We welcome, wholeheartedly, the appeal by the Ndola Mayor Amon Kayula to the residents of Ndola to clean up their surroundings and drainages.
We also wish to remind people that keeping their surroundings clean, green and healthy, is a personal matter with personal benefits.
It does not need the Mayor or the Republican President to first speak out before one can act.
It is disappointing that some people would even want to resist the Mayor’s call or expect other people or institutions to go and clean up their own surroundings. For if one cannot look after their own surroundings and welfare, who will? If we may ask.
Cleanliness is said to be next to Godliness. This is a fact which is also even emphasized in the Bible.
In fact, many Bible cleansing rituals, in the Old Testament, relating to access to the tabernacle (the place of God), were based on cleanliness.
Rules were given on how a person needed to clean up. If a person was not clean, he/she was cut off from the community.
We need to clearly understand that cleanliness is related to disease prevention, and should always begin with personal hygiene because hygiene is basically about good personal habits.
Habits, like regular brushing of teeth, washing hands after visiting the toilet, bathing, refraining from spitting anyhow, avoiding littering places, and keeping surrounding clean. These are things which people should have mastered from a tender age.
A healthy environment leads to a better and healthier life. Being clean, if to put it in better terms, can make a difference between life and death.
A dirty environment affects the health of the people living in it. If people would like to stay healthy, then they should keep their environment clean.
We should always keep in mind that many health problems we face today could be avoided if we all strive to improve sanitation in our respective communities.
