By Besiana Vathi
Memorial International School of Tirana
As you cruise through the capital city of Albania, among the vivid buildings and masses of people constantly on the move, one of the main problems not only unattractive to tourists, but Albanians themselves, is the pollution. The dust particles in the air and the harmful gases emitted on a daily basis are a few aspects of the pollution that contribute negatively to people’s well-being.
To tackle this problem, one has to start off with really small steps; getting rid of the litter. This idea was inspired by one of MIST’s teachers, Glenn Curry. Lots of students at MIST were fond of the idea, though at first, no one took a step to working towards any sort of minimal effort. When Vincenzo Hoxha, one of the graduates of Memorial International School of Tirana, organized a day to basically pick up litter and throw it where it belongs at the artificial lake, my motivation levels ignited. Why put off this work any longer, and why not create an actual, though informal, organization which is based on a hope for a litter-free environment? “Let’s do this,” I said to my classmate Jonathan Pilika, who had shown an interest in working towards this goal.
Including the clean-up that Vincenzo arranged, our group has organized five voluntary clean-ups, one in July, one in August, two in September, and this lask weekend, where volunteers have gathered for the sole purpose of cleaning up. During the first three gatherings, we concentrated on the city’s main park area for around two hours each gathering. We noticed several improvements; however, the litter did not seem to cease, even when we began to get more attention from the public when we cleaned the areas of the empty piece of land around Rruga Durres and “Tregu i Cameve,” We have also contributed to a cleaner environment at the Pyramid and Taivan.
We know that by this time just cleaning won’t make any sort of tangible difference; we have to include some objectives to our organization that could prevent litter in the first place. These objectives are:
1. Clean up the city as much as we can, area by area.
2. Raise awareness, by being active in ways other than cleaning and getting media attention.
3. Devise ways to inform people that littering HAS to be brought to an end.
The current, conventional plan for the organization is to collect in some area of Tirana every two weeks on a Saturday morning from 11 am to 1 pm to clean up. Jonathan Pilika and I will continue to supply volunteers with the materials they need in order to carry out their job without catching diseases. Also, shirts for the most active volunteers are produced, sponsored by Ardhmeria, a cultural association that seeks to sponsor our other needs for the job. Thus, the public can be acquainted with who we are and what we do, a mechanism that puts the second and third objectives into gear. Once we exude the positivity onto citizens that a litter-free Tirana is possible in the near future, a slight change in the mentality can occur. This is the societal aim of the whole organization. Being that people under 18 are chiefly involved in the organization, it generates an image for a more positive future.
Lots of new ideas have sprung within the organization; we are actively seeking new ways to raise awareness to citizens. During the clean-up of October 9, 2010, the greatest portion of our members was wearing the group T-shirt, which portrays a colorful picture of a tree and a phrase that reads, “Let the joy of a clean Tirana radiate through you.” Last time, we had encountered watchful eyes and we definitely received negative and positive feedback. . In less a month, we will be putting up a stand with members that will stamp the YOCT logo onto people’s hands.
Momentarily, there are those that are enthralled by this youth group, and there are those that look down on us, believing that it’s the cleaners’ job to clean, not ours. However, the Youth Organization for a Clean Tirana was created for this specific purpose; to enlighten people that a clean environment is everyone’s responsibility.
