The Dawoodi Bohras strongly believe in the motto “love your nation” and the Washington, D.C. community demonstrated that sense of pride by adopting a road to keep it clean and preserve the beauty of Montgomery County.
The Adopt-a-Road program serves as a testament to the importance of maintaining clean environments and upholding civic responsibility. This program not only benefits the preservation of natural habitats and enhances motorist safety but also yields significant financial savings for taxpayers. The visible impacts of a cleaner environment are clear to anyone traveling these routes. However, for the Dawoodi Bohras of Washington DC, its true significance and long lasting effects rested in establishing citizen “ownership” of the area and developing leadership qualities in the community’s youth.
On a beautiful day in March, following rainfall from the previous night, a small team of five members of the Washington, D.C. Dawoodi Bohra community excitedly geared up to clean the stretch of road that proudly showcases their community’s name. Donning gloves and opening bright orange trash bags they split up into two teams and transformed into litter detecting robots! Every discarded shard of glass, scrap of paper, and all manner of litter were meticulously collected. The afternoon was filled with cheering each time a volunteer collected a piece of trash, and friendly competition emerged to see who could collect the most.
Participants were glad to do something that improved the condition of not only the road, but the environment as well. After the activity, Esmail Chitalwala expressed: “It felt good to be outside and do something for the community in general. You can learn quite a bit from other people’s trash.” Mustafa Bhinderwala, another member of the community participating in the road maintenance effort shared his thoughts “I felt a sense of pride in representing our community in keeping the Old Baltimore Road clean. This felt like a very calming and serene activity. His Holiness always reminds us to perform acts of community service towards the society for both its physical and spiritual benefits. I look forward to participating in community service efforts time and time again”.
The Washington, D.C. Dawoodi Bohras wholeheartedly express their gratitude to Montgomery County for collaborating in the pursuit of a better, more united community. Together, we endeavor to create a cleaner, harmonious environment for all.