“I’m a woman who’s tired of waiting… I’m tired from the sight of garbage. I feel danger is at the door. Women are half the society”, this is how Wafaa Fakhreddine expressed herself on her Facebook page, and perhaps, was the voice of many other women in her town Kfarrouman. The severe waste crisis did not leave any town, in Lebanon, unharmed. In Kfarrouman, however, the situation worsened with the closure of the sorting plant and landfill belonging to Sheqif Union of Municipalities. Wafaa, and other women, learned from Dr. Zeinab Moukalled Noureddine’s project in Arabsalim. Moukalled began sorting since 1995, and many international newspapers talked about it.
From 4… to 70 women
We met Fakhreddine in Kfarrouman, and her enthusiasm dominated her whole talk. She seemed really interested of developing her local community. She said in an interview with “greenarea.info”: “We want to cooperate with everyone”, adding “We are fed up, that’s why us, women initiated with a waste sorting project”.
The project started with four women, and has now reached 70 women. Some of them talked about their experience, concerns, and goals regarding sorting wastes in Kfarumman, in a video prepared by Yousef Salameh, and published via “YouTube” in “LibanEcho” channel, under the title “#KfarRumman started_sorting.”
Just taking a small tour around the streets of KafRumman, one can smell the stinking odours from waste piled up on roadsides. Fakhr says that “The municipality could not find a solution, so the waste problem exacerbated, and bad smells reached the doors of our homes,” adding “That’s not acceptable.”
Rona Hussein, who joined the initiative, said, “The initiative kicked off by women suffering from waste odors every day.” On the other hand, Lamia explained how the sorting from the source takes place: “We sort tin, plastic, glass, and cardboard separately,” adding that “women are joining the project immediately since they feel imminent danger.” Some of the women knew about the initiative through “Facebook”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxgYlHF9LuQ
“Call of the Earth”, Municipality… towards cooperation
One of the first steps taken by the ladies in order to implement their initiative in the best way possible, was visiting “Nidaa’ al Ard” “Call of the earth” Society in the southern town of Arabsalim. They saw how the process of sorting wastes taked place in that town since 1998. “Call of the Earth” expressed its cooperation by providing a waste storage place for KfarRumman’s wastes, until the ladies find a waste gathering place in their town.
On the other hand, Head of Kfarrouman Municipality Yasser Ali Ahmed welcomed the initiative and said he was ready for any cooperation. All the initiative’s progress could be seen on the Facebook page that was established for this purpose under the heading “Together we sort”.
The first reactions over the initiative could be viewed in the comments below the video shared on Facebook, or on the pictures women. However, some people are asking how the sorting process could be done, so “Together we sort” posted a picture clarifying the process.
Certainly, waste sorting is the solution to the ongoing waste crisis in Lebanon. While political powers stall to find solutions for the citizens’ benefit, it seems that individual and collective initiatives will increase with time. There are no signs showing that politicians will take notice of the Lebanese’ interests anytime soon, because they are busy with their own narrow interests.
