”Toubab Dialaw” project becomes ”The Ecolo-Cultural Solution”

Toubab Dialaw is a seaside village, close to the airport, located 52 km south of Dakar. It is a fishing village with about 3000 inhabitants, which welcomes tourists while keeping its authenticity.

The local economy is based on fishing and tourism. Its large beaches are magnificent and offer a very pleasant living environment.

The situation :

Unfortunately, in addition to the Covid19 crisis and the absence of tourists due to the closing of the borders, in January the village is hit by impressive rains, which cause the death of the fish, stopping fishing and destroying beach restaurants.

All this comes on top of the difficulties already encountered by the inhabitants for which we wanted to act in Toubab Dialaw: pollution and poor waste management.

The waste is thrown without prior sorting in the streets of Toubab Dialaw where the garbage then piles up. With the winds and heavy rains, the waste lands on the beach and is washed up by the sea. The waste pollutes the ocean and has a considerable impact on local fishing.

Despite some trash cans already present, the population is not aware of throwing waste in the trash and garbage collection is not enough. Pickup is only on main roads as the rest of the village is not accessible to the pickup truck.

The cart drivers therefore take over in a few streets and will deposit the waste further on.

THe project :

Toubab Dialaw is our first project since the creation of the association in 2020. With the observation of pollution in Toubab Dialaw and the government’s efforts to provide solutions, it was the right time to propose an action. So we started developing this project. It is a large-scale initiative that requires significant investment and support from many partners such as the Zawoo association.
We decided to combine education and culture to lead this initiative. Education is an essential element for raising awareness and lasting behavior change. We use culture because it is our area of ​​expertise, but above all it is a powerful vector of communication that can be used to reach all generations and all populations. Toubab Dialaw is also renowned for its cultural dimension.

The environmental part:

 

• Raising awareness and education on environmental protection.
• The disposal of garbage cans.
• Waste collection.
• The introduction of selective sorting and the limitation of plastic waste.
• The organization of an efficient garbage collection system.
• The construction of a sorting center.
• Reforestation and development of a green space.

The cultural part:

 

• Involve the population by decorating garbage cans.
• Create an educational, modern song, with an Afro rhythm and its committed choreography.
• Make the clip for this song in the village.
• Organize an environmental awareness concert with local artists.

The Eco-Cultural Solution

The Toubab Dialaw project being a promising project, we decided to change its name to extend the possibilities of our action and our openness to funding.
The ECO-CULTURAL solution is therefore born in 2022. It takes up the main elements of the first two stages of the project by offering innovative, modern, physical cultural tools, adapted and adaptable to different populations in order to change behaviors in a sustainable way. It focuses on a circular system that reduces plastic pollution and the amount of waste. The Ecolo-Cultural solution therefore becomes a concept that can be replicated everywhere and can attract all villages in Senegal and elsewhere…