[Students planting bamboo tree]
[Allan Sila, 17-year-old student at Dandora Secondary School watering a bamboo tree]
[Drone shot of Dandora dumpsite and Dandora Secondary School]
[Dandora dumpsite]
Allan Sila (interview): “The dumpsite produces gas in the morning and also in the afternoon. Seeing is becoming a problem in the morning. They produce mist, they produce fog which really pollutes the environment, produces bad smells. It seems as if someone is living in a toilet whereby you are in a classroom, funny enough. But some of the challenges that really affect us is the smell coming out from dumpsite, the smoke. Burning of those elements in there really produces smoke that also triggers asthma. Asthma is a disease that is commonly known in Dandora Secondary School.”
[Students at Dandora Secondary School]
[Students tending to ground around bamboo trees]
[Eutychus Maina, principal at Dandora Secondary School, planting a bamboo tree with students]
Eutychus Maina (interview): “My motivation for initiating bamboo project in the school was to mitigate the effects of the dumpsite. It really pollutes the air that we breathe and with that I know it is going to reduce the cases of respiratory infections amongst the people in Dandora community.”
[Drone shots of Dandora dumpsite and Dandora Secondary School]
[Students planting a bamboo tree]
[Josiah Nyamwata, student at Dandora Secondary School planting a bamboo tree]
Josiah Nyamwata (interview): “As Dandora fraternity we have come to a conclusion to pick other species to come forward in order to plant them. These species include jacaranda and the grevillea. The reason behind why we are picking the species is that they are easy to plant, easy to access the seedlings and the other advantage is that the trees will be helpful in order to boost our air circulation around our school since we are near to a dumpsite. The bad fumes that are exhumed from the dumpsite usually affect our students.”
[Students planting trees]
[Students combing out weeds around bamboo trees]
[Aderiana Mbandi, Africa Regional Air Quality expert, UNEP, talking with another woman]
Aderiana Mbandi (interview): “The impacts of air pollution to all parts of our bodies including our brains, our organs, including our lungs, actually impact on even children before they are born, young children. It is really the best way to ensure that you do not breathe polluted air is to minimize your exposure. Now planting bamboo trees ensures that there is a barrier that is provided in terms of the air that is polluted coming through, especially when you look at the fine particles. As well as, of course the bamboo being a plant ensures that there is photosynthesis and in photosynthesis ensures that it is producing oxygen while also intaking carbon dioxide.”
[An air quality monitoring laboratory]
[Air quality experts testing air quality]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.