You know those people who throw trash out of the car window while driving down the Interstate...

I may become one of those after two years of living here...


This is a photograph that I sneakily snapped this morning (there were no small children around to bum-rush my camera!). I walk by (multiple times) this sea of trash every day on my way to vegetable/fruit stand and the PC office. Here, in The Gambia, (and in other parts of Africa), trash is disposed of differently than in the States---or rather, it's placed in a designated area that usually is fairly public, near residential living quarters or where children play, and is then burned. On several occasions, I've been told by fellow Volunteers, PC staff, and Gambians that I can literally throw my trash down to the ground at any time as it does not matter here. (I have never seen a public waste recepticle here on the streets).

After almost 3 months of being in-country, I still cannot yet bear to throw my trash out the window or toss it over my shoulder. I suppose one day I will break down and do it, but until then I eat my Mars bar (yes, apparently, you start eating candy bars when you lack protein), take the empty wrapper, and hold it tightly in my hand until I can throw it away in the trash bin at the hostel/my house. Deep down, I know though, that my trash, that I consciously tried to dispose of properly, is then collected and probably thrown onto the pile you see here and burned later in the week.

What can I do?