English Access Microscholarship students in Mahendranagar, Nepal, focused on cleaning up the streets of the city. Several of the Access teachers alongside Fellow Deborah Silver purchased 15 waste bins, as well as paint and paintbrushes from local shopkeepers. Then, during class, Access students worked in small groups to come up with slogans to paint on the bins, voting on their top three: “A Clean City = A Developed City,” “An Innovative Mahendranagar is Garbage Free,” and “A Clean City = A Peaceful City.”
A few days after painting day, the Access students and teachers all “marched” to the market area of Mahendranagar with waste bins in hand, and students talked to various shopkeepers about the project and its importance. The response was amazing, with waste bin distribution happening at a rapid pace – not one shopkeeper they approached turned them away.
From this community service activity, the students learned valuable lessons such as how to work well in teams and the importance of helping out in their community. Silver commented afterwards, that “when students are passionate about what they’re doing and they know their voices are being heard, the impact is immeasurable.”