On this rainy morning of 22 February 2022, the mayor of Nyaruguru district, Emmanuel Murwanashyaka, together with the vice mayor in charge of social affairs, Assoumpta Byukusenge, launched a “clean morning” at the Ndago market to inculcate the culture of cleanliness in the population.
This weekly activity consists of cleaning up neighbourhoods by clearing waste and any other object that soils the nature. But the objective is to improve hygiene conditions.
“It is an awareness-raising activity that aims at cleanliness everywhere: on the body, in the villages, in public places and in the neighbourhoods where we live,” explains the Vice-Mayor of Social Affairs, Assoumpta Byukusenge. “Every Tuesday of the week, we will take a short hour of cleanliness before going about our ordinary business. We want to consolidate the culture of cleanliness in the whole district,” says Vice Mayor Byukusenge.
In Nyaruguru district, this activity started early in the morning at 6.30am and ended at 7.30am. Despite the bad weather, the population responded to the call.
“The more we progress, the more we need to live in a clean neighbourhood,” exclaims one of the shopkeepers in the centre of Ndago. “Cleanliness protects us from different diseases,” she adds.
Jeannette Uwitonze is a young fruit seller at the market in the trading centre of Ndago. She says the programme comes at the right time because before, there was no coordination. Each vendor worked individually, within the limits of his stall.
“It is a programme that I appreciate very much. Normally we have an orderly who cleans only on market days. But at the end of the day, everyone cleans the small space they occupy. There was a lack of collective responsibility. It’s good to make everyone responsible,” says Uwitonze, well-motivated despite the raindrops falling on her head.
The same clean-up programme took place at the same time throughout Southern Province. The authorities at the level of the administrative entity “sector” chose a site for its official launch.
Domice Gasarabwe & Gerard Rugambwa
