ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) – The white buildings of the Casbah spill down the steep hillside overlooking the curved Mediterranean bay of Algiers. Barbary pirates had their headquarters here in the 16th century, preying on European shipping and imprisoning many, including Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes.
Steeped in history with its twisting alleys and Ottoman-era houses, this UNESCO world heritage site is also slowly falling apart and choked with trash thanks to poor municipal services.
Over the weekend, in a burst of civic pride that has often been absent in the North African nation, a group of Algerians of all ages armed with plastic gloves and garbage bags moved through the ancient streets picking up litter and cleaning out rubble-choked lots.
The cleanup project was the brainchild of 25-year-old Yasmine Bouchene, who said such initiatives are happening all over the country as young people start doing themselves what the government has been neglecting to do.
“It is these kinds of initiatives that will restore civil society,” she said.