Tasmi Quazi
On 12 August 2015, with the help of Asiye Etafuleni (AeT), Mealie Cook representatives and eThekwini Municipality’s Durban Solid Waste (DSW) Educational & Waste Minimisation Department, three 1st year Durban Institute of Technology (DUT) students from Public Relations Management implemented a community event which was a clean-up campaign at the Mealie Cooks facility, as part of their curriculum for three of their majors.
- Pictured here is DSW official, Justice Mthembu who supported the student project with the provision of 500 disposal bags, spades and brooms. To his right are the three DUT students; Sanele Buthelezi, Lwazi Makhaye and Andile Msweli. Photo: Chantal Froneman.
The clean-up campaign involved cleaning mostly ash debris from burning wood needed to cook the mealies that has accumulated in the Mealie Cooks facility over the past year. It also included clearing building rubble left after the recent construction of a back wall last year.
- Picture here are before and after shots of half of the facility. Photos: Tasmi Quazi.
The campaign started at 12.30 pm and ended 3 hours later and regarded a huge success by the Mealie Cooks themselves who expressed immense gratitude because they now have more space to operate and can better organise the shared workplace. In total, a 5.5 tonne disposal skip was filled and an additional x500, 20 litre disposal bags collected!
- Picture here are before and after shots of the other half of the facility. Photos: Tasmi Quazi.
These were some of the reflections from the DUT students:
The campaign went very well, DSW expressed interest in supporting these clean-up campaigns with AeT and the community twice a year…it was rewarding to see the mealie cooks so grateful for our help because they kept saying that they couldn’t believe how much space there was in their work place. They said that they would be able to better organise themselves in the shared facility as a result. Andile Msweli
In such a short span of time, we managed to do the clean-up campaign! I was relieved and AeT and the mealie cooks were really helpful. We didn’t know anything about organising community events as 1st year students but it was a success because of their help. Sanele Buthelezi
- Pictured here are Mealie Cook representatives who assisted with the rigourous clean-up campaign. Photo: Tasmi Quazi.
To see more images from the Clean-Up Campaign, click here.
- Pictured here are DSW Education Officers (far right), with Mealie Cooks representatives and a DUT student. Photo: Tasmi Quazi.
