Clean Sharm Clean UpDespite summer heat and summer holidays Sharmers once again came together for the monthly Clean Up – this time truly a giant task.

For the second time Rowesat was targeted; the terrain between the residential and the Industrial area proved to be a real gargantuan enterprise.  Many residents from the houses on the right and the workshops on the left apparently use the vast open place between them as a garbage dump.

Thanks to the summer season many of the faithful Clean Sharm activists were on holiday, but as always we were helped by industrious workers from SES, led by Essam Shabann and a team from the Rowesat City Council, lead by Amid Hassan. Passers-by and Bedouin kids grabbed rubbish sacks and gave a helping hand. In the end around 80 people were shovelling trash into bags, which were emptied directly into the pink SES trucks.  Within one and a half hours the hardworking group of dedicated people, assisted by two big trucks, managed to turn a semi rubbish dump into something looking, at least, remotely clean.

The  purpose of the Clean Ups is not only to clean an area but also to get attention and raise awareness. In Rowesat some of the group armed with gloves and rubbish bags showed a letter entitled, ‘Cleanliness comes from faith’ to Egyptian and Bedouin residents who showed an interest in the Clean Sharm activity. Generally this was met with a lot of encouragement and thumbs up; a lot of the locals and Bedouin kids from the camp actively joined in, making this Summer Clean Up a big success.

September will be the first month with out a street clean up since the start of the project Clean Sharm. Ramadan is not the month for such a hot and dirty task. We hope that everybody will respect their God and use the Holy Month to keep body, soul and the environment clean.

More info: www.cleansharm.org