Community waste management in Yupukari.
There is no government supported activity for waste collection and management in Yupukari. As a result, there is a tendency for waste such as plastic, tins, glass, batteries and paper to accumulate around households or to be dumped randomly along paths. This was not only proving to be a major health hazard through direct (most children are bare foot) and indirect injury (waste is burnt in open fires releasing carcinogenic and other toxic fumes and ash), but was having a growing psychological effect, as the once pristine village was becoming gradually overwhelmed with non-degradable waste and toxic ash. Yupukari has recently organised a ‘village clean’ up, where community members all got together to collect the waste from the village and dispose of it safely away from the village. This made people develop a more positive perception of themselves and their village.

Aerial shot of Yupukari village.

Resilient story from a participant in a Closed Community for Vulnerable Women.
As a young woman I had great plans for my life but due to a life experiencing abuse, my plans were shattered. A shattered early life will not prevent me from moving forward and upward. The positive support I have received is giving positive energy not to look back at the past but to forge a better future. I am proud today I am a resilient woman.

These pictures reflect the positive energy, hopes and aspirations that the women developed on the ARCLIGHT project.

Every experience makes you grow in a rural Indo coastal community.
The community of Enmore is diverse and multiracial now. I am proud to say it has
evolved. It has 2 primary schools, supermarkets, pharmacy, post office, internet cafe and not least the polyclinic. We are very glad and appreciate the clinic because in times gone by we would have to go all the way to Georgetown for treatment. Now we are enjoying easy access to healthcare and counselling. The community like any other is faced with challenges. Crime is still being committed here but is not so prevalent. The people are very hard working and can be relied on to help one another during good and bad times. The closure of the estate was an eye opener to us all. Now you can find a lot of women who were stay at home moms working alongside their husbands to make a better life for themselves and their families. Many of the skills they had that were dormant are now revived. I have learnt that we can handle every experience we encounter in our community.

The estate that has now been closed.

Optional Activity (5 minutes)

Read the following blog post by Ann Mitchell to get more insight into the Enmore community and to gain an understanding of how these changes might be visible from the outside

http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/ARCLIGHT/index.php/2020/05/22/reflections-of-enmore-community/