An exciting achievement last week for Full Circle! One of the clubs that we support at Usa River Academy completed their first, student-led community service project! Last year, students participating in the workshop Uswege and I ran with RENEW Organization, students identified the need to educate their fellow students on environmental issues. Their idea for the project: distribute dustbins (trash cans) to other schools and talk to students about the impact trash can have on the environment.

Well, after a lot of planning meetings, discussions, brainstorming, scrapping and changing ideas, visiting possible partner schools, more meetings, and some practices, the project was ready for implementation!

Students visited and identified Arusha Secondary School to be their target school. They presented the idea to the environment teacher and head of school and were approved! They wrote rap songs, created pamphlets for distribution, and prepared speeches for the school.

Once we arrived at the school on Friday morning, students began recruiting help for their work from the student body (with the approval of teachers, of course). The students had seen that the problem at Arusha Sec. wasn’t just a lack of dust bins, but an attitude by students that their school environment wasn’t their responsibility. Because of this, student involvement in projects was vital. Usa River Academy and Arusha Sec students worked together to paint the bins with behavior change messages, cut the grass around the school, and sweep the sidewalks and pavement.

After painting the trash bins, our students were called to address the student body. They introduced themselves, their club, and their cause. The favorites (not surprisingly) were the dance illustrating picking up trash, and the rap about caring for your environment and school! Suffice it to say, our students are far more talented than I am. Most importantly, the school was very happy with the result and students reacted extremely positively.

By the time we left, the grass was cut, the sidewalks clean, and the dustbins ready. And we were covered with paint…some is still around my nails as I’m typing this. A lovely reminder of a great day watching our students do what they do best when given the opportunity, taking the lead!