BD Clean's bid to clean Bangladesh
Instead of taking donation from anyone this group collects fund from the contribution of active team members
Saiful, Hridoy and Abu Bokkor were holding their hands tightly. On the sloping edge of the barrage at Sadarghat Launch Terminal, they were trying to hold each other so that Abu Bokkor doesn't fall while picking the waste near the water.
This is a photo of a popular FaceBook group named BD clean members working on cleaning a place in Sadarghat Launch Terminal.
How they started:
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BD Clean is a voluntary and apolitical platform of over 17,000 conscious civilians from all over the country working restlessly to fulfill the dream of a clean, germ-free and healthy Bangladesh.
Farid Uddin is the dreamer of this great initiative. Farid completed his graduation from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Dhaka University back in 2005. In 2016 he formed this platform.
"My father was a freedom fighter. I learnt from him about my duties as a citizen of this country in a very early age. And this has made me think about my responsibility to the country and about engaging others to fulfill this duty", says Farid, now CEO of Event Management & Interior.
Back in 2016, seeing a picture of unorganized dustbins at different points of Dhaka city, Farid thought about doing something.
At 12 am on 3rd June, 2016, he called some friends to gather at Shahbagh. This was their very first event.
"24 people were present. We chose that hour of night because the roads would be almost empty and the participants are busy with their job at day time", says Farid.
This 24 young people then took the first attempt to fulfill a bigger dream that night. They cleaned the roadside wastes starting from Shahbagh to Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka Hotel.
"Some rickshaw pullers joined with us willingly. This was our achievement in the first day as we wanted to connect with more people," says Farid.
How they work:
After sharing their first day's experience on social media, the response was overwhelming. Then they created Face Book group.
Initially the group name was Dhaka Clean.
This group started to receive a lot of requests to join the group as if everyone was waiting to do something like this, for someone to pave the way.
Now this platform has reached to over 35,000 people.
Maknuna Rahman Zerin works as the Sub Co-ordinator of BD Clean, Dhaka South City Corporation.
"Like every day I was just chatting with my friend at TSC area. It was January of 2017. A girl approached us to join their upcoming road show on January 20 from Dhaka Clean. I felt so interested hearing that without paying any fee, I can take part in this great work. Returning home, I searched on internet about them to know more", says Zerin.
Generally, after fixing a place to be cleaned one week before going there. Then a team visits the area to fix the place where to gather together, dump the wastes etc.
They try to reach to the people of that particular area through their Face Book event posting about time, location and all details.
On the fixed day, Bd Clean team arranges an oath taking event with the participants. Wearing the green T-shirts given by this group and head masks all take an oath to keep the country clean and healthy.
Then they start their work. Beside cleaning, some members try to talk to people present there to make them aware.
Spreading the mottos- "I should start practicing cleanliness" or "Dream of a clean Bangladesh", "Here's the beginning, the end is in your hand", they have reached to eight divisions and 55 zillas so far.
Anyone interested to work with this platform can contact them through their Face Book group. After adding to the group, they talk with them about forming a team in their area and start activity.
Mehadi Adnan Shuvo, Coordinator of BD Clean, Dhaka North City Corporation is one of the founding members.
He says, "When Farid vai called me in 2018 and later came to know about this initiative, I became really excited. It's a proud voluntary platform working on this issue single handedly in our country."
Most of the members are students here. They have run "BD Clean: Clean Campus, Green Campus" campaign in 1453 schools in the country.
Anisul Islam is a student of 3rd semester of Media Studies department in Tejgaon College. He says, "Working here makes me feel that I am doing something for the country. And all the members are treated equally here. I feel proud being a part of this work."
Instead of taking donation from anyone this group collects fund from the contribution of active team members.
On November 10, 2018, they conducted their mega event of "Cleaning Cox's Bazar" at Cox's Bazar where all the members across the country participated enthusiastically.
"A clean city is 46% healthier than an unclean one. As a responsible citizen of Bangladesh, it's my duty to keep my surroundings clean. We Have been working keeping the vision of achieving a clean Bangladesh by 2021. We want to help the authority in this regard by raising awareness among people", says Farid.
"We have succeeded in achieving the authority's trust. The authority of Joydebpur railway station at Gazipur has told our team their working on the cleanliness of the station. Our team is working there to make people conscious," adds Farid.
After achieving their primary goal, they also wish to work on educating street children, helping the flood affected people.
At last Farid says, "These young people who are working for fulfilling this dream is my inspiration. Their patriotic thought and activity makes me feel proud."
