150 Dubai school students mark Indian Republic Day with beach clean up

Dubai - To lend creativity to the event, a sand art competition was also conducted for all the participating schools.

More than 150 students from six Dubai schools gathered at Al Mamzar open beach for a clean-up activity on the 71^st Indian Republic Day. Around four officials from the waste management department of Dubai Municipality (DM) supported the students and teachers on Sunday, January 26.
The activity was also conducted to honour the memory of the 150^th birth anniversary of Indian father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, who always put emphasis on 'swachhta (cleanliness) as it is cleanliness that leads to a healthy and prosperous life'.
Students from Grade 4 and 5 of the participating schools - Amity School Dubai, Buds Public School, Oak Tree Primary School, Our Own High School Al Warqaa, Star International and JSS Private School - spread across the beach along with their teachers and DM officials equipped with garbage bags to collect trash from the beach and in turn protect marine life and keep the UAE's coastline safe and pristine. The students were all dressed up in caps, gloves and white T-shirts with the caption 'For a Better Tomorrow'.
To lend creativity to the event, a sand art competition was conducted for all the participating schools, and students used the cigarette butts and waste collected from the beach to highlight the amount of trash that gets into our oceans.
Chitra Sharma JSS Private School, Dubai, said: "In an effort to spread awareness about the importance of protecting the marine life and educating the community about the need of the hour, the environment committee of the JSS PS joined forces with five schools from the community for the activity. We are thankful to the waste management department's 'One Hour with the Cleaner' campaign and Clear Reef for supporting our endeavor to educate students on the harmful effects of littering on the beach.
"It was conducted on the Republic Day to support India's drive to a greener and cleaner world. Over 2 million Indian migrants are estimated to be living in the UAE, if we as Indians can contribute towards a sustainable landscape of UAE, it will make all the difference," she added.
Pointing towards a fish he and his peers made using sand and littered cigarette butts collected from the beach, Grade 5 student of JSS Private school, Ali Ahmed, said: " It was a really fun and creative event where we learnt how important it is to take care of our oceans, marine life and environment. I also felt a surge of pride towards my country as we believe in providing justice liberty and equality to all living beings. Hence we joined hands to save the planet by doing what we can."
Another Grade 5 student from Oaktree Primary School, Haya Naqqash, said: "Today, we had a great time cleaning up the beach with so many different schools and we realised what kind of litter leave behind and pollute these beaches. We picked it all up and instead used it creatively to decorate our sandcastles. I really enjoyed it and felt good helping the environment and working together as a community."
saman@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai