as the true smell emerged. It was burning trash/rubbish.
The Hex Valley (in which De Doorns is located) is such a gorgeous area, in a nice crevasse between two mountains, surrounded by grapes and vineyards; picturesque in many ways.
Unfortunately, there is a terrible problem with garbage here. There is not any sort of infrastructure that helps get rid of the trash, and so it accumulates all around the once gorgeous land. The common solution seems to be burning piles of trash when it gets to be too much. Not only does that sound like a dangerous idea, as it is so dry here, but also terrible for the environment, and lungs of those nearby. Yet, as there is no other solution here, it seems to be the only way they can at least attempt to control the amount of rubbish accumulated here.  With the garden project we see a lot of this garbage fly into our yard, and we spend each morning clearing our the new trash that's accumulated. Luckily for us, we can drive it out of town, back to Cape Town, if needed, and dispose of it in a much more safe way. Yet the people in town have to wake up to the smell of burning, on a daily basis. Somehow I hope to help tackle this problem, although it seems like a huge task. Perhaps we can organize some community clean up days with our community task team, or the high schoolers. Either way, its a very sad sight to see, in such a beautiful community. Its humbling to realize that so many people live without the infrastructure that we've grown up with, and find trash all over the streets a normality. Here I'm thinking that its such a bad thing to litter, and I want to protect the environment as best I can, but this is all that this community is used to, and seems that there are so many issues to try and tackle here, that the environment, sadly enough, may be low on the list. But alas, I still have hope that we can make a difference here! :)

This weekend was quite eventful!!! We showed up in the early afternoon, and before our weekly meeting, worked a bit in the garden. We had brought a secret fertilizer recipe (pee from the compost worms + water) to sprinkle on top of the plants, to help them grow mighty and strong! The plants themselves were already doing quite well for themselves! Especially the radish! It just loves the sun! The corn/maize had gotten quite big itself!

Crazy bug we found whilst gardening.
Doesn't it look like the grub that
Simon & Pumba eat in the Lion King? :)

Amazing soil, where our compost pile used to be.
Soon to be a spinach patch!

Each week its so exciting to see the progress--almost as if its sprouting instantly! Although the community members are definitely taking care of the plants while we're gone during the week, it does feel like a quick process!

Aside from the amazing garden progress, our weekly meeting was very productive as well! Friday night, after a good 2.5 hour discussion, our group agreed upon and passed the Constitution! Their CBO now has a founding document, and guidelines for how their community involvement will help to make a difference to those around them. They've decided on their mission and vision & objectives, and I couldn't agree more:
Vision:Thol’ulwazi Developmental Group  (TDG) works to provide information that can bring positive change within the community

Mission: Thol’ulwazi Developmental Group intends to assist De Doorns community members in general with access to information by running programmes voluntarily
Objectives: 
The Thol’ulwazi Developmental Group is a public and open organization, non-politicised, non-religious, multicultural, all-inclusive established to achieve the following objectives:
a.    To educate and inform the community about social issues.
b.    To change people’s attitudes
c.    To share skills with the community members
d.    To offer direct support to the community (currently with the garden project)

Signing the Constitution!!

And with that, and organization was born! The Thol'ulwazi Developmental Group, then voted on officers, and now has their own structure, Constitution, and foundation for a group that can empower themselves, and make a difference in their community!
Our project will still be to help facilitate the community involvement, but now this organization can also act independently, and apply for their own funding, and most importantly, exist on their own, and not have to rely on outside organizations in the future!


So that was a great accomplishment this weekend! Now TDG just needs to open a bank account and then they can receive the grant money that's been waiting for them! Its been very exciting to be a part of the progress as it unfolds!


Lots of love, 


Laura

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