Jean-Christian Ndoki, SJ
Benjamin Kataliko and Benjamin Kambale, students from Collège Boboto, a Jesuit high school in Kinshasa, DR Congo (DRC), won first place in a national poster contest on nature and the environment. Under the supervision of a school professor, Mr Dénis Nzeza, they designed a poster on plastic waste that showed not only ways to recycle plastic waste, but also the need to change attitudes.
Plastic waste is a scourge in Kinshasa as this pollutes rivers, reduces soil fertility, clogs the sewers, and contributes to the development of various diseases. The students depicted plastic waste management practices such as preferring glass packaging and reducing the use of plastic packaging, stopping the use of plastic bags in supermarkets and using reusable bags or basket, and providing special bins for plastic to be collected by a recycling enterprise.
The NGO Investing in People, in collaboration with the Ministry of Scientific Research, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, and some other NGOs active in DRC, has held the national poster competition every year since 2014 as part of the Week of Science and Technology in DRC. For its third edition from 11 to 13 April 2016, the theme was “Nature and Environment,” echoing the Paris Climate Change Agreement during COP 21.
The national poster competition was one among other activities during the 2016 Week of Science and Technology to raise awareness on concerns related to nature and the environment. The poster has to offer a long lasting, innovative, and appropriate answer to a practical problem regarding the environment.
Other poster submissions covered a wide range of environmental concerns such as erosion, deforestation, flooding, methane gas, pollution by heavy metals, or the rational use of wood shavings. The young participants were remarkably creative and enthusiastic.
After public voting on Facebook and the vote of the jury during a poster presentation ceremony, Boboto won the first place for the public vote, and the second place for the vote of the jury.
After the competition, now comes the implementation.
