The local revolutionary council of Sarmada, Idlib (northern Syria), launched a campaign called Hand in Hand to Make Sarmada Cleaner. The campaign, which took place between May 19 and May 23, 2013, aimed to fill the vacuum created by the withdrawal of the regime's institutions from the city, especially in the of service sector.

Young volunteers cleaned the city's main road on the first day of the campaign and moved the large landfills away from the town using bulldozers and trucks. On the second day, they began their work on Al-Muqasam Street, followed by the other streets one by one until Sarmada was totally cleaned.

The activists continued to urge residents to take part in the campaign. Ali Edo wrote about the campaign on the Facebook page The Free People and Youth of Northern Syria - Sarmada Coordination Committee, which provided media coverage for the campaign. He said, “We want our town to be in this condition during good and bad times, and we want people to get out and respond to the call. This is our town, and we should keep it clean. There are two kinds of dirt, the things strewn on the land that we take to dumpsters, and the people who we should move to the dustbin of history. Sarmada, which means the eternal, is our town. We will live and die in dignity, not as guests."

Residents of the city and members of the armed opposition and the revolutionary council took part in the campaign. Although the young people and activists were absorbed by their work, they managed to keep some humor alive. A group of young people carrying cleaning tools held a sign that read “Sarmada has become clean; by God we will enjoy ourselves.”

The Hand in Hand to Make Sarmada Cleaner campaign reflects people's awareness of the importance of building and self-reliance in bearing the responsibility of the freedom they call for.