Invest in our planet: a seed today, a forest tomorrow

Earth Day is celebrated every year on 22 April in 193 countries around the world with the aim of raising awareness on issues such as environmental protection, sustainability and climate change.

This year, the theme chosen is ‘Invest in our Planet’, to encourage governments, businesses and individuals to invest in the future of the planet and future generations. As believers, we have a duty to make concrete commitments to safeguard the gift of creation that God has entrusted to us. Pope Francis, in his encyclical Laudato si’, invited us to live an ‘integral ecology’ that includes respect for nature, human dignity, social justice and peace. We are called to act more concretely to:

• Reduce energy and resource consumption by choosing renewable sources and environmentally friendly products.
• Recycle and reuse materials, avoiding waste and waste production.
• Cultivate a lifestyle of sobriety and solidarity, sharing goods with those most in need and participating in voluntary initiatives.
• Educate ourselves and all young people to respect and care for the environment, through example, prayer and training.
• Support organisations and institutions committed to defending the planet and human rights.

As a Foundation we support the projects of the Sisters of Charity and we also invest in the future and reap the benefits of this present:

In Chad, with the street children who live in the reception centre, cultivating the land is a way of helping them to recover their childhood, they learn to take care of the plants, to observe the cycle of life, to collaborate with others and to value natural resources

In Indonesia, on the large plot of land around the school, catechum, maize and other fruit trees are cultivated, fish and pigs are raised so that the nuns and villagers are never without necessities

In Vietnam, each community cultivates the land and tends the garden. Education in working the land and rearing animals is an opportunity especially for the young girls who live with us and come closer to our reality

In Laos, trees are planted and rice is grown so that our students and neighbours can eat it

On the occasion of Earth Day, we also want to turn our gaze and solidarity to the peoples who live from agriculture, the source of life and dignity.

Among them, we feel particularly close to and in solidarity with the inhabitants of the villages of Bam and Besao in Chad, who are currently hosting families displaced by conflicts between Fulani herdsmen and unidentified armed men in several villages around Bam and Besao.

There are a total of 388 displaced persons housed in the mission and parish, not counting those housed in families in Bam.

These people come from 6 villages: Maïrom, Domkassa, Bedoubouria, Mempon, Mantibijé, Koré, Bekatara. Yesterday, at the centre, the catechists were able to share with them the little they have.

This situation compromises food security and social peace in a region already marked by poverty and climate change.