Fiji Hub Achievement Report

November 2016
Objective: Recycling

Tin Collection in Dawasamu

Damaged tin in Silana Village after Cyclone Winston

By recycling all the damaged tin, the communities have been integral in preventing it adding
to land fill sites.
Beginning in August 2016, the villages of Dawasamu District, in conjunction with Silana
Community Partners commenced clearing the damaged tin caused by Cyclone Winston in
February 2016.
Cyclone Winston, which hit Fiji in February 2016, left Dawasamu District with large amounts
of debris, primarily roofing tin littering their villages. In the past 9 months, the communities
have worked exceptionally hard to clear and pile the debris in specific areas to minimise the
health hazards that this poses to their villages.
With the completion of the GVI initiated waste management program last year, these
villages understand the issues surrounding burying waste and this felt like a step backwards
for the communities that have worked so hard to process most their waste through
recycling points. So, the debris was resourcefully used wherever possible; leaving the
communities with piles of complete waste. Clearing the piles was then of the utmost
importance in regaining the community's pride in their villages and making a great positive
change to the everyday lives of those in the community.

Beginning in August 2016, the village

communities, in conjunction with Silana
Community Partners and GVI commenced
the manual clearing of the debris. By
taking all of this waste to Lami Recycling
Point, the communities have been integral
in preventing it adding to land fill sites,
which is where the majority of cleared
debris after Cyclone Winston ended up.
Tin removal from Nataleira

At present 5 villages in Dawasamu District have been completely cleared of scrap metal,
resulting in over 10 tonnes of tin being recycled! The desire for the communities to do this
instead of the easy option of burying shows the degree to which they have taken on board
the good waste management initiatives provided by GVI. Special credit must also go to
GVIs Community Partners in Silana, who have worked so hard to organise and manage the
tin collections often with little or no assistance from GVI. In particular Isoa Waqa has
proved himself to be a resilient and reliable community partner who has selflessly taken on
extra roles and responsibilities, not just for the benefit of his village but for the whole of the
Dawasamu District. Vinaka vakalevu

Community Partner, Isoa Waqa, while out and about collecting tin