111: free cleaning of Freetown

I'm sharing another photo-journalism piece today (the previous one being Day Forty-Three's great story about the taxi sisters) - a very interesting montage of pictures from Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. Compiled by the BBC, the slideshow documents an initiative to clear the city's streets of waste and grime. Every Saturday, between 5am and 12pm, vehicles are banned from city streets and all residents muck in (as it were) to clean up. The new government is behind the initiative, keen to regenerate the city after years of civil war, which has left many citizens living in grinding poverty. It seems from the BBC piece as if most of Freetown's residents support and participate in the Saturday cleanings, proud to do their bit to rebuild their country - though they work alongside paid refuse collectors as well. Their efforts certainly command respect. It's probably the most effective way to cut disease, too...