On 16th September, Global Peace Women (GPW) Sunshine Family Volunteers (SFV) from Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and Uganda joined people worldwide to commemorate World Cleanup Day 2023. The world-changing idea to unite millions for the environmental conservation cause began in 2008 in Estonia. In this European nation, 50,000 people joined to clean up the entire country, collecting over 10,000 tons of trash in just five hours. Noting the negative impacts on health, social and economic wellbeing posed by a polluted environment in their communities, SFV coordinators Jalia Muntu, Christine Amutuhaire, Muniratu Jibrin, Everline Obondo, Milliam Chilembba and Enelless Pemba, together with members of their SFV clubs joined in this year’s cleanup activities from their different countries.
The SFV coordinators engaged in cleaning hospital and church compounds, playgrounds, and city streets and planting trees. The cleanup exercises were geared towards promoting good hygiene, cleanliness, proper waste disposal, and a culture of service and collaboration among the participants while promoting peace.
“My favorite moment was when I saw women with small children strapped on their backs participating in the cleanup. Considering it was voluntary, I was impressed with their passion for their neighborhood,” shared Everline.
“In Malawi, we held a cleanup at a hospital, and we set up one big bin to collect trash to recycle in the future,” said Enelless.
The coordinators used the opportunity to share more about GPW and SFV’s model of promoting peaceful coexistence through family volunteering with their community members. The day also served as a source of inspiration to the participants to be more in touch with conserving their environment while living for the greater good.
“We need more of these activities and to involve children in schools to help them understand the importance of volunteering,” Dacshan Kamora, a 16-year-old volunteer from Uganda, said.
The GPW SFV activities create an avenue for the participants to learn and experience values with their families while promoting a culture of family service. It provides an opportunity to improve family relationships and for community members to collaborate, solve local problems, and uphold peace. This year’s international collaborations from the five countries that participated in World Cleanup Day herald our efforts in engaging SFV global families in every community to address environmental issues globally. View past SFV projects and contact an SFV team leader in your country to join our SFV clubs.
Kenya:
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