Plastic Bags

Most yards in Parot tend to be quite tidy; they are swept regularly by the women and girls of the house. However, there are no "official" places to dump garbage, and many public spaces are littered with a variety of objects, including plastic bottles, cans, glass bottles, paper, and plastic bags.





The plastic bags are easily blown by the wind and end up all over. They are not only an eyesore, but a health hazard for animals that eat them and for humans--rainwater collects on them and becomes a breeding place for mosquitoes.


The plastic bag problem is not unique to my area or to South Sudan. It's a problem in many countries, including the one where I used to live in West Africa.

I was encouraged to read last month on the Radio Tamazuj website that one of the states next to ours, Warrap, has banned the use of plastic bags.

I saw how this kind of legal measure can make a difference when I visited the country of Rwanda a few years ago. There, not only plastic bags are banned, but littering is as well. Rwanda is the cleanest African country I've seen, and it's also cleaner than many Western countries. I didn't see any litter at all when I was there.

Note: The pictures in this post were taken last month during one of the many times when the air was full of dust, which often happens during the first months of the year. The dust makes the sky very hazy.