END PLASTIC POLLUTION : CHILDREN CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Growing up and seeing how our environment was dirty was a real worry for me. Our neighborhood was very dirty, dumping areas for refuse were overflowing, streets were littered with dirt, gabbage collection services were inexistent. I was so ashamed but what could I do? Let me reccount 2 scenes of very common phenomenons in my area I witnessed.

One fateful morning, as I went to dispose of garbage in a refuse dump, I saw a man emptying his garbage full of plastic bottles and bags on the floor just beside the bin set aside for that purpose. A woman who was also coming to empty her dustbin saw this man and questioned him on his actions. The woman asked him to pick up his refuse and throw in the bin. He bluntly refused and queried the woman. He asked the woman if he was the one who had thrown all what was on the floor and also blamed the woman of intruding in something that didn't concern her and that she wanted to show off. He accused the woman of trying to make like she was an exemplary citizen and that she should mind her business. As he was about to leave, the woman grabbed his shirt and insisted he must pick the dirt up. Being a man, physically he could out power the woman and so he pushed her and left. Standing at the scene of the action, being a kid I was powerless, I couldn't do anything. I was so surprised at the man's action and looked at the woman with admiration. This man's action is common with kids. I see many kids everyday dumping their garbage on the streets because they are shorter than the public bin. Parents keep sending them to dispose of refuse when they know they can't do it. If I had the courage of that woman, I would also do what she did. But being a kid, I could only look at such situations with dissatisfaction but no action.

There is this other scene I witnessed. A woman was standing by the roadsidz waiting for a cab when suddenly an empty sachet of water landed on her. It came out of a moving cab. A young woman seated at the front seat had finished drinking and just threw it out of the car. This woman was so angry because the remains in the sachet wet her dress. As fate will want it, the cab stopped few metres away from her to drop a passenger. The woman ran towards the cab with the plastic in her hand and threw it on the woman inside the cab, cautioning her and at the same time reprimanding her for her actions and advised her to keep plastic objects or refuse and dispose of them when she sees a refuse dump. The woman in the cab angrily came out and started a fight. She asked the woman if she had thrown the empty plastic bag in her bedroom. Why would she pick it and throw it back at her. As the fight was ongoing, onlookers approached the scene to separate the women.

Another very common scenario is that of plastic bottles. People will just drink water or juice and dispose of the bottles wherever they find themselves. Same as plastic bags. When it rains and you will find heaps of plastic bottles blocking gutters and drainages. At the central Post Office roundabout in the capital of Cameroon, after rains, it is impossible to pas because of the flood in that area due to the overflowing of the river beside it which has been blocked by tons of plastic bottles.

All these scenarios caught my attention and I decided to create the kids section of my foundation called "Kids for kids Cameroon". Kids for kids Cameroon advocates for the respect of the rights of children and involves children in processes of development. It deals in child protection, health, nutrition, environment, ICT and development of the child. through kids for kids Cameroon, I advocate for environmental protection amongst kids. I believe that if we want to stop environmental pollution, we must start with kids. Kids are the future of tomorrow, we want them to grow up and desist from actions that affect the environment. I organise campaigns, educative talks and workshops with children. I organised one in which I asked children to draw posters of environmental protection and the best will win a cash prize. The kids were so happy and drew so many educative posters which are now used to sensitise their peers. Kids who have been educated at the tender age about proper waste disposal and actions to protect the environment, will not be involved in what I witnessed as a kid. As a kid I was powerless but now as an adult, I can change the narrative. My aim is to educate 5000 children every year about the harm of their actions on the environment. I will like to be the voice of kids when it gets to environmental protection.

The above described scenarios can be avoided with a lot of education. Though the government has put a ban on plastic bags in the country, we still see them everywhere. The government should amplify its actions and do a lot of sensitisation about refuse disposal. I think that even adults should be educated about the dangers of plastic on the environment since they do not get rotten.

There are many things we can do with plastic rather than disposing them in the environment. We can recycle them. Their is this partner who held a workshop with women on how to recycle plastic into beautiful fashion items like hair bands, fascinators etc. This is a campaign that we can emulate and which I teach at Kids for kids Cameroon. Many sustainable actions can be taught to end environmental pollution and have clean cities.

Together we can #beat plastic pollution# if we all unite our voices and actions.