Tunisian civic awareness shows signs of life + picture of the day

Civic awareness was somewhat of a lost cause in Tunisia under Ben Ali. The regime’s tight control over any kind of organizing – unless it was for Ben Ali and his party, the RCD – was tightly controlled. Charities were hard to come by, unless they were underground, like Ennahdha and other Islamist organizations. Recently howver, there have been signs of life in Tunisians’ willingness and capacity to organize to better their communities and help those in need.

Last month I reported on the widespread efforts by Tunisians to help those affected by extreme weather – this included secular and religious groups, as well as extremist groups linked to international terror organizations. It seems that civic life has gone from one extreme to another.

Environmental groups have also been growing. Groups like Friends of the Belvedere have been actively campaigning for months to help save Tunis’s wonderful central park from illegal construction and general mismanagement.

This week, Tunisia Live reported that the international campaign Let’s Do It Tunisia will hold a national day this weekend to help clean up the country of the ever present problem of litter. Dozens of associated civic and environmental organizations have joined the campaign.

In my neighborhood, local do-gooders recently planted 50 trees in the local park. Using their own funds and their own labor, but with support from the city mayor, this group of arborists made their contribution to making Tunisia more green and more beautiful.