Africa should come up with monthly Continental Clean-up Day Costa Matyavira

 Costa Matyavira

Countries such as Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Sierra Leone and Malawi which are already celebrating monthly national clean-up programmes should be the driving force in coming up with a united Africa clean-up day. However launching such as an exercise should be done with caution to save time and cost as most African countries are facing budget constraints. The major constraints are money and time. How can we save time and cost and avoid disagreements when launching an Africa clean-up activity? African countries, should bundle their cleaning campaign strategies and chose a single cleaning day, named Africa clean-up Day which is celebrated on a monthly basis. Besides choosing a Saturday as an African region clean-up day with a rationale that it coincides with World Clean-up Day, other simple and cheap methods that can be applied to select Africa cleaning day include probability, the set theory and voting. These methods save time, cost and reduce conflicts. The application of the above mentioned three methods have been explored using five African States for the purpose of easier analysis, understanding and getting accurate results. In this study our universal set is limited to five nations instead of fifty four African countries. However adjustments can be done on the number of elements in universal set and subsets when all African countries are included. Set theory Set theory is mathematical theory that focuses on various types of sets and their properties. A set is a collection of objects that share common characteristics. Objects in the set are called elements or members. Sets assists us to gather, group and analyse data that is comparable. Sets helps us to arrange objects of same nature so that they can easily be identified. A universal set represents all elements of a given collection for example {all ordinary level science textbooks}. We can have subsets of textbooks from the universal set such as {mathematics textbooks}, {chemistry textbooks}, {physics textbooks} and {biology textbooks}. It is clear that a subset is inside the universal set and has elements that are part of the universal set. From the above illustration it shows that Set theory is applied in our daily lives. Its application include in fruit shops where we sort fruits according to types or names for example oranges, bananas, apples and in companies where parking space is specifically arranged according to management, visitors, and customers. The following information describes how set theory is applied in this study. Scenario The following countries observe their cleaning campaigns on different days and time. Zimbabwe’s clean-up day is observed on first Friday of every month, Malawi celebrates on second Friday of every month, Zambia and Rwanda recognize the last Saturday of every month and Sierra Leone on the first Saturday of each month. Question 1 From the scenario apply set theory to determine a single clean-up day of all countries. Name the day Africa Clean-up Day. Solution; There are five countries which have launched their monthly national clean-up campaign, two countries celebrate on a Friday of every month (Zimbabwe and Malawi) and three countries observe on a Saturday of every month (Zambia, Rwanda and Malawi). They all want to come up with a single monthly clean-up day. Let’s have the universal set of countries engaged in a countrywide monthly clean-up exercise. Universal set= {Zimbabwe, Zambia, Rwanda, Malawi, and Sierra Leone} Let’s have subsets basing on cleaning days which are Friday or Saturday. Friday= {Zimbabwe, Malawi} Saturday= {Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Zambia} Conclusion; The choice now depends on which set has the highest values. In this case it is a Saturday which becomes our monthly clean-up campaign day. It becomes the Africa clean-up day. Probability. Sets makes it easier to apply probability theory. Probability is the chance that an event will occur or not. Its scale lies between 1 and 0. If we are sure that the event will happen the result is 1. If the event is not likely to happen we put a 0. Probability is expressed as the number of required outcomes divided by number of all possible outcomes. Possible outcomes represents all members of the set. Using the scenario on set theory; What is the probability of cleaning on a Friday? Solution; The total number of countries is five (universal set), 2 on Friday (first subset) and 3 on a Saturday (second subset). P (F) =number of required outcomes /number of possible outcomes. =2/5 =0.4 or 40% What the probability of cleaning on a Saturday? P(S) =3/5 =0.6 or 60% Results: The probability of cleaning on Saturday (60%) is greater the probability of cleaning on Friday (40%). Conclusion: The event has higher chances of happening on a Saturday than on a Friday so combined cleaning should be done on a Saturday. It becomes the Africa clean-up day. Conflict However a problem may arise when subsets have equal members. Let’s assume six countries are participating and after applying set theory, Friday get three countries and Saturday three. This becomes a win-win situation. It becomes impossible to select a single day between the two days. Even If probability is applied the results will be the same, which is 0.5 on Friday and 0.5 on Saturday. In such situations the resolution is to compare the pros and cons of each day so as to have a choice. On comparison of pros and cons, some people may argue that selecting a Friday is better because it is a working day in most countries. People will be geared to carry out a clean-up exercise compared to Saturday which is taken as a day to worship and rest by many. Some may argue that Saturday is better since most people will be free from work including most leaners. Everyone can easily participate in the cleaning campaign compared to a Friday where a lot of companies, schools and colleges will be open. It can be taken as a production day. All points are listed and a day with the most advantages will be chosen. Another resolution is to vote. A few representatives are chosen from each country to vote. This is done to save time and cost. A day with the highest votes will be chosen. Recommendations Africans should work as team and clean the ecosystem so as to promote a better future for the coming generations. According to the Herald in 2024 the SADC Environment patron, Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa recommended that healthy ecosystems were vital for a healthy planet and its inhabitants.

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