Rotary Club of Karen to conduct quarterly cleanups

The Karen shopping centre has been experiencing an influx of various small traders who sell their merchandise and food to members of the community. 

The area also serves as the primary stage for the vehicular movement around Karen. 

Over time, however, huge volumes of garbage have piled up around the area, clogging the sewerage system and making the area a health hazard prone to various types of diseases, due to the environmental degradation. 

As such it was an obvious location for the Rotary Club of Karen to start the cleanup from on Thursday since its members live, work and co-exist in the Karen community. 

The Rotary Club of Karen is part of the global network of over 1.4 million neighbors, friends, leaders and problem solvers who see a world where people unite; and take action; to create lasting change across the globe in our communities, and in ourselves. 

Rotary members believe we have a shared responsibility to take action on our world’s most persistent issues, which include among others the protection of our environment. 

The community cleanup exercise at the Karen shopping centre was planned, and executed by the Rotary Club of Karen members under the able leadership of the Club’s President Lorrain Kirigia. 

It was the culmination of two months of planning, and out-reach to the various stakeholders to make it a success. 

The exercise went very smoothly.  What seemed undoable was finally done within four hours, and the huge pile of garbage was collected; and loaded; on to the waiting lorry for proper disposal.   

The trading community was also educated on the need to keep their environment clean, and how to be their own keepers by dissuading people from dumping all over the area.  They agreed to get organized, collect all the garbage frequently, and reach out for support on disposal.

It was noticeable that there are no county government garbage bins where trash can be deposited, which has contributed to the unplanned disposal of garbage all over the place.

A “No Dumping” sign was erected at the site to remind would be dumpers to desist from littering the environment. 

This uphill task would not have been possible without the support of the OCS Karen Police Station, OCS Karen Plains police station, Clean Edge Hygiene Solutions Limited, Lankana and Luminous Matatu Saccos, the small traders community at the Karen Shopping Centre, Rotarians, Rotaractors, and their friends and relatives. 

Our accolades go out to everyone involved in making the operation a success. 

The Rotary Club of Karen plans to conduct quarterly cleanup exercises in various parts of Karen, throughout the 2022-23 Rotary year. We also plan to educate, and empower members of the community on the importance of recycling. 

We urge all members of the community who are keen about keeping our environment clean, and healthy, to join us in our future events as we march forward together to protect our environment. 

Allister M Lindsay is the CEO, Sera Kenya