*Photo: The Brunei fellows together with other students of Chung Hua Middle School during the beach cleanup in Silver Jubilee Beach at Kuala Belait.
Reported by Angelina Lau Eng Oi, Aiden Paul Leo Nereparambil, Aaron John Leo Nereparambil, Hridya Anna Panackal
1. Key takeaways
- Understanding the Magnitude of Marine Pollution: Through the beach cleanup, students gained a new understanding of the severity of marine pollution. By physically participating in the cleanup, they realized the significant impact of pollution on our environment.
- Strengthened Trust and Teamwork: The activity fostered a sense of teamwork among students. Working together to collect rubbish, they learned that overcoming such a large issue requires collective effort and trust in one another.
- New Perspectives on Pollution: Both students and teachers developed a newfound perspective, questioning why pollution is such a persistent issue and why people continue to neglect it.
2. Main highlights
The four Brunei fellows of AJYELN, together with Chung Hua Middle School’s Environment Club organized a beach cleaning campaign on Friday morning, September 20, 2024, from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. at Silver Jubilee Beach, also known as Kuala Belait Beach, in Kuala Belait, Brunei Darussalam.
The event aimed to bring a new perspective to participants about the magnitude and reality of beach pollution. Participants included members of Chung Hua Middle School’s environmental club, classmates, teachers, and students from Year 10, as well as enthusiastic junior students. The goal was to foster sensitivity towards environmental issues by connecting them with physical activities and the involvement of close friends
When inspiration and action are interlinked; people are more likely to understand your perspective if you show them through memorable activities. Cleaning the beach with close friends created a motivational bond, encouraging them to take action on environmental problems.
A fun element was added with a game where the person who collected the most trash or the largest piece of waste would get a drink from the losing end. This made the activity enjoyable while achieving its goal. After the event, many students reflected on the irresponsibility of littering, realizing their own past neglect and committing to change their actions.
3. Outcome
Although the beach appeared clean, participants collected 3.6 kg of waste, including food packages, PET bottles, plastic cutlery, and fishing nets.
Feedback from the participants reflected realizations about the prevailing presence of trash in beaches and questions on sustainable behaviors that could help bring change in the environment:
“We had a lot of fun, even though it was tiring. We found out that there was more trash on our beaches than we thought, and we are glad to help out.”
“It makes us wonder, why do we as individuals and society neglect our environment?”
“We did just an hour of cleanup, and this is only one beach. How is it possible to clean up every beach in the world?”
