Once A Month Is Not Enough’: Residents Applaud Latter-day Saints Volunteers For Airport Staff Quarters Cleanup

CROSS RIVER, CALABAR – For residents of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Staff Quarters, the sight of overgrown weeds, unkempt spaces and a narrowed entrance is familiar, but on this day, more than 100 volunteers arrived with matchets, shovels, brooms, rakes and other tools to change the picture.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Calabar Nigeria Etta-Agbor Stake including missionaries, fathers, mothers and children, took to the community as part of an annual service programme aimed at giving back to society.

For Joshua Ojeka, a staff of FAAN who lives in the Quarters, the intervention came as a welcome relief from what he described as inadequate routine environmental maintenance.

“They normally come once a month, but once a month is not enough. Before they come back, everywhere becomes full of weeds again,” Ojeka said.

The volunteers cleared overgrown vegetation, raked the surroundings, removed weeds and opened up sections of the entrance that had become obscured by vegetation.

Ojeka said the difference was already visible, adding that one of the officers had encouraged him to inspect the entrance after the volunteers cleared the area.

“The entrance has been made wider because of the way they cleaned. It is really up to our standard,” he said.

For Ojeka, however, the significance of the exercise goes beyond the immediate clearing of weeds.

He appealed to the volunteers to return regularly, saying the community would welcome continued intervention because monthly cleaning by existing environmental workers was not enough to keep the surroundings consistently clean.

“We are happy to have you here and we want to see you again and again,” he said.

The cleanup was part of the Church’s annual service initiative, Tagged: All Africa West Area Service Project, according to one of Church Area Authority Elder Victor Bassey who said the activity is organized globally to encourage members to serve communities where they live.

He explained that local Church leaders prayerfully identify communities and activities where members can contribute their time and effort.

“Today they decided to come and work in this little community. I believe they were inspired,” he said.

The representative said the exercise was expected to attract not less than 100 participants, although rainfall affected the turnout and movement during the activity.

He said the volunteers were determined to leave the community better than they found it.
“The truth is, we want to leave here better than we met it.”

The Elder Bassey said the annual exercise brings together members across age groups, including missionaries, parents and children, with participants motivated by the opportunity to serve others.

He urged members of the wider community to embrace the spirit of service, saying:
“When we are in the service of our fellow brothers and sisters, we are in the service of God and in the service of others, so we continue serving others.”

He urged members of the wider community to embrace the spirit of service, saying:
“We are in the service of God and in the service of others, so we continue serving others.”