Liberation Square Clean-Up

An eye-witness account from a volunteer - Vaughn Bayley is a freelance writer from Australia, currently traveling around the Middle East and working as a volunteer with Islamic Relief in Baghdad.

“Without adequate government representation, basic daily services such as electricity, communications and garbage collection were closed down. During the war, the streets of Baghdad became cluttered with dirt, garbage and debris from the movement of tanks and the destruction of buildings. In the six weeks since, without services to remove it, the problem has become severe.

The ever-increasing stench of accumulated filth forewarned of a major health risk, as trash piles disrupted traffic.

The determined efforts of Islamic Relief workers have been able to reverse this trend. This is most evident in ‘Liberation Square’, Central Baghdad, where workers have removed mountains of rubbish and debris. Like a Middle Eastern reproduction of the Champs Elysees, traffic now flows freely through the wide avenues, congestion becoming an easily forgotten memory.

The health risk has been eliminated – the removal has even quenched the smell of oil - but the cleaning of Liberation Square stands for more than a practical achievement. The square commemorates the 1958 establishment of the Republic of Iraq and is a major monument in the country’s history. The clean-up returns hope to the people of Baghdad, suggesting the fulfillment of the possibilities Iraq has before it - as well as a silent testament to the works of Islamic Relief and the determined workers in helping the dreams of the Iraqi people to become realities.”