NEWS DESK
Molly’s overseas mission to stop germs BLAIRGOWRIE nursing student Molly Moore is still a year away from qualifying, but the 22-year-old hopes her proactive approach to healthcare will reduce death and disease in third world environments. After going on a study tour to Thailand last year with Deakin University, the former Rosebud Secondary College student decided that one of the simplest ways to prevent illness in poor communities was to teach better hygiene practices. She has now developed a hygiene education program and will go to the Tanzanian township of Arusha with two friends in February to volunteer at the Tengeru district hospital, and deliver the program to local children. “My first trip overseas was to Thailand and I was pretty surprised at the poor levels of hygiene practices and the gap in knowledge about the links to disease,” she said. “Simple hygiene measures such as washing hands regularly can reduce some of the spread of disease, but in some communities they are unaware of the links between hygiene and illness.” By working two jobs while studying, Molly has self-funded her trip to Tanzania, but is now raising $3000 for a Tanzanian orphanage to help out with medical equipment and school supplies. And to help, her boyfriend’s grandmother, Pat Tilley, has donated some handmade quilts which will be sold via a Facebook auction. Molly has a gofundme page at gofundme.com/mjmtanzaniaproject online. Liz Bell
Healthy habits: Molly Moore is taking her health program to Tanzania. Picture: Yanni
The problematic Pillars Stephen Taylor steve@mpnews.com.au THE overwhelming stench of urine and cigarettes greeted Mt Martha resident Peta Donaldson and her eightyear-old daughter when they visited the Pillars after a heatwave weekend’s crush of young visitors had departed. “The weather was calm, with not a breath of wind, yet the Pillars literally smelt like a hideous concoction of a public toilet and an oversized filthy ashtray,” she said last week. “Thousands of cigarettes were left on the cliff. Wafts of urine hit us in the face as we climbed the coastline. So
strong was the stench my daughter dry wretched – not ideal for a supposedly idyllic natural wonder for all to enjoy. “It is blatant. There is no respect, no regard, no care, no love.” Ms Donaldson, her husband Scott and neighbour Ben Davey collected 19 bags of rubbish over two hours on Monday left behind by crowds of visitors to the site. “It was strewn along nearby streets within walking distance of the Pillars and on the Pillars themselves,” she said. “We were shocked, disgusted, angered, bewildered and dismayed by the amount of rubbish left behind. The litter included glass and plastic
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“I felt intimidated,” he said. “They said they know where I live and they’d be back.” He said cars were blocking driveways – including 27 cars parked in his street on Thursday – and actions being taken by the shire were “pushing the problem into local streets”. “On the one hand the council says it is making the area safer for visits by installing bollards and reducing speed limits, but there are no bins, no toilets, signs or pathways saying where the Pillars are,” he said. “Nothing has improved; it’s only got worse for residents with the visitors doing burn-outs, causing dust and
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damage – and, of course – the council is nowhere to be seen.” Some of the young people were aggressive and drunk and urinated in the streets, he said. “There’s a demographic difference – they are not from Mt Martha and they have no respect.” Mr Davey said a $70 parking fine wasn’t too daunting when divided among four people in the one car – it’s similar to city parking fees. Ms Donaldson said signs banning alcohol were “not working”. “Did the rangers visiting the area yesterday report anyone for littering, drinking, illegal parking, or urinating in public?” Continued Page 16
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bottles, thousands of cigarette butts, aluminium cans, towels, underwear, clothes, thongs, sanitary pads, food wrappers/take away containers, Coke bottle full of urine, bags of litter collected but left behind, and pizza boxes. “Not only were we overwhelmed by the amount of rubbish, but we discovered that the Pillars has now been graffitied by vandals,” Ms Donaldson said. “Again, this simply reiterates several issues that are clearly not being addressed by council.” Ben Davey, of Deakin Drive, said he had been threatened by a group of young men parked in his street after they saw him speaking with police.
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Southern Peninsula News 17 January 2017
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