Fleurhof Primary School cleaned on World Cleanup Day
"I hope the learners saw the difference on Monday especially because we did the ablutions as well. It takes a village to raise a child."
While the rest of the world rolled up their sleeves and joined hands to celebrate World Cleanup Day on Saturday, September 17 some residents of Fleurhof tackled the global waste problem and contributed to building up a new and sustainable world.
Led by one of the organisers Violet Kgoane, the community of Fleurhof took it upon themselves to clean Fleurhof Primary School from 08:00 until 12:00.
Kgoane said she was motivated by the world clean-up campaign and started organising the Fleurhof community to participate in the event on the day.
“The first global clean-up took place in 2018 and today over 100 countries are cleaning their rivers, oceans, parks etc. I therefore arranged a meeting with the principal of Fleurhof Primary School, Joseph Mohasoa and the School Governing Body (SGB) to clean the school. World Cleanup Day is a global campaign to draw attention to the challenges around waste and pollution. Over 40 million participants from almost 200 countries rocked up to clean beaches, forests, parks, neighbourhoods, rivers and much more.
“In South Africa, we had approximately 600 clean-ups with 100 000 participants; these included township clean-ups, mangrove clean-ups, beach clean-ups and much more. Each clean-up takes responsibility for their own actions, while the National Management Committee promotes the brand and brings in national sponsors. We also offer a website where people can register their clean-up.
“By drawing attention to the issues of waste and pollution on Saturday, September 3 we promoted the transition to a more sustainable society, with more recycling and a ‘circular economy’. Therefore, World Cleanup Day is a year-long campaign,” said Kgoane.
According to Kgoane, they also invited Ward 70 councillor Caleb Finn but unfortunately, he could not attend but he was very supportive before and after the clean-up.
Many people showed up, namely the principal and his team, employees from Johannesburg Social Housing Company (JOSHCO) and community members.
“It was so humbling to see the principal and the SGB in their overalls and hands-on. I hope the learners saw the difference on Monday especially because we did the ablutions as well. It takes a village to raise a child,” said Kgoane
She encouraged other communities to organise themselves and participate in local clean-ups.
