Last week, Save Yemen's Flora and Fauna Foundation organized a series of activities in Shohda'a Al-Sabeen school, in Sana'a, to commemorate World Tree Day. A number of volunteers traveled to Bait Sayd, close to Hadda village.

Jawhara Al-Zindani‏, a member of the foundation, said they aim to celebrate World Tree Day every year for four years, and this year the theme was, “Plant it today for a better tomorrow.”

"This year we have chosen about 15 houses in Bait Sayd to plant fruit trees in their gardens, and we plant other trees on the pavement near those houses,” Al-Zindani said.

Malek Ali Jaber, a Bait Sayd resident, said volunteers called him ahead of time and told him they would come to plant fruit trees in his house.

"The spirit of enthusiasm spread throughout the neighborhood for people to pay attention to the neighborhood’s cleanliness. At least each person can clean in front of his house.”

The volunteers started their job in the area by dividing themselves into groups and starting to collect plastic garbage. Then, they worked together to dig the earth and plant the trees.

"We come to this neighborhood to clean and to plant trees,” Mohammed Al-Sabehi, one of the volunteers, said. “Also, at the same time, [we hope to] to raise awareness among people about the importance of cleaning the surrounding environment."

As soon as the volunteers started to work, neighborhood children joined in and participated. Boys and girls called each other to come outside and to start cleaning the garbage from the street.

Bait Sayd used to be famous for its green area and its fig trees. However, after the urban sprawl infiltrated the land, Bait Sayd became covered with garbage and construction waste.

Many Bait Sayd residents hope that these kind of activities will return the neighborhood to its former natural beauty and will improve the environmental awareness of residents.