Missive from the Congo 016

Originally posted on Thu, 29 Mar 2007 21:06:59 +0200

For this week’s missive I will talk about trash collection. Another topic that will have you hanging on the edge of your seats I know. As you can well imagine, given the breakdown of most municipal services as a result of the years of war, there is no regular garbage pick-up. This, of course, is a problem. We generate a fair bit of garbage, as those of you who have to haul it to the curb on a weekly basis know full well. In addition, there is no formal recycling system either, which just compounds the problem of trash. So what do you do? Well, I can honestly say that I don’t know exactly what the average Congolese family does. However, given that they don’t buy much packaged food, or consumer goods in general, they probably don’t generate that much waste. At Canada house we have a trash pit/pile at the rear of the property. We have it emptied every six months or so at a cost of $50 USD. I’m not sure exactly where the trash goes, except away from our place.

Canada House garbage pit

As you can see, it’s time to empty the pit. Our property manager/go to guy contacted the trash haulers but was told that they didn’t have any fuel therefore they wouldn’t be doing any pick ups. Apparently it didn’t dawn on them that if they did the work they would get paid and hence have money for fuel. But anyway. So our trash will be taken away using oversized wheelbarrows that are used in the Congo move just about anything, up to and including the living room furniture.

The other thing that happens is that there is a very active re-use market. When you have nothing, even scraps for something are worthwhile keeping. For example, MONUC gives us drinking water in 1.5 litre bottles. MONUC doesn’t take the bottles back so there is a very brisk trade in used MONUC water bottles. My cleaning lady tells me that you can sell them in the market for about 40 Congolese Francs a piece. The further you go out of town, the greater the price. The same thing happens with the glass jars and many other items.

Garbage fire

Finally, what doesn’t get reused or hauled away in so form or other gets burned. At any given time of days there are dozens of little fires burning around town; in people’s yards, on the side of the road, in the back alley, or just about anywhere. Sometimes the smell is atrocious but I guess it’s better than letting things rot.

We get newspapers and magazines from Canada as a welfare support programme. Naturally we only keep so many on hand. A number of Congolese have asked me to give them used magazines. They claim to be avid readers. It may be true to an extent but I suspect they re-sell them. Or use them to wallpaper the mud huts. I don’t know. I just know we don’t put them in the trash.

In any event, I don’t have much of a moral for this story. Just, perhaps, to appreciate the garbage men a little more. You’ll miss them when they’re gone.

John