Shelterplast

Together with the villagers in Msumarini, we want to collect and recycle plastic waste and use it to build safe shelters. In doing so, we not only contribute to the environment, but also create education, jobs and employment.

Together with the residents of Msumarini, we want to free the surrounding nature from plastic waste. For this purpose, we will carry out collection campaigns at regular intervals, divided into teams. The waste should not only be collected, but also professionally sorted. For this purpose, the necessary infrastructure for a professional disposal point in the village centre has to be created.

An important part of the process is the transfer of knowledge. We want to show the residents why the proper disposal of plastic is so important and why the waste should not be burnt in the open. Due to a lack of disposal options, plastic is burnt in gardens today. The resulting aerosols enter the respiratory tract and cause illness. We would like to counteract these health-endangering consequences in a preventive way.

In close contact with our production partner Andreas from Smart Wood Solution, we are working on the development of suitable building blocks and profiles. In doing so, we make sure to use only as many additives as necessary. Nevertheless, the material must meet certain criteria, such as weather resistance, UV resistance and salt resistance. Integrated plug-in modules are designed to facilitate the construction of the house and reduce the need for additional materials.

In our opinion, all people in this world have a right to protection and security. We associate this with a safe home for all. Together with the residents of Msumarini, we would like to build a shelter for the families from the building blocks and thus enable them to build a foundation for further expanding and furnishing their own home. The efforts of the helpers that go along with this are to be recognised through fair remuneration. In this way, we not only provide accommodation, but also create jobs and employment.

Driving on the road from Mtwapa to Kilifi for the first time, one hardly suspects human civilisation in the green thicket of trees, bushes and palm trees to the right of the road, yet the green wall is only a narrow strip and behind it opens up wide country with fields, palm trees and villages all the way to the beach. Msumarini is one such village. It belongs to Kikambala, Kilifi County. Most of the people here are members of the Chonyi tribe. The village centre is formed by a shop and some houses. When you move away from it, it becomes visible that the houses and huts are spread over a large area and hide behind palm trees, trees, bushes and hedges.

The village makes a sleepy impression. Only barefoot pre-school children in shirts play in front of the houses made of mud and coral stone on the natural street. Those who have a job away from home are up long ago and have left the village on foot or by motorbike; shepherds have driven the cattle to pasture early in the morning. Those who have stayed behind do the household chores, gradually set off to work in the fields or go to the beach to fish or look for shells on the coral reef. Much later, vegetables and fruits are offered on stalls in front of individual houses and huts.

In the afternoon, children and later also teenagers come home from school in droves. They wear school uniforms - in bright colours the primary school children, in shades of grey or blue the young people from the secondary school. In the late afternoon, when those who have been out also return, the village is lively. People sit in front of their huts and houses, men sit in the mnasi den and drink palm wine. Fine fragrances permeate the whole village. Cooking is going on in front of the huts. Fried cassava or potato pieces with hot spices, beans and chapati, fish, roasted corn on the cob or boiled maize are offered. Children play and run and tussle. You see games and toys here like you haven't seen in Europe for decades: tyre beating and rubber mitts.

On the natural road that leads from the main road to the village, further towards the beach, you pass a huge wasteland. It is the legacy of a foreign investor. Nothing has been done here for years. You reach the beach through the area of the former magnificent Paradise Hotel. Although individual parts of the building have been used again and again in recent years, the hotel is no longer in operation and is only a puny remnant of the once extensive complex. Until 2002, the hotel had been the largest employer in Msumarini and the tourists had brought foreign currency into the local economy.

The beach is mostly empty on weekdays - except for a few truants and two or three women cleaning fish and a few stray dogs. Rarely do you see tourists. The boys look for something useful in the plastic waste that washes up. The plastic does not only come from the sea, but also from rubbish left on the beach and then washed away or thrown into the sea at high tide. Litter is waste that is dropped. On the beach, on the street, in the field, where you are standing.

At sunset, I usually sit down with the men at the mango tree. This is on the western edge of the village. You have a good view of the football field and inland, where the sun sets fire-red behind the hills. To end the evening here and drink palm wine is a good way for me to get in touch with the men. Not all of them speak English - and I don't speak it very well - but the palm wine makes you happy...

Here, people speak mainly Swahili or Kichonyi. Those who didn't go to school don't speak English. Most of the waitresses don't speak English. I speak Swahili when I order mnasi. I know that much. Chibonge speaks fluent German. And Matano speaks Hebrew! Matano rarely has money. When he thinks I'm in Msumarini, he shows up here. He knows I'll pay him for a bottle. Matano was first a gardener in Paradise, and because he learned Hebrew so quickly in contact with the tourists, he soon became a tourist guide. Since then, you don't get very far in Msumarini with Hebrew.