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Omar Ali

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Obstacles:

The most difficult aspect of accomplishing the cleanup was in motivating assistance from the community.  Omar Ali and Hassan Obo were the first to begin the cleanup, arriving at the seafront every morning and afternoon.  Realizing the need for more involvement, Omar and Hassan began by reaching out by talking to the Dhow Captains and crew about what was needed to accomplish the beach cleanup. 

This was approached by how not only the Dhow Captains were affected but how the entire community was being affected.  There was resistance at first from this group not wanting to participate in the cleanup due to their work commitments.  After being given more opportunities to discuss the issues, the Dhow Captains gave their support by helping in the cleanup effort and donating food to the workers when possible. 

The residents of Lamu were questioning the cleanup program, not understanding the grassroots agenda of maintaining the beauty and pride of Lamu and its people, a World Heritage Site.  Assumptions were made from the residents that there was outside an funding source for the cleanup program.  The cleaning crew continued to clean the seafront daily, eventually gaining the support of some of the residents.  Efforts were made to reach out to the community businesses and residents to not only to educate them on the importance of cleaning up Lamu for their own benefit but also trying to involve them in any small or big contribution they could make; donations and  word of mouth.

The City Council owns one tractor, which is in poor condition and is in constant use making trash pickups throughout Lamu.  Due to the high demand for trash pickup on the island the trash is not able to be  collected as quickly as needed.  All efforts to keep the trash away from the donkeys were made until a pickup could occur.  Part of the fundraising efforts will go towards purchasing a tractor in good condition.  It is important for there to be regular pickups throughout Lamu so the trash does not build up or become a sanitary issue.  The city and its people are dumping the trash on a city land but this is not an official dumpsite and is not maintained nor are recyclables sorted out.
Part of the reason for such large amounts of trash in Lamu and the seafront is that there are no trash or recycling containers provided for the town.