Day #1
Day #1: Following The River
Today we visited three different areas of the river. We did this to understand how the inexistence of a basic sewage system affects the small stream going through the neighborhood. We visited three different parts of the stream. The first stop was at the hill, within the Atlantic Forest. At this part, the entire atmosphere felt amazing, the jungle around me, the small waterfalls, all was so preserved, beautiful and peaceful.
But then we went over to our second stop, to see the part of the stream that goes through the neighborhood. This was a completely different experience from the first one. The water had a very strong odor of sewage, a dark murky brown color, and I could even see about 5 tapeworms having a swim in there. This is the sad consequence of not having a basic sewage system for a community of about 10,000 people that is still growing. Before this, I was told how the majority of the people would dump their waste into the stream. This is understandable since most of the people living here can’t afford to build a tank for sewage collection.
The third part was the part where the stream empties out into the ocean. I consider this to be the most dangerous part of the stream, because many people, unaware of the pollution, will let their kids play in the stream water.
This is a huge issue that Maresias is being faced with, one, people not knowing that the water is polluted and two, people who are polluting the water not knowing how they are affecting the community. This affects the community as a whole. One thing that is important to know about Maresias is how the economy is based on tourism, Maresias depends on tourism. If the stream keeps polluting the ocean the way it is right now, the beach won't be suited for tourists.
We found more evidence of this when we went and interviewed local fishermen.
We asked them “How is the polluted ocean affecting your life?” One of the men responded how many years ago they would catch 5 times more fish in a day then they would today. I found this to be a great example of how pollution affects the locals.
After these interviews, I went back to our house here in Maresias and prepared some interview questions for tomorrow as we will be interviewing two local activists.
But then we went over to our second stop, to see the part of the stream that goes through the neighborhood. This was a completely different experience from the first one. The water had a very strong odor of sewage, a dark murky brown color, and I could even see about 5 tapeworms having a swim in there. This is the sad consequence of not having a basic sewage system for a community of about 10,000 people that is still growing. Before this, I was told how the majority of the people would dump their waste into the stream. This is understandable since most of the people living here can’t afford to build a tank for sewage collection.
The third part was the part where the stream empties out into the ocean. I consider this to be the most dangerous part of the stream, because many people, unaware of the pollution, will let their kids play in the stream water.
This is a huge issue that Maresias is being faced with, one, people not knowing that the water is polluted and two, people who are polluting the water not knowing how they are affecting the community. This affects the community as a whole. One thing that is important to know about Maresias is how the economy is based on tourism, Maresias depends on tourism. If the stream keeps polluting the ocean the way it is right now, the beach won't be suited for tourists.
We found more evidence of this when we went and interviewed local fishermen.
We asked them “How is the polluted ocean affecting your life?” One of the men responded how many years ago they would catch 5 times more fish in a day then they would today. I found this to be a great example of how pollution affects the locals.
After these interviews, I went back to our house here in Maresias and prepared some interview questions for tomorrow as we will be interviewing two local activists.
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