NO CASH CO-FINANCING IN THIS PROJECT

The Thrimshung Women's Group (TWG) is a voluntary group started in 1999 led by the wife of the Chief of Police. It was then formally established in July 2000 and has come a long way in improving the general life of the Royal Bhutan Police (RBP) families.

Their camp is an ideal place to pilot a backyard composting project for the following two reasons:
1. There are 457 households, one barrack for bachelor policemen and prison kitchen to produce sufficient supply of kitchen wastes;
2. RBP discipline will ensure that families segregate their waste properly into biodegradable and non-degradable.

The problem or challenge the project intends to address is that of the increasing amount of solid waste in Thimphu on one hand and making people understand that waste can be converted to wealth. The project also aims to empower the women's group. It is an experimental project, which aims to induce a gradual change, as the working model would be understood in a better way than the general concept.

Solid waste management so far has been the concern of Government entities and the NGOs in Bhutan. The communities as well as individuals have not taken it as their responsibility. The notion that Government is the sole service provider be it in terms of solid waste management or other services should change. Concerns such as the increasing amount of waste piling in the landfill, clogging the drains and rotting wastes along the roadside need to be taken up by the communities at a local level.

By the end of the project, the project aims to achieve the following objectives:
1. 50% of the waste coming out of the police colony would be reduced, i.e. from truck locads to two truckloads;
2. 400 women and 150 men would have been trained in compost making;
3. Members of 457 households, 2 barracks and inmates of 1 detention centre would have learnt about segregation of waste into degradable and non-degradable;
4. Community-based back yard composting model established;
5. Resource recovery through processing/composting of degradable/organic waste and recycling/sale of non-degradable waste to get an extra income and make the project sustainable and
6. Strengthening primary and secondary stakeholder and facilitating women empowerment through capacity building.

The following project activities are conducted by the TWG:

1. Construction of Backyard Composting Shed and the backyard composting project became operational in September 2006;
2. Conducted Environment Awareness Workshop on 15th August 2006 for about 100 women of the Royal Bhutan Police Community to raise consciousness on waste management and backyard composting. The workshop covered topics on segregation of different types of household wastes; why and how to segretate household waste, steps to composting, roles and responsibilities of RBP community members in managing the compost project;
3. A-day long activity on waste management was also carried out during the 'Peer Leaders Workshop on Domestic Violence, Crisis and Trauma Management. The women were sensitized on waste segregation, management and composting;
4. RBP School Children's Meet - As a part of the Scout Cubs Course conducted at Zilnon Namgyeling School (RBP) during the summer break from 2nd - 8th July 2007, a day long activity to waste management was organized for 60 school children attending the course on 6th July 2007. An Art Competition was also held among the cubs on waste management. The cubs were taken for a field trip to see the Waste Management Program carried out by the TWG in the Bhutan Police Campus. The members to the children on how the waste is managed and income generated. After the field trip, a drawing competion was held among the cubs. The other RBP School Children are also encouraged to learn about waste management and contribute towards reducing waste in their communities.

New Developments and unexpected difficulties/problems:
while implementing the project, the TWG encountered the following difficulties such as:

1. Mobilizing the full participation and support of a very large RBP community with as many as 450 households is seen as a challenge;
2. Frequent transfers among the RBP personnel could affect the continuity of the program;
3. without incentives, the participation of the women in the actual process of making compost is very difficult as it involves very tedious manual process and long hours.

Actions taken to solve them:
The Camp Adjutant's Office has been requested to mobilize the participation of the women in the waste management process. The line duty visits each and every households on a regular basis informing them on waste segregation, discarding their wastes in the appropriate compost bins.

Two women caretakers of the Compost, are being paid on a monthly basis for making and taking care of the compost.

Remarks/Lessons Learned:
The TWG hopes to share their lessons learnt at the end of the project through a compilation of lesson learnt/best practices/challenges both in Dzongkha (national language) and English.

TWG hopes to receive full hearted participation and support from the other women on this waste management programme.