Sunridge SDA Church holds clean-up in celebration of Global Youth Day

Diana Nherera Suburban Reporter

SUNRIDGE Seventh Day Adventist Church on Sunday held a clean-up where church members mostly youths picked litter in the area from Sherwood Road up to Homeground Shopping Centre while others picked litter along Hallingbury Road.

Sunridge SDA Church communications secretary Mr Michael Chirimo said they held the cleanup campaign in celebration of Global Youth Day.

“Our theme is ‘Show up in the Cities.’

“Global Youth Day is all about showing love so this year’s theme is all about showing up in the cities, cleaning our environment as a way of showing love for our environment and our love for our neighbours.

“We want to stay in a clean environment. So participants were young people from five to 30 years,” he said.

The church’s Elder Mr Owen Mashapa said the whole idea was centred on keeping clean environments in neighbourhoods.

“We were out as the youth department as part of our Global Youth Day to try and clean up the area, picking up litter, our catchment area per se, showing up in the cities and trying to conscientise the people on the need to keep our environment clean. Cleanliness is next to Godliness, that’s our message. We want to live in a clean environment as we prepare for the second coming of Jesus. We hope this small gesture we have done in the community is going to impact positively on the people around us.

“I think we saw the appreciation as people were passing by. We hope they have carried the message where they are going to keep the environment clean,” said Elder Mashapa.

Elder Peter Denhere said City of Harare let them down as they gave them only 30 refuse plastic bags, forcing them to provide 60 of their own plus 10 more food bags.

He said they would deliver the bags to Mabelreign District Office for onward transmission to Pomona dumpsite by council refuse collectors.

Fedelia Siwawa a youth member, who participated in the cleanup said the initiative was in line with President Mnangagwa’s call for clean environments in Zimbabwe.

“Going in line with the President’s Vision 2030, I think it is noble that we live in a clean environment so that we reach the target of world-class status that we want to reach by 2030,” said Siwawa.

Rutendo Kanda said the clean-up was part of their effort to show up in the cities as Christian youths and make a difference.

“In order for our environment to be smart, we need to show up in the cities as youths,” she said.

Added Tatenda Kambewu: “I feel that as a youth who lives in the area, it is also my responsibility to make sure that the environment is clean. So whenever we see that there is land pollution taking place, I think it’s good for us to take part in ensuring that we are good stewards of the environment.”

A few years ago, President Mnangagwa launched the National Clean Up Campaign under which communities who include residents, Government departments and ministries, private companies, State enterprises, parastatals, schools, tertiary institutions and non governmental organisations come together to clean up their environments.

This has seen the first Friday of each month being set aside for cleaning up and some communities have kept the momentum and continue to clean up their premises and surrounding precincts while others have run out of steam.