About 2,000 students from northern Moldova carried out simultaneously cleanup activities in their communities, celebrating thus the European Cleanup Day marked on September 15-23. The event, organized by the organization “Caroma-Nord”, was aimed at increasing the awareness of the people from the northern districts of the scale of the waste problem and at changing attitude to waste collection, IPN reports.
The joint cleanup event was held simultaneously in a number of villages of Glodeni, Rascani, Falesti, Floresti, and Sangerei districts on September 23. The students of the secondary school “Fundirii Vechi” of Glodeni district were the first to launch the cleanup campaign. Guided by the schools’ principal Valeriu Pogurschi, the students collected waste from around the school equipped with sacks and gloves. The first-fourth graders also became involved and followed the example of their elder mates.
The students of the secondary school of Gura Cainarului, directed by biology teacher Galina Tehman, cleaned particular areas in the village, each class by an area. Principal Vladimir Lesenco said such events deliver a message to the population and voiced hope that the people will realize the dangers posed by the polluted environment.
The event in Gura Cainarului was supported by the mayor’s office, which provided the students with a truck for transporting the gathered waste. The participants in the cleanup campaign said the environment would be much cleaner if the people and the authorities joined efforts in this regard.
Rodica Frecautanu, executive director of the civil society organization “Caroma-Nord”, said after the event that it is the duty of civil society to encourage the young people to organize such campaigns. The organization managed to mobilize so many participants owing to the Sangureni Ecological Group, which includes about 60 girls and boys from a number of villages. The Group was constituted by “Caroma Nord” in March to promote the new waste recycling technologies.
The clean-up campaign in villages of northern Moldova was conducted within a project implemented by “Caroma-Nord” with the financial support provided by USAID through FHI 360.
