Mass Cleaning Campaign

Among the many health activities held at Darla School, the mass cleaning campaign is one of the most important. On April 28th, the school conducted such a campaign. Afternoon classes were canceled, and students and teachers gathered on the assembly ground. The campaign began with the distribution of assigned areas for Classes IV through V. The theme was made loud and clear to everyone: “Clean Darla, Clean Bhutan. Clean Bhutan, Clean Earth.”

Students and teachers walked to the farthest points of the area, singing the theme and encouraging parents to come out and join the cleaning. Members of the health club wore signs on their chests and backs with various messages written on them.

The mass cleaning campaign covered the town and villages of Darla. Many classes and teachers went as far as three kilometers from the school to clean and raise awareness. The areas covered included Darla Bazaar, BPPL, the police gate, RNR, and Darla Lhakhang.

The public had been invited to participate through the teachers-parents meeting. Additionally, the health committee sent letters to the Bazaar Tshogpa, BPPL, and the Darla Gup. However, apart from a few shopkeepers offering refreshments and a handful of people from the bazaar, no members of the public came forward to clean that day. Our main goal was to raise public awareness, and we believe we succeeded by going out and singing our theme loudly. The low public turnout did not discourage us, as our large number of students more than made up for it.

Not only did we clean well, but we also had a lot of fun. The campaign was a success—we collected nearly 50 sacks of waste. When we gathered back at the school, a bottle of litchi juice was given to everyone to quench their thirst after the scorching heat of the day. Below are some photos from the event.