In the shoes of a Dubai cleaner

Imagine spending eight hours a day under Dubai's scorching sun or braving the winter to collect trash. This is what Dubai Municipality aims at doing. It wants to put you in the shoes of thousands of such workers with their 'An hour with a cleaner' campaign to clean up deserts, beaches and commercial areas around the city. 
Ask 55-year-old Kamal Saadi, a municipality cleaner who has been in the profession for the last 17 years. "I face no challenges because I treat everything with patience." 
Saadi, who works in Al Mamzar area from 5.30am to 12.30pm, said: "The climate is somehow difficult, but like other jobs, we have to be patient and tolerate it." 
The Egyptian national noted that the environmental awareness is high compared to the past, which ultimately helps him in his job. "To be honest, I see people throwing trash in the bins, and put out their cigarettes in ashtrays, which makes it easier of us," said the father of four daughters. 
But Ansar Mohammed from India has been facing more challenges picking up cigarette butts and "plenty of plastic bottles" from Umm Suqeim and Jumeirah beaches for the past 10 years. "It is great when community members and school students come to help. We do good cleaning in a few hours," said Mohammed, father of three children who live in India. "Now that the weather is good, things are easier." 
Khaleej Times spoke to three groups of volunteers who took part in the drive. 
Cleaning the beach is hardest 
Nabeel Ahmed Khan from A Beach Clean Up Dubai group that joined with around 300 other volunteers to clean up Al Mamzar, Umm Suqeim and Jumeirah beaches said picking up cigarette butts from the sand is "very difficult." 
"You bend for an entire hour until your back starts hurting, but when you look at what you collected, all the pain vanishes," said Khan. 
The group had collected around 185,000 cigarette butts, 700 bottle caps and 34kg of plastic waste. "The first reaction we got from cleaners was a look of surprise, then happiness and warm welcome." 
Khan added that while the role of cleaners is rarely recognised, they are an indispensable part of the community. "The society's role is not to spend a couple of hours volunteering, but to stop littering to maintain a clean environment and ease other people's jobs," he said. 
 

200 volunteers spent three hours collecting tonnes of plastic plates, cans and bottles from Al Awir Desert and (right), members of an Emirati family remove brochures and adverts in Al Barsha.-Supplied photos
 

All the way from Abu Dhabi to help pick up waste and (right), 185,000 cigarette butts, 700 bottle caps and 34kg of plastic waste collected from beaches. - Supplied photos
 
40 4WDs race to pick trash 
A total of 200 volunteers from Emarat 4x4 spent three hours cleaning up Al Awir Desert areas using 40 four-wheel vehicles. "We collected tonnes of plastic plates, cans and bottles. The problem is, many camels in the desert eat this plastic and die," said Qaisar Naqvi, chairman of Emarat 4x4. He added that tires and bumpers sometimes surround the clean sands and distort the public appearance. 
"It is a very exciting task for everyone to take part because you feel a sense of achievement. The only solution to littering is to change people's behaviour." 
It's all about family, community 
For a five-member Emirati family, removing brochures and ads from four different locations in Al Barsha, "was a lot more draining than we ever thought." 
"We had to use tools and plenty of water to the posters out of supermarket walls, lighting poles and front gates of houses," said 15-year-old Salama Mahmoud Rashid. 
Her brother, Khalifa, 10, added: "Why would you stick such posters around the city? It isn't only a draining task for cleaners, but also distorts the city's public places." 
The family, known to be environment enthusiasts, described the experience as joyful. "We get to meet fellow enthusiasts and you feel you have helped part of society that is rarely recognised." 
Jordanian Alaa Huwwari, a mother of four children, emphasised on the importance of reminding her children that with every piece of waste, an old man bends to pick it up. 
The five-member family came from Abu Dhabi to help remove ad stickers and pick up waste from a public park in Dubai. "It is important to teach them the value of volunteering. A three-second act of littering means plenty of efforts by old cleaners, which is unfair," said Huwwari. 
She added that the sense of satisfaction volunteering adds to individuals is invaluable, noting that it raises awareness among other community members to stop littering. "Everyone was looking at what we were doing, which added a sense of responsibility of appreciating the people who do so much for us and get so little in return." 
sherouk@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai

Sherouk Zakaria

sherouk@khaleejtimes.com