Western Kenya Community Monitor

Report of Bucket Brigade Training Workshop

Webuye, 21st to 22nd September 2007
Introduction

RECONCILE and Global Community Monitor facilitated a Bucket Brigade Training workshop for community leaders and opinion leaders in Webuye Park Villa Hotel in 21 and 22nd September 2007.The objective of the training was to introduce the community members to the bucket technology and instruct them on how to use it to monitor air pollution.  Upon completion of the training, the trainees formed themselves into a Bucket Brigade the first one to be formed in Eastern Africa.


Participants at the Training Workshop

Trainees
  1. Roda Baraza - Former Mayor Webuye
  2. Joyce Wegesa - Nurse Webuye District Hospital
  3. Euventine Kisaka - Member Maendeleo ya Wanawake
  4. Eluid Kakai - Director CEDEP
  5. Ezekiel Mukasa  - Former Councillor

Facilitators

    1. Ruth Breech – Global Community Monitor
    2. Denny Larson- Global Community Monitor
    3. Maurice Ouma Odhiambo- RECONCILE
    4. Anastasia Otieno- RECONCILE

Toxic Tour

On the eve of the training, the facilitators undertook a “toxic tour” in the company of CEDEP Director, Mr. Eliud Kakai and a representative of the community.  The purpose of the tour was to give the facilitators; especially those from GCM who were visiting Webuye for the first time a feel of the pollution and to enable them assess the high impact zones.  The tour also served as reconnaissance to help in planning the subsequent tour with trainees.

Agenda

The training workshop was conducted over a two day period, and involved instructions, groups discussions and sharing between community members and the facilitators.  In the course of the training , the participants undertook a mapping of the pollution hotspots in Webuye.  They also had a field tour during which they tested the use of the bucket in capturing samples of the polluted air.  At the end of the training, participants agreed on a plan of work that will see to the development of a strong Bucket Brigade to take forward the lessons learned and skills acquired at the workshop (see Box)


Agenda for the training workshop
  1. ‘toxic tour’ and site visit of pulp operations and high impact zones
  2. Introduction: air pollution and its health impacts
  3. Community mapping: participants work in groups to draw maps of their homes, schools, and key sites in relation to pollution sources
  4. Report back: groups present their maps to all participants
  5. Update on previous initiatives to address Webuye pollution
  6. Introduction to community monitoring: log sheets, record observations, confirm observations with testing
  7. Video show: other Bucket Brigades in action
  8. Monitoring: why, and for what purpose? How will RECONCILE use monitoring data?
  9. Quality control to ensure samples are credible
  10. Defending samples and targeting the polluter
  11. Next steps: establishing partnership, monitoring, planning for action
  12. Field sampling training at sites and high impact zones

Video Show

During the training, participants watched a  video show on how sampling is done by other Brigades in other parts of the world.  The video presented the process of air sampling from the time of collection of the samples to the time of shipping. It also highlighted some of the challenges that Bucket Brigadiers face in the course of sampling.  Some of the challenges faced include hostility on the part of the establishment, the owners of which chase the Brigadiers from the site and hinder them from taking samples.

The facilitators pointed out that the bucket technology is an early warning system on the effects of toxic emissions in that it detects the gases as they are emitted so that citizens do not have to wait for the gases to cause harm first.  In this connection, it is just one of the many tools that communities can use to monitor pollution. It is comprised of a collection of tools some of which measure particulate matter (PM), while others measure toxic incidents. Community members can monitor toxic incidents by using pollution log to record incidents of toxic emissions. Used together, these tools form a formidable data that complements each other to strengthen the hands of the community in protecting their environment and their health arising from air pollution.

Participants were informed that the Bucket can pick up to 87 toxic gases. It serves as a fingerprint of the polluting industry, connecting the emissions to the specific industry source.  It thus enables the community to build evidence against the polluting industry.  It was emphasized that Bucket Brigades need to know gases by their technical names for purposes of dealing with the polluter and their scientist.  However, non-technical language should be used when teaching the community.

The Bucket works for communities because it turns their experiences into scientific data that can be used to counteract the arguments of the polluting factory and its scientists, and to make a case for government agencies such as NEMA to act.  It equalizes the playing field by putting the community knowledge in the same level as that of the polluter.  In this way it empowers the community, and its presence in the community causes a scare to the polluters.

Once so empowered, a community is able to advocate for themselves.  Using the toxic release inventory and/or national pollution inventory, communities can identify which toxic gases a specific facility releases.  This is also referred to as “fingerprinting” the facilities.  The community group’s bucket brigade can prove that the facility fingerprints are found throughout the area, exposing their environmental crime by taking air samples and having them tested.

Toxic Gases

 Participants were informed that toxic gases include sulphur, which can cause cancer and liver disease if there is long-term exposure.  Particulates are visible as dust and ash and consist of heavy metals such as lead, mercury, chromium, manganese etc.  These heavy metals can stay in the body for a very long time, and have different impacts on the body.

Lead interferes with development process in children and retards their learning.  The smaller the PM numbers the smaller the particulate and the further it can travel. A PM 10 is larger and heavier than PM 2.5, which can travel as far as 25 km. The PM can penetrate the body defenses and can cause asthma, constant coughs, eye irritation and even cardiac arrests.

Particulates cannot be detected using the bucket.  Instead, they can be picked using the swipe or wipe samples.  This involves using a piece of swipe of about 10cm by 10cm on the surface on which it settles.  The swipe is then sent to a laboratory for testing.

Building the Bucket

Participants were instructed on how to build a bucket.  To do this, two holes are drilled on top of a bucket with 9/16 inch drill bit and ¾ inch drill bit. Two buckets were built, one for the community and one for RECONCILE to be used as a sample for future training.

Advocacy Tips

The purpose of the bucket technology is to assist the community to bring about change for the betterment of the environment.  As such, the manner in which the technology is used is important in determining its success.  Participants were given tips for ensuring the successful use of bucket technology in community advocacy (see Box)


How to Conduct a Successful Community Campaign
  1. Collect samples from schools and mention this at the press conference
  2. Develop catchy taglines such as ‘good neighbors do not throw thrush into each other’s compound’, ‘we do not want to close but to clean Pan Paper’. These should be said over and over again.
  3. Taglines must be culturally appropriate in order to have maximum impact.
  4. Know everything about the chemicals that come from the samples and their effect
  5. Translate the findings into local languages, for ease of understanding
  6. Call a press conference to announce the findings
  7. Disseminate the information in a community public forum
  8. Send letter to the government body concerned with the environment such as NEMA
  9. Send letter to the CEO of the polluting company demanding that the pollution be discontinued
  10. Emphasize that the interest of the community is not to shut up the factory but to clean up the production
  11. Let people know about the Bucket and how it monitors pollution
  12. Put up campaign posters
  13. And lastly…have fun  

Community Mapping

Participants did a mapping exercise to indicate pollution hotspots around Webuye for purposes of collecting samples.  These identified hotspots were The lagoons, Sango Shopping center, ACK church compound, outside pan African Chemical factory among others.  It was agreed that the best time for collecting samples is 10.00 pm, as this is the time when the factory emits most polluting substances.

Way Forward and Next Steps

At the end of the training, it was agreed that the trainees would work with RECONCILE to conduct air sampling on a monthly basis for 6 months. RECONCILE and GCM will work on a proposal to mobilize resources to carry forward the work that started with the training workshop.

For more info don’t hesitate to contact Anastasia at otienoa@reconcile-ea.org or
Maurice Ouma Odhiambo at oumaodhiambo@gmail.com or Michael Ochieng Odhiambo at ochiengodhiambo@gmail.com.

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See Also: http://www.elaw.org/news/impact/text.asp | http://www.gcmonitor.org/article.php


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