Cleaning up Great War Island

tyrone_in_wonderland RSS / 08.06.2009. u 12:49

Last Saturday Nathan and I attended a cleanup project on Great War Island, at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers.  Nathan, I should mention, is another American youth here in Belgrade.  We're both working with the Institue for Sustainable Communities (ISC -- an NGO that works toward building civil societies with support from USAID) this summer, and sharing an apartment.  Coincidentally, he's from Vermont originally, just like me.  Cool kid, you should get to know him.

 

I woke up early in the morning, still getting over jetlag (flew in last Wednesday).  Jetlag sucks.  So far, I've woken up before my alarm every day.  No morning techno for me yet; goal -- change that.  We grabbed a cab out to the river barge where the volunteers would meet and travel to the island.  River barges are alright at any time of day, but I think I prefer them on Saturday nights rather than mornings.  We threw on some attractive volunteer t-shirts and hats, and watched as groups of people arrived from their respective corporate entities who were participating.  We met our group leaders; we must have been the smallest cleanup crew, just three of us for two leaders, the castoffs I guess.  I noted that I was still rather tired, getting over the timechange.  Everyone else had been partying late last night though: instant connection.

 

The island was very green, wooded and beautiful.  Anywhere away from its coast, I struggled to remember that I was in the center of the city of Belgrade, that a kilometer in any direction would place me completely urban.  The rare buildings towering over the treeline added a surreal touch.  The island trails were very muddy, I was glad to have worn hiking boots, noting the clean, pretty athletic shoes of some less-prepared individuals.  And then there were the mosquitos.  In the city itself, I hadn't noticed any bugs really, a pleasant change from my home in Vermont, or Iowa where I go to school.  So, that's where they all live I guess, on Great War Island.  Despite applying repellent to my exposed skin, I ended the day with plenty of "souvenirs."

 

On to the work: I could instantly see the need for our efforts.  Though the island is naturally beautiful, and apparently a wildlife sanctuary to many things more endearing than the insects, I found its trails strewn with trash.  We divided group members into roles, picking up plastic bottes, picking up miscellaneous trash, and removing pieces of wood from the trails.  The worst were little plastic sticks I later learned were from Q-Tips; it seemed like there were millions of them everywhere, and difficult to pick up.

 

After cleaning for several hours, we all congratualted ourselves with a delicious lunch of fish stew, served from a huge communal pot by a huge, bearded cook who looked his part entirely.  Then we returned, tired, to the city.  That evening I glanced myself, briefly, on B92's coverage of the event.  So, for more informationabout this (that's in Serbian so I can't read it yet), check it out.  I was really impressed with the whole cleanup.  ISC is all about encouraging people, especially youth, to participate in and support their communities, and that's exactly what I saw.  A fortuitous start to my summer.



Komentari (0)

Komentare je moguće postavljati samo u prvih 7 dana, nakon čega se blog automatski zaključava

Arhiva

   

Kategorije aktivne u poslednjih 7 dana