Harfield Village Community Improvement District (HVCID) held a “Dream Clean” event on Sunday 12 June from 10:00 until noon.
Residents who participated first cleaned their own spaces and streets and then met in Hampstead Park for a joint clean-up of communal spaces.
Jen Rowe, Manager of HVCID, says the Dream Clean’s mission was to collect as much litter as they could and leave the Village as clean as they could.
Rowe explains her mission and dream is to have people pick up litter when they see it.
“No more waiting for someone else to do it. Just do it and that is why I called our clean-up a Dream Clean.”
Besides volunteers from the community, a five-member strong team from the City of Cape Town’s Wynberg Solid Waste as well as a team from Fidelity ADT assisted on the day.
Metrorail Special Project manager George Kiewiets, who had arranged for a railway clean-up earlier in the week, was also on hand to do another solo clean on Sunday. As were members from Friends of Harfield Village Parks and Harfield Village Association.
“We really are working together and it is fantastic,” Rowa says.
She adds communal clean-ups provide a chance for residents to meet their neighbours while sweeping up leaves and picking up rubbish.
“We get to see what is happening in our community. Who is sleeping on our streets and how to engage and understand how we can really make a difference.”
She says it also provides an opportunity to educate community members, especially children “who are going to be our future leaders”, on the importance of respecting and taking pride in their environment.
“I am hoping that this is just the beginning and that we clean and grow from here onwards and get more communities joining in until we have cleaned up the whole of Cape Town,” says Rowe.
