{"id":4824,"date":"2021-03-13T10:34:56","date_gmt":"2021-03-13T10:34:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toonsarah-travels.blog\/staging\/?p=4824"},"modified":"2021-03-13T10:35:07","modified_gmt":"2021-03-13T10:35:07","slug":"keeping-north-korea-clean-and-beautiful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toonsarah-travels.blog\/staging\/keeping-north-korea-clean-and-beautiful\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping North Korea clean and beautiful"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It was the morning after the storm in Pyongyang, and even quite small children, dressed ready for school, assembled on street corners armed with buckets, mops, brooms \u2013 all doing their bit to keep the city clean. They were engaged in a civic duty that will be theirs for the rest of their lives.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elsewhere, on the Taedong River that runs through the centre of the city, a flotilla of small boats was gathering weeds that had accumulated, washed down by the heavy rain of yesterday. Our young guide told me that the piles of weed would be used as animal fodder; nothing is wasted here.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wide
Boats clearing weed from the Taedong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Men
Clearing weed from the Taedong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If not clearing up after a storm, there will be plenty of other tasks. In North Korea every citizen has a responsibility to contribute to keeping their local area looking the best it can. Everyone belongs to their neighbourhood organisation, known as an inminban<\/em>. This is in part a security body (members monitor each other for transgressions) and in part a community action group. As a result, armies of volunteers \/ conscripts (depending on your perspective) can be seen sweeping the streets; cutting the grass (sometimes with scissors!); planting flowers; painting kerbs and walls; and as we saw, even mopping up puddles.<\/p>\n\n\n