More than 1,000 young people from WeCan Academy marked Mazingira Day by cleaning up parts of Thika Road and planting more than 1,000 tree seedlings in Roysambu, Nairobi, in an initiative aimed at promoting environmental responsibility.
The youths, drawn from the free vacation training centre run by the International Youth Fellowship (IYF), walked from the organisation’s headquarters along Thika Road to the Roysambu Chief’s Camp, where they concluded the exercise with the tree-planting activity on Saturday, October 10.
The campaign sought to encourage residents to take personal responsibility for their surroundings rather than leave environmental clean-ups to authorities.
“At WeCan Academy, we teach before any skill: change from ‘someone should do it’ to ‘I will do it’. This clean-up was a mindset class in action. Mazingira Day is not about one day of cleaning; it is about changing the heart that litters daily,” said academy principal Aeneas Wanyonyi.
The exercise comes amid persistent waste management challenges in Nairobi, where the county generates an estimated 2,400 tonnes of waste daily, with less than half collected, according to figures cited by the organisers.
Roysambu, which had more than 230,000 residents according to the 2019 census, faces similar pressures as population growth increases demand for waste collection and disposal services.
The campaign brought together academy students and community members along the Thika Road corridor, with participants using the clean-up walk to raise awareness about environmental conservation.
WeCan Academy trains young people in practical skills, including artificial intelligence, media, design, broadcasting, leadership and digital technology.
The initiative also reflects IYF’s emphasis on character development and mindset education, which the organisation says are essential to encouraging young people to become responsible members of their communities.
The organisers said the tree-planting exercise was intended to encourage continued environmental action beyond Mazingira Day, with residents, schools, businesses and public institutions all playing a role in keeping neighbourhoods clean.
They said lasting progress would depend on sustained community participation rather than one-off clean-up campaigns.
