From 14 – 26 June 2004, groundWork organized a delegation of three environmental justice activists from South Africa who toured different parts of the United States and met with communities facing similar environmental injustices. Focusing on the issue of waste, the South African activists learned how grassroots groups were dealing with the effects of industrial pollution by challenging polluting industries and by proposing alternatives to environmentally hazardous waste disposal.
The South African activists visited Linden, Newark, and Camden in New Jersey (14-16 June), Oakland, Berkley, and San Francisco in the Bay Area, California (17-22 June), and Los Angeles, California (23 -26 June). In each location, groundWork’s community partner organizations helped to host the South African delegates, sharing their stories and skills.
The aims of the exchange were to make connections between communities, in SA and the USA, faced with similar environmental problems and to share knowledge and expertise, helping enrich their local struggles and larger campaigns. Members of the delegation heard from community organizers who have battled to improve the monitoring of polluting industries and block their expansion. They also met with local residents who have put forward alternatives to the disposal of waste in residential areas, proposing better urban planning in Newark and San Francisco and developing improved recycling efforts in Berkeley. To enrich their technical knowledge, the delegation spoke with landfill mangers operating outside of Los Angeles. In each location, the South African activists shared their own stories, speaking to community members about the lessons they have learned through their particular struggles. Exchanges like this are important because they tangibly enrich the local struggles taking place in the United States and South Africa while forging linkages that strengthen the environmental justice movement in each country.
For Biographies of the SA Delegates on the Waste Exchange go here
For Profiles of the US host organizations go here
Posted by Toussaint at July 19, 2004 12:47 PM