Egypt: Cleanliness Day on April 10

On January 1st of this year Tarek Amr's Change the Channel initiative took off. A month later, Inji's Going Local campaign hit the blogosphere. More initiatives followed on various levels of development starting from anti-harassment and political awareness to culture , anti-terrorism, and freedom of creativity and expression. Now, Mostafa Ahmed and more than 4,500 enthusiasts kicked off Egypt's first Cleanliness Day on April 10.

On their Facebook group, the creators of the event said:

تعالوا ننظف بلدنا بإيدينا تعالوا نغير طباعنا للأحسن تعالوا نجمل شوارعها تعالو نزين ميادينها
هو يوم واحد
مش مطلوب منك غير انك تتعاون معنا وتنشر الموضوع ويوم العيد تتطلع تنظف الشارع اللى انت فيه انت وكل أهالى الشارع
اخوانى الأعزاء
أدعو كل طوائف الشعب للتعاون فى هذا اليوم ادعو كل الأحزاب ان تتبنى هذه الحملة أدعو كل المدارس أدعو كل الجامعات أدعو كل الإتحادات الطلابية أدعو كل الطلاب أدعو الأمهات أدعو كل الأباء أدعو كل الوزارات انت تتعاون معنا وان تتبنى الحملة وتنشرها
ياشباب مصر حافظو اعلى مصر
ياأولاد مصر نظفوا مصر
ياأولاد مصر دللوا على حبكم لمصر
Let's clean up Egypt with our own hands. Let's weed off our negative habits for a healthy looking Egypt. On this one day, let's brush the dust off its face. All you need to do is say “I DO”. Spread the word. Pick up garbage from your street. My dear fellow Egyptians, we call on you to cooperate with us regardless of your geographic location, beliefs, age, education, or job. This is an invitation to every parent, student union, ministry, and individual to endorse our initiative and prove their love of Egypt.
Egyptian youth, protect Egypt.
Children of Egypt, clean it up.
Prove your love for Egypt!

On April 10, the campaign was put to action in El Sharkia, El Mansoura, Agouza & Dokki , Al Arish, Heliopolis & Nasr City, Suez, Al-Haram (Pyramids Area), 6th of October, Al Zawya Al Hamra, Ain Shams University, Maadi, Helwan, New Cairo, Matareya, Shobra El Kheima, Meet Ghamr, Mohandeseen, and many more areas.

The campaign was endorsed by the media and the Ministry of Environmental Affairs:

In frame of Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs’ efforts to encourage voluntary activities in environmental field, Friday 10th April will witness the first celebration with Cleanliness Day, that will be held under the auspices of Eng. Maged George, Minster of State for Environmental Affairs. The idea was declared by a group of voluntary youths on a Face Book's site called Parliament.

Eng. Maged George assured that 10th April will launch a continuous campaign for cleanliness in all Governorates of Egypt as the Ministry supports executers of the campaign with in-kind contribution such as 300 large plastic containers for wastes’ collection in coordination with Authorities of Municipalities in Governorates and Regional Branches, in addition to 500 T-Shirts and Caps to be distributed on participated youths in the celebration.

With such an overwhelming response, a clean Egypt is not an impossible dream:

تخيلوا معايا لو كل شارع فى مصر اجتمع شبابه بنات ووولاد وعزموا على تنظيفه هتبقى مصر كلها فى وقت واحد نظيفة بس ده مش هيحصل قبل حركة جريئة من الصرف الصحى ومياه الشرب عشان يصلحوا البايظ فى الشوارع قبل ما العيال يتعبوا يا عينى ويضيع تعبهم على الفاضى
Imagine what would happen if all the young Egyptians residing in the same street decided to unite and clean it up. Egypt would be spotless clean in one day; but, this dream cannot be realized unless we have a proper sewage system or else their efforts will be in vain.

2 comments

  • mohamed el masry

    أشكرك على تعاونك معنا فى نشر الحملة
    ارجو ان نستفيد من أفكارك و مقترحاتكم جميعا لنهضة بلدنا
    تصديقا لقولة تعالى
    ان الله لا يغير ما بقوم حتى يغيرو ما بانفسهم
    صدق الله العظيم

    منسق الحملة
    محمد أشرف المصرى

  • sameh hakim

    thanx marwa for this great page and for ur efforts with our group

    sameh hakim
    The admin of the group

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