A campaign for cleanliness

The Rotaractors of RID 3060 are on a cleanliness drive promoting various related initiatives across the district since the beginning of the year when DRR Chintan Shah introduced the theme, Swachta Humse (Cleanliness begins at home).

“If this campaign could inculcate the habit of cleanliness among my 2,000 Rotaractors and their families, that will be an achievement. ‘Together we can’ is our district’s motto and together we will spread the word,” he says.

RAC Dhule Crossroad distributed waste bins made from discarded plastic bottles to 20 shopkeepers. “The Rotaractors collected used water ­bottles from restaurants and hotels and ­recycled them into dustbins. About 600 bottles went into the making of these dustbins.” They designed a model train called the Swachta Express in one of the villages. Posters and notes on best practices related to sanitation and hygiene were showcased in the train for the benefit of the villagers.

The members of RAC ­Karnabhumi Surat East and Navsari Young Turks went on a door-to-door collection of flowers and decorative material used to adorn Ganesh idols during the Ganesh Visarjan. Nearly 45 tonnes of organic waste was collected and converted into vermicompost and given to farmers.

The members of RAC Bhavnagar Youth painted the walls of homes with messages sensitising people about sanitation and hygiene. “We spread the message among schoolchildren through short films and cleaned the school campuses along with the students. In fact, Swachta Humse is part of all our projects this year,” says Ronit Patel, president of this 24-year-old club.

RAC Junagadh took the message to 450 college students through a stand-up comedy programme. The Rotaractors highlighted various aspects ranging from keeping the classrooms and college campus clean to spreading the message in the neighbourhood, including using toilets and observing personal hygiene.

The members of RAC Bharuch brought out paper and plastic wastes from their homes which will be recycled into useful articles and given to juvenile homes. Grim photographs of dirty places and mounds of rubbish gathered at market places were shared on social media platforms and shown to the public to drive home the message. “Invariably, it evoked an unpleasant expression on people to whom we showed these photographs. The basic idea was to wake people up to reality and help change their mindset to take care of their surroundings,” says Shah.

The Rotaractors of RACs Anand Round Town and Bardoli visited schools to inculcate the virtue of environmental cleanliness and personal hygiene. They distributed seed ­pencils to students and encouraged them to plant them in their school campus.

The Rotaractors of RAC ­Umbergaon organised a beach cleaning drive and loaded three vans of non-biodegradable garbage. Members of RAC Bhavnagar Royal distributed reusable sanitary pads to rural women and taught them how to use it and maintain proper menstrual hygiene.