Clean Your Hood ambassador saluted
THE Cape Argus has honoured the extraordinary contributions of ordinary men and women who are part of saving our planet by cleaning communities.
It was all smiles yesterday as the Clean Your Hood ambassadors were celebrated. Clean Your Hood is a Cape Argus campaign in collaboration with Peninsula Beverages that recognises people who help protect the environment.
The “No-Messing in Bonteheuwel” project was started in 2002 and has since expanded as gardening and soup kitchen ventures were introduced, said project facilitator Wilmot Arendse.
“The whole idea was to change the face of the area and the mindset of the community, especially where living in such dirty conditions was seen as a normal part of life,” Arendse said.
After her husband’s death, Delft pensioner Nomaphelo Mzimba started a garden project to ensure her family did not go to bed hungry.
“My family relied on his disability grant, which did not last the whole month. I noticed I was not the only unemployed women struggling in the community, so about 11 of us started backyard vegetable gardens.
“The demand for the vegetables grew bigger, but the garden space was less. In hope of started a big community project in June last year, I expanded the garden project to a small piece of land that was an illegal dumping site,” Mzimba said.
Mzimba, a grandmother, said she relied on the little income she made from her project. She loved the work, but said she was deeply frustrated with the dumping.
Cape Argus editor Aziz Hartley said: “Not too many do this because it requires dedication, effort, civil-mindedness and respect for the environment.
“But there are people who have these qualities like the ambassadors of Clean Your Hood,” he said.
“This is why we salute and pay tribute to them. We want to urge all our readers to follow their example. It is also easy not to do.”
The campaign is supported by Peninsula Beverages. Hartley appealed to businesses to follow the lead of Peninsula Beverages and support the campaign.
“It’s fine if they don’t want to be part of Clean Your Hood as long as they help create awareness,” he added.
Another ambassador, Kenneth Felix, a pensioner from Grassy Park, took over a local park that the community no longer used.
“In reality it was no longer a park but a through-way that no children and community members could relax in.
“The park was not safe. It was dirty with over-grown grass. I decided to revamp it out of my own pocket but the City helped by giving plants so that the park is beautiful,” said Felix.
“People were worried the plants were going to be stolen as it is a gang-infested area, but because I am a social person I was able to talk to the youth about the importance of the park.”