“Most of the people do not care about how clean the roads are and they’re not that excited by what we’re doing,” al-Qaisi admits. “And in fact, a lot of the places where we paint and clean actually get dirty again really quickly.”
But Manal Saleh, a professor at Mustansiriya University, begs to differ.
“The flowers they draw on the walls have a psychological impact,” she says. “They motivate people to care more for the city. These young volunteers are resisting terrorism and sectarianism and betrayal. It is no exaggeration to say that these drawings are beautiful, in the way they reflect a love of life and a real and strong desire to heal this country’s wounds. The painters want beauty to replace ugliness and this must impact on the people of this city,” she argues.
“The volunteer work of these young people is a great lesson in love and peace and national unity,” adds civil society activist Shaima Matar. “These are values that are conspicuously absent from the political scene here.”
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