Instead of marching with placards and banners with irresolvable issues written on them, people this time are uniting for the benefit of themselves as well as of the nation.
Titled Clean up Nepal, the campaign was inspired and initiated by Neelam Pradhananga, a Nepali national now working and studying in Sydney, Australia, with a vision to make Nepal clean. [break]
A Clean up Nepal Unit, made of members of the Australia-based not-for-profit organization called Small Earth Australia, and an NGO based in Kathmandu, The Small Earth Nepal, has been formed to coordinate the campaign.
The campaign is being conducted as part of Clean up The World weekend, which is organized in many countries all across the world in the third weekend of September. However, the campaign encourages groups to continue with the activities throughout the year.
The campaign is being conducted on September 21 from 11 to 4pm. Many local organizations all across Nepal have partnered with Clean up Nepal Unit for the day.
“Groups like Keep Itahari Clean Community Education Campaign, established in January 2013, actively involved in cleaning their communities, and the Rotaract Clubs are also joining in, with their members as the volunteers,” shares Anukampa Bista, Clean up Nepal Program Officer.
Volunteers interested in joining the team have registered online or through the phone and have been designated their sites and given orientation for the cleaning. Streets, rivers, and other places near their homes are the sites. Waste management workshops and trainings are also being conducted for the interested people by The Small Earth Nepal.
Talking about the plans with the campaign in the upcoming years, Bista says, “The program doesn’t require funding from external sources. Local communities are conducting the campaigns with their own resources. This will ensure the sustainability of the venture in the long run.”
Is Clean up Nepal a once-only event?
Anne Jones, a member of Small Earth Australia and the Clean up Nepal Unit shares, “Clean up Nepal expects that clean up activities such as this happening on Saturday will continue on a regular basis across the nation and will inspire others in local communities to join the regular clean up programs in their vicinity or to start their own local clean up activity.”
“By these actions, we aim to influence government decision makers to move ahead to address the solid waste management problems faced by communities across Nepal,” she adds.
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