Volunteers participate in Jeddah Corniche cleanup

“I was amazed at the number of youth who devoted their time and hard work to this massive project. I was also amazed by the way they smiled while they cleaned the dirt. I'm very optimistic at future cleaning projects in Jeddah and we’re aspiring to see the entire world successfully cleaned, Insha Allah,” said volunteer Abdulrahman Turjuman.
The clean up project was undertaken by the Young Initiative Group (YIG) to make Jeddah a cleaner place by gathering young people and introducing them to three Rs — Recycle, Reduce and Reuse.
“A cleaner and healthier Jeddah is our main goal by raising awareness in local communities about the benefits of maintaining a clean environment,” said Rana Jan, a YIG volunteer. “We do that by engaging the community in the physical act of cleaning to give them a personal stake in maintaining clean homes, streets and neighborhoods, as well as developing an emotional connection with one's physical community,” she added.
YIG is a social welfare club with over 400 volunteers. The group is divided into five different teams: One that teaches orphans, one that deals with medical cases, a team that checks on the safety of old homes, and one that distributes home appliances to needy families.
The cleaning event was undertaken in coordination with the Saudi Environmental Society. “The goal of the campaign was to make the people of Jeddah aware of social responsibility toward the Red Sea, especially nowadays when thousands of people from all over the world visit the Kingdom to perform Haj,” said Jamal Muntheri, general supervisor of outreach programs and environmental education at the Saudi Environment Society.
To avoid mixing between the genders, men and women were separated into two groups. “YIG divided the volunteers into two groups … in respect to our culture and to fulfill our duty toward our community,” said Dania Al-Masri, co-founder of YIG.
“The volunteers showed the important contributions that the people of Jeddah can offer to their community and I hope we will continue to make such contributions to our great city, Jeddah, and the Kingdom on a whole. It really makes me happy to see that young people are aware of the positive aspects of volunteering,” she added.
Many young volunteers participated in the cleanup after finding out about it due to Facebook, BlackBerry and word of mouth. “After preparing for the event, we started sending invitations to YIG members and people living in Jeddah to participate in this non-profit event,” said Maha Taher, YIG co-founder.
“We were more than proud of how many people showed up and helped to make Jeddah a better and cleaner place,” she added.