Utsuk Niraula Deerwalk Services (DWS) started a monthly community service campaign named Deerclean. The first Deerclean was held on May 12, 2018, with the aim to reestablish and restore cleanliness of the school environment. All 4 squads were committed to taking this initiative a step further. Needless to say, squad D eagerly waited for their turn to take part in the Deerclean event scheduled on Saturday, 27th October 2018.

On a fine Saturday morning loaded with determination to promote cleanliness in a school area, we contacted Bal Bikash Samaj Aadharbhut Bidhyalaya, Ward 5, Dandagaun, Budanilkantha and they duly accepted our offer. There was a total of 27 participants for the event. DWS provided all the necessary equipment and materials. We were excited to provide the students with a clean school premise.

The participants of the event gathered at Deerwalk premises before 9 AM. We collected and loaded all the cleaning materials and equipment provided to us and headed towards our destination on the allocated office’s bus at around 9:30 am. The excitement to make the event successful was being reflected on the chit chats that were heard in the bus. We had to make an entry for our bus, as the school was located inside the Shivapuri National Park. The school was a couple of minutes’ walks from where we parked our office bus, the way to the school was steep, dusty, and narrow. We had to carry the cleaning equipment down to the school so a local person suggested us to take the bus towards the school. The idea seemed awesome until our driver noticed there was no space for the bus to make a turn! Despite his efforts, our bus could not make the way back up the road on a reverse gear, leaving us no option than to use a shovel to level the road and push the bus against the slope. Every participant including the locals used a collective effort to ensure the bus reached the parking area. Finally, we succeeded, to get the bus to the main road and parked it. Thanking the guys who pushed the bus up to the road, we carried the cleaning materials to the school.

The school housed students from playgroup to the eighth standard. When we first reached the school, we saw weeds and dust gathering the ground area, the classrooms were dusty and dirty, the toilets lacked proper sanitation. We divided ourselves into three groups and divided cleaning task areas and divided the cleaning materials. Soon, everyone was seen being involved in cleaning without realizing it was time for our breakfast. After more than an hour of cleaning, we had our light breakfast and tea. We cleaned all the items in the classroom including the corridor, library, and computer lab. From classroom desk and chair (both over and under) to doors and windows, everything looked clean and sweet smell of cleaning liquid was in the air. For another couple of hours, both experienced and inexperienced hands worked side by side to make the cleaning task successful. Everything looked clean and tidy, even the tube light which hardly emitted any light due to dust stuck on it was seen white and clean. After cleaning the building, we cleaned the playground area, collect the dust and clear the weed from the walls and the playground. We moved our focus towards the toilet area and thoroughly cleaned it with the cleaning liquid. After realizing there is hardly anything left to clean, we rested for some time and collected all garbage bags together and checked the number of cleaning apparatus and equipment we had brought.

It was time to leave and we bid farewell with the school representative. The school wanted to show their appreciation so they felicitated our effort with a “Khaada”. This was a really nice gesture from the school. Everyone was tired and hungry, but the fact that we did something great made us happy. We headed to a local restaurant, Dandagaun Resort, for our lunch. We really enjoyed the lunch because we had just contributed to providing the students with a clean school premises.

We had a great experience cleaning the school and we hope that the students of the school realize the importance of cleanliness and sanitation. The Deerclean event can actually help to inspire the young generation to be aware of their environment and hygiene. There are places in our country where sanitation and hygiene have to be promoted. With the hope of carrying out other cleaning campaigns in near future, we left the Deerwalk premises thanking our staffs who put such efforts entire day to make our workplace clean.

Lastly, we thank DWS and CAC for starting this noble cause. Never in our wildest dreams, we expected cleaning to be satisfying at such a high level. We hope the students will keep the school clean and spread the message of hygiene to others as well.