Children plant bamboo to combat dire air pollution from Kenya’s biggest dumpsite

A school right next to Kenya's largest dumpsite has started planting bamboo to improve air quality. Foul-smelling fumes from the waste have been affecting the students' health. More than 100 bamboo trees dot the mini forest created around the Dandora Secondary School, located east of Kenya’s capital Nairobi next to the country’s largest dumpsite. The dump was declared full 23 years ago, yet hundreds of trucks still drive in daily to heap more waste. "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," complains 17-year-old student Allan Sila. "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." So this bamboo project is their way of fighting back. “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,” says Principal Eutychus Maina. Bamboo trees are hailed as one of nature’s finest air purifiers, according to UNESCO. The seedlings planted in August last year are slowly towering high against the suffocating fumes. The public-funded school has faced its fair share of challenges. They rely on donations to afford the seedlings that retail at 400 Kenya shillings ($3) each. But the school management is determined to keep going until the entire 900-meter wall that separates it and the dumpsite is covered by bamboo trees. Dandora School is also planting other species of trees to create better air circulation. They have planted more than 4,000 trees of different species, which include jacaranda and grevillea. This article was provided by The Associated Press.