Asma al-Mohattwari
In a time where Yemen is living its most difficult moments and conflicts from outside and inside damage it, a group of youth have decided to make a deference by cleaning the capital Sana’a.
Waste is piling up in the streets of Sana’a every day under a government unable to remove it due to the lack of oil and gas. Three initiatives, For My Country, Yemen Starts from Here, and Hemmat Shab, joined forces to gather community youth and hit the streets to clean up the garbage that continues to pile up in the city. Al-Bohra sect from Haraz village has begun to clean the streets of Sana’a, paying all automotive costs and workers wages for a year after the failure and inability of the government to provide basic services. Al-Bohra has sparked attention and has now kicked off similar community initiatives in Sana’a and other cities to keep the streets clean.
Nasser Saeed, from the Yemen Starts from Here Initiative, said that the cleaning campaign started on Monday May 4th and continued for three days. They targeted the streets of Hadda. “We, al-Bohra and more initiatives managed Thursday to clean all the capital’s streets.”
Aiya Al-Kaff, from the For My Country Initiative, said that Al-Bohra was the one who encouraged them to start cleaning and provide something for Yemen in these hard days. “We started it to encourage all people to care for their neighborhood. At the beginning no one interacted with us, but then some of the citizens helped us in cleaning.”
We’am Al-Sulaihi said that the success was because people are one hand to build a new Yemen. “The garbage accumulated will damage nature and cause diseases, so we all have to put our efforts to clean the street.”
This campaign comes in response to several messages by telecommunications networks to clean up the capital of the country and not to wait for the official effort that seems unable because of the constant raids and lack of fuel.
