We waltzed into school on Monday, wide-eyed and ready to receive the folks for YSC. My friend commented, “Have you ever seen the school so clean before?” I gladly answered, “No, but it looks like they’re really doing a lot for YSC. It’s pretty cool to see the school in such a pristine condition, you know?” It was delightful to see the campus free from any form of litter – the cleaners probably worked overtime to make our college sparkling clean. (I really commend them, they have been both hardworking and friendly – they respond with a cheerful “good morning, girl!” when I greet them in the mornings whilst they are busy at work sweeping up dead leaves)
I wasn’t at YSC, but from what I hear, it was good. Yes, we couldn’t use the school premises because of the whole conference, but since it’s something we could do for our nation, why not?
However, I got the shock of my life this morning when I went back to school.
The canteen floor was stained with spilled drinks and walking past one of those white cupboards (the ones in the middle of the canteen), I spotted uneaten packets of food stacked up, in the tens, still being held in their large plastic bags. The garbage bins were overflowing with trash, mostly bottles of soft drinks, mineral water and green tea. The whole canteen reeked of rotting food. Honestly, in my many years in VJ, I haven’t seen such a terrifying sight. I was just commending the state of our school on Monday and I come back on Friday to see (and smell) it looking like garbage dump?
Who is supposed to clean up? Yes, YSC was our pride and joy, but when it comes to doing the dirty work of clearing up the mess, who steps up to the plate? Is it only the responsibility of the school cleaners? Obviously not. Honestly, I feel that the people in charge of this event could have managed the clean-up better with more responsibility.
I don’t want to walk into my beloved college having it smell like a rubbish dump, seriously.
