In France, Mother’s Day this year fell on June 7, which also happened to be the election day for the European Parliament. It was the day Tzu Chi volunteers in France joined hands with the city government of Bussy-Saint-Georges for the second time to clean up local streets.
The cooperation between the two parties started about two years ago, when Tzu Chi volunteer Zheng Long (鄭龍) talked to Mayor Hugues Rondeau about Tzu Chi’s recycling efforts in Taiwan. The mayor was so impressed by the ideal of environmental protection advocated by Master Cheng Yen that he proposed the first joint cleanup event in 2007.
By nine a.m., participants had gathered before the Bussy-Saint-Georges Train Station. The mayor and Michel Ching-long Lu (呂慶龍), Taiwan’s representative to France, were also there. Gloves, garbage bags, and cleaning tools, such as tongs and brooms, were handed out. Altogether over a hundred people showed up to clean up the city.
Several parents brought their children to take part in the event. They said they were more than happy to clean up the city they lived in. Besides, it was a good opportunity to teach their children the importance of protecting the environment.
The participants bent down to pick up scraps of paper, plastic bags, cigarette butts, plastic bottles, and cans. Together they worked to make the environment cleaner and more beautiful.
