The mosaic of Stairway contains many pieces separately put into place by visitors that have granted their time and effort while staying here. The latest addition to the big picture has been a waste management program designed by the Mexican art director, Nallely Caceres. She planned a garbage separation system, storage for recyclables, a compost and a small garden to be fertilized by the compost, and having everything finished in theory she involved the children in the project.
The mosaic of Stairway contains many pieces separately put into place by visitors that have granted their time and effort while staying here. The latest addition to the big picture has been a waste management program designed by the Mexican art director, Nallely Caceres, with the distinct passion of the Spanish-blooded and the flair for esthetics of the artist. She planned a garbage separation system, storage for recyclables, a compost and a small garden to be fertilized by the compost, and having everything finished in theory she involved the children in the project. For two days academic classes were set aside to educate and encourage the children to be active participants in the preservation of our world, an excellent topic considering the theme of the ICare camps, Our Climate, Our Children, Our Choice, and each of the children got a bean seed to plant and take care of. They got engaged in separating the garbage into organic waste, plastic, cans & glass, paper & cardboard and dangerous & sanitary waste and teams were assigned to empty the bins and to put the garbage in its right place, either the compost, the storage house or the garbage dump. The garden with their bean seeds quickly became a popular place to work and in no time they also planted corn and tomatoes to add to the Stairway-grown produce - placed in the heart of the foundation the beauty of it inspired the children to name it the Art Garden and everyday they water their individual plant, caring for it and watching it grow.
The project of the waste separation was rounded off by a small treasure hunt where the children had to collect and manage garbage at different posts and in groups they were quizzed on their knowledge about the program. In order to implement the system and inform visitors to come about the separation the children came up with songs to explain it and using instruments made out of garbage found around the Stairway grounds they presented their musical products to the first batch of visitors.
In addition to the waste management the children also did some creative recycling using the plastic, cans, cardboard and paper that was collected by themselves. Using only scissors, pliers and a little bit of scotch tape they made products beyond the imagination of adults out of simple garbage. They made earrings and key chains out of cut up cans, beautifully shaped and in soft designs, they made candle holders out of cans and decorative lampshades out of recycled paper and even after the time reserved for it was long over the children kept going.
Making the waste management program a regular part of the everyday mosaic at Stairway will help save the environment but it will also make the kitchen capable of using our own produce grown with natural fertilizer, it will give the children a bigger variety of crafts to make and sell and most importantly it will ensure that when the children leave Stairway we pass on a group of enlightened and environmentally concerned adolescents - it has certainly been one of the most colorful pieces of art added to the entity in a long time.
Volunteer Handbook 2011
