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HBS
Students Ask:
WHAT
ARE WE DOING TO OUR SEASHORE?
Looking towards the sea
as far as your eyes can see
where your head can relax
and forget everything even the tax
but our minds couldn't accept
the scene that we had to reflect
And when we knew that few do care
we hoped that someone could free us from that nightmare
the pollution of the sea had made us blind
and we hope that someone could help us find a way to clean the sea and
make it fine.
By Shirene Sousi, HBS
| That's
what we, Grade 7 in H.B.S. (Haj Bahaa School) are hoping for- a way
to clean the sea. Our project began with a simple question: "What
Are We Doing to Our Seashore?" We thought about that question for
a long time and finally we decided to study the seashore. It was a
simple decision- we grew up in Saida, played on it's shore and swam
in its waters, but we don't do that very often anymore. Our first destination was the Saida seashore. We knew that it wasn't exactly perfect, but once we got there we realized what a mess it really was. Garbage was everywhere and even sewage water was released onto the shore. It wasn't a pretty sight and we felt a responsibility to do something about it. After all it's our city and our sea and now, our project. |
our students visited the Saida dump and this is what they saw and smelt |
|
look at the garbage |
In
our attempt to understand the causes of the problems facing the seashore,
we contacted the municipality in Saida and asked two of its members to inform us about the causes and the solutions proposed in our local community. The Saida seashore faces many problems. Two of them are serious; garbage coming from the dump and sewage water. Saida dump is a large mountain of garbage and it is located right on the shore. Every passing wave removes a piece of that mountain and takes it into the sea. In our study, we discovered that nothing much is being done about the dump. There are some undergoing studies but they are only on paper. |
| We
found out that there was a water treatment plant under construction
in Saida. That was good news, and we decided that it was our responsibility
to visit that plant and find more about its future plans. We visited that site and were informed that this plant was designed to construct a collection system of wastewater and treat this wastewater before releasing it 400 meters away from the shore. Although the water treatment plant doesn't solve the whole problem, it was a good start. |
sewage! |
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Saida castle |
We
have been involved in our project for quite time and we believe that
as students we can make a difference. We conducted a two- part survey
in our school; one part designed for our schoolmates and the other
for the parents. As a result we found that people have a certain degree of awareness about their environmental problems, but it's not enough. We decided to submit a recommendation to the local authorities urging them to take initiative and issue strict laws that can reduce the damage done. |
What about us?
We can do something.
We can start in our school community with an environmental club.
We will.
By Zeina Hariri, Rola Khlifa, Mohammad Atalla and all Grade 7 B students