By Samantha Novick

RAJEB, AJLOUN - Nestled in a picturesque valley filled with citrus groves and waterfalls, the small town of Rajeb is a favourite haunt for picnickers during the weekend.

But when the visitors go back to the cities, many leave behind their broken bottles, snack wrappers and other trash, spoiling the environment they had come to enjoy.

For a small town with only 10 sanitation workers, that had become a bit of a problem.

So the town enlisted the help of an unusual cleanup crew: A group of 23 college students from the US.

For the students it was an opportunity not only to see a different part of Jordan, but also a chance to study their Arabic while working alongside the local community.

Last Wednesday, the students partnered with residents and members of local volunteer group All for Jordan to pick up trash, paint over graffiti and build barbeque pits. A crew even built a temporary safety barrier above a cliff where two men recently died after slipping off.

“I feel this is what Jordan is all about,” said Andrew Halladay, a 20-year-old religion student from Los Angeles who participated in the project. “It’s great to come out here, speak with the people and work with them. This is what we came here to do.”

Halladay and his colleagues have been studying Arabic and Jordanian history and culture at the SIT Study Abroad centre in Amman for more than two months.

“It’s a beautiful thing to see everyone working together like this,” said Fozat Freihat, mayor of Kufranjeh Municipality, of which Rajeb is a part. “The work they are doing is not going to benefit just me or you. It’s going to benefit everyone who participated and everyone who will visit this place in the future.”

Students attending the centre come from universities across the US. They stay in the Kingdom for one semester, where they live with local families and conduct research on topics affecting Jordan and the region. Many of the students also undertake internships with businesses and NGOs in the capital.

Last week’s volunteer project was a first for the centre, but more are planned for the future. Over the course of the day, the crew removed garbage from a river and a large picnic area, which eventually filled a large truck. They also set up new trash bins and painted a mural with environmental slogans and images.

“It’s very important to leave your mark in a place,” said 20-year-old Janelle Johnson, of Lexington, Kentucky. “I think it’s important to help where you can.”

Raed Tabini, SIT Study Abroad’s academic director, said he hoped that people visiting Rajeb would be affected by the volunteers’ work.

“In Jordan, attitudes are changing about the environment, but we still have to do more,” he said. “I hope that people coming here will see what the students have done in Rajeb and continue to keep this place beautiful.”