As a Peace Corps Paraguay volunteer, I ignited the idea for the waste/recycling awareness campaign with the local youth group I work with, Rotaract, a subsidiary of Rotary International for 18 to 30-year-olds. It began with an Asunción-based NGO, Ita Enramada, coming out to San Estanislao to speak about the importance of minding our environment and the tragic impact that the lack of information or recycling programs has had on it. The culmination of the campaign was two-fold. First, we held a competition between the high-schools to design a trashcan to be installed in a popular community park with a message about proper waste disposal or caring for our environment. Second, of the seven local high-schools competing, each was assigned a material from plastic to rubber to cloth, etcetera, to design saleable recycled crafts at a “Feria de Tesoros Reciclados” for a public street fair. Overall, I have never seen such creativity and assertiveness among the youth of my community. I was sincerely proud of everyone involved in organizing and participating in this campaign that I left wondering how I’ll ship all of my new handicrafts back to the States!

1. #winning #W
Nuestra Tierra Guaraní no es Basurero
The Wrapper that Unfolded a Campaign
Brienne Thomson, G-42 CED
6 KUAT | August 2014
Photos: Brienne Thomson

2. #winning#W
I stood across the trail from him, straddling
my bicycle and overlooking one of the few
topographically blessed regions of Paraguay.
We were waiting for the stragglers as they
pedaled around the rain-washed ruts up
the red dirt hill. I glanced over at my corrida
cohort as he pulled out a pack of gum
from his hydration pack. He chose a piece,
unwrapped it carefully and robotically flicked
the wrapper onto the sandy trail.
“Sí, sí, pero, así es la costumbre,” he responded
to my chiding with the same automatic
reply as I have heard time and time again in
Paraguay when I question the “customary”
disregard for the environment; the culture is
to blame and that’s excuse enough to carry
on.
Fortunately, my two-minute conversational
milestone with my cycling friend ended with
the little metal gum wrapper back in his
hydration pack pocket. But a milestone is a
milestone for a reason, and the community’s
concept of the impact of waste disposal
evolved. From conversing about the
common Paraguayan “custom” of throwing
plastic bottles out the windows of busses,
to burning trash, to community members
tossing their waste in the river thinking it will
just float away (bottles, batteries, diapers and
all), ideas began to take shape.
Rotaract, San Estanislao’s Rotary International
youth group, with whom I brainstorm about
civic service, were naturally fueled by the
issue and developed an impactful campaign
slogan, “Nuestra Tierra Guaraní no es
Basurero.” And to initiate the idea, a teacher
from a fellow PCV’s site introduced me to
Fundación Itá Enramada, a Paraguayan-run
NGO with a focus on informing people about
the effects of improper battery disposal
and other environmental concerns through
community workshops.
And with these puzzle pieces, a partnership
was linked between two inter-country
organizations, Roataract and Itá Enramada,
boosting the likelihood of sustainability; on
a relatable level for workshop attendees
and through a local connection for
future collaboration. But still, to impact
KUAT | August 2014 7
Photo: Brienne Thomson

3. #winning #W
the consciousness of a society without
authoritative measures, and in such a
significant way as to modify their actions and
routine, is an act of endurance and some
damn appealing incentive.
To avoid “researching the searched”, Rotaract
and I devised the best ways to get the
community involved, I contacted our always
obliging Community Economic Development
coordinator, Mrs. Joanna Arnold, and asked
her to delve into Environment’s resources
and provide me with something I could share
with Rotaract to simulate the campaign. I
received two thoroughly documented guides
about inciting awareness and action. The first
is a manual, Basura Cero= Escuela Saludable,
that includes activities and games focused on
managing trash and implementing recycling
across multiple Paraguayan community
organizations, from schools to government
institutions. The second, Capacitación de
Gestión de Desechos, is a guide about teaching
locals how to instill these ethics, complete
with influential statistics and PowerPoint
visuals.
We used the materials to hone our focus,
but constructed our campaign to satisfy
community needs. Taking advantage of the
snowball concept, Rotaract chose to center
the “reduce, reuse, recycle” campaign on
high-school students that focused on three
shortcomings to surmount:
1. Locals don’t realize the impact of waste
on the environment and subsequently the
health of community members.
2. Communities don’t incentivize “reduce,
reuse, recycle” efforts.
3. Locals don’t know how to salvage items
they deem to be waste.
8 KUAT | August 2014
Photo: Brienne Thomson

4. #winning#W
The physical objective was to clean up the
city, but the goal was, and remains to be, to
activate a social priority to not pollute the city
in the first place. To begin, we coordinated
with the founder of Fundación Itá Enramada,
Rubén Figueredo, to take the drive out to
San Estanislao from Asunción and enlighten
community members and committees from
seven local high schools on the environmental
repercussions of negligent waste disposal.
Next, we proposed follow-up challenges to
the students—which were pre-approved by
school directors—to get their brains and
bodies actively involved in accordance with
our goals:
1. Raise consciousness of the environmental
and health consequences through the
Fundación Itá Enramada talk.
2. Incentivize action and sustainability through
an inter-high school competition to design
a trash can to be installed in the riverside
community park with a message as a
permanent reminder as to the importance
of caring for our environment.
3. To assign each high school a material—
glass, plastic, metal, paper, wood or
rubber—as their‘matter of focus for a
kiosk full of saleable arts and crafts. The
culmination of the project would consist of
an art fair, Feria de Tesoros Reciclados, where
prizes would be awarded for the most
unique and useful stands and products,
with the goal of motivating the students
and faculty to formulate ways to reuse and
recycle.
An overview of organizational details the
Rotaract team accomplished prior to the fair
were:
•• Submit requests to the municipality to get
approval to install the trash cans in the
riverside park and to host the fair in the
community plaza.
•• Organize and promote the Itá Enramada
charla as well as secure a location (refer to
footnote).
•• Sell the high school directors on the idea
of participating and sending representative
students to the talk.
•• Present a PowerPoint with the rules,
regulations and assigned materials (chosen
by raffle) for the Feria de Tesoros Reciclados
following the charla.
•• Get trophies made, and to organize audio,
judges and judging criteria for the fair.
The event was a stunning success, and as a
lover of all things hecho a mano, just looking
out the window makes my home a happier
place to be.
Yet, despite the success of the campaign,
I want to reflect on some room for
improvement tidbits in hopes that a youth-directed
recycled art fair can open some
minds and spawn some creativity in other
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5. #winning #W
parts of Paraguay. Looking back, the trophies
awarded to the most innovative kiosks
and trash cans should have been made of
recycled items. Poor planning didn’t leave
youth group members with the time to
design them, which also meant they had to
pull from their savings to purchase them.
Secondly, we needed more promotion and
something to entice community member
involvement. My suggestion would be
to open a portion of the plaza to local
artisans and/or to host a Feria de Garage for
community members to trade and sell their
used goods.
And, with the success and amazing
innovation displayed at the fair, I am hoping
that following up and instigating another one
might just keep the snowball rolling for future
events. I plan to stoke the fire to perpetuate
the campaign in this week’s meeting.
Please feel free to contact me with
any questions if you have interest in
disseminating the message that Nuestra
Tierra Guaraní no es Basurero in your site.
Location Note: We held the Fundación Itá Enramada
charla in the local Mormon Church, which proved
to be a subsequent and positive eye-opener for
the community. The church has an equipped
auditorium with benches, a large projection screen,
speakers and a microphone – all items Rotaract
would have needed to rent – and offered it to the
group to use for free. Rotaract’s initial hesitation
about having a community event in a religious
setting were unjustified. The event was beneficial
for the “Tierra Guaraní” and religion-free.
10 KUAT | August 2014
Photo: Brienne Thomson