There are a few sights that can beat the view from Anjuna’s sunset hill point. On Monday, the
sight of hordes of school children cleaning up this hill proved to be an ever
better sight.
As one of the locals was speaking about
how it felt good to experience and see this, the start of a movement to clean
up all of Goa, the man behind this project, Varun Carvalho had the children
sing along to one of his popular numbers –‘ I feel so good’.
And it was indeed a feel- good vibe all
around Anjuna that saw the locals, the panchayat, people from the local music
scene and from across Goa, among others joining hands.
With the ‘RiseNation’ band performing at
the concert, that was held at the same area that was earlier cleaned up by 200
odd enthusiastic students from St Michael School, it was clear that this new
concept had taken off the right note. One could sense the excitement and picnic
like atmosphere as the children with their caps and other gear to clean up the
garbage, made sure the place was spic and span in a few hours.
“The ‘Clean Goa’ Project was launched on
the fifth of March, at Anjuna. The ‘RiseNationArmy’ plans to take the project
to every city and village in Goa. The ‘RiseNationArmy’ children in each village
will initiate the clean ups and help spread awareness among the villagers on
the need to keep the villages clean,” said Varun.
The students from St Michael’s School
Anjuna are part of the RiseNation Army and represent the Anjuna village.
“The ‘RiseNationArmy’ today, has a
presence in 70 schools and colleges across Goa and the plan is to connect all
the youth so that they can come together and ‘be the change’, ” said Irina
Blansh, who performed at the concert and is a key member of this initiative.
For the unacquainted, Varun has spent the
last few years, reaching out to schools throughout the state, where the
‘RiseNation’ team conducts powerful interactive sessions that are filled with
music and messages, aimed at inspiring the students to try and rise up and
fulfil their potential.
The event at Anjuna was a small part of this initiative, where
the students are also encouraged to think about how they can keep Goa clean and
make it a better place to live in.
What made a difference at the Anjuna cleanup drive, was the
support it received from other stakeholders. For instance, Savio Almeida, the
sarpanch of Anjuna village panchayat not only supported the event but also gave
an educational talk about segregation of garbage to the students. Besides
placing bins at the cleaned up site, Savio added that the panchayat is
monitoring the cleanliness of all the wards in the village. The event also
received the support from Ricardo De Souza and his team from Titos charity, who
provided refreshments for all the children. Swapnil Naik from Guru Bar provided
the sound for the music concert and helped coordinate the clean up initiative.
“The ‘RiseNationArmy’ wants to initiate a sense of pride of
being Goan and we want to build a generation of responsible citizens, who will
take care of their land. We see a great future for Goa as the ‘RiseNationArmy’
is growing stronger and bigger and and we believe that these empowered youth are
rising up and making a positive difference in their villages,” added Varun.
“Our motto has always been ‘Rise As One’ and together we can
make Goa beautiful again and a great example to the rest of the country,” added
Varun who is also a dentist by profession.
Varun, who is known for his football anthems among his other hit
songs, entertained the crowd with songs that included the new ‘Clean Goa’
anthem.
“We
also played songs like ‘Amchem Goa’, ‘Forca Goa’, ‘Stand Up For What Is Right’,
‘Rise As One’, ‘This Is For My People’ and a few more songs that have powerful
social messages, as we believe the music can inspire the children,” added
Varun.
