In the Montebello neighborhood, near the Pies Descalzos School in Quibdó, an environmental problem has been demonstrated with the mismanagement of solid waste. That is why, a group of graduated students, took the initiative to form a youth group, in order to sensitize the community about the importance of keeping the neighborhood clean, as well as how to contribute to environmental care from simple actions such as not throwing away the trash on the floor.

Next, Fayeison Mosquera Guerrero, who is currently in ninth grade; chosen as the group’s president, tells why they decided to bet on the promotion of environmental care, the activities they want to carry out and the challenges that await them:

“We are 11 young people, former students of the Pies Descalzos Foundation and residents of the Montebello neighborhood. We have realized that the foundation has contributed many positive things in the neighborhood and that in the evenings they lend us the space to play football. But we realized that many times when we finished we left dirty the space, the watchman reproached us and many of us got angry. One day we said that it was not necessary for him to tell us all the time that we cleaned the school, but that we ourselves had to worry about the space remaining clean. From there we decided that we would form a youth group that would focus on bringing a message to the inhabitants of the neighborhood about the importance of not throwing the garbage on the floor, or the streams. We want to teach people from the example that our neighborhood should stay clean, that we have cleaning rules, which we must comply with just like any visitor”.

The idea of our group is self – sustaining, therefore, all the material we collect is recyclable, and we will sell it to buy the implements we need every time we do the cleaning days. For a greater organization, in our group, we have a vice president, secretary, and treasurer.

“We want to work hand in hand with the foundation, receive their support and for us to collaborate in all kinds of activities that the foundation requires, so that together we face the challenges that arise, among these, to be able to change the thoughts of other people so that they do not throw trash on the floor or the streams.”