Background:
Spurred by Pope Francis’ invitation, Mother General’s Letter to the Provinces and experiencing Mother Earth and ourselves healing, during the global pandemic; the Indian Province decided to celebrate the Season of Creation an annual global ecumenical celebration from 1st September to 4th October and the Jubilee for the Earth 2020, in a big way. To make our dream a reality, we needed to know in order to understand. We also had to be close, in order to serve; and in order to be reconciled we needed to listen to the cry of the poor and the cry of the Earth.
Objectives:
1. Awareness Raising and Critical Analysis of India i.e. to listen, pray, discern and respond together to the cries of humanity and earth, thus becoming painfully aware of Planet Earth and the global pandemic.
2. Transformation by developing Eco-justice as a way of life by daring to turn what is happening to India and the world into our own personal suffering; thus making us responsive in our mission.
3. Active Response to the Planet by discovering what each of us can do to better the situation and making choices more true to the Gospel.
4. Advocacy and networking with others to be One Body which loves, practices, and gives witness to JPIC at all levels of our life and mission.
Main Activities:
I. Soul Searching:
- Prayer and Prayer services in the open/webinars/internet, meditation, silence, days of Recollection, retreats etc.
II. Advocacy for Structural and Systemic Change:
- Writing articles, poems and letters to the editor in magazines, newspapers etc.
- Watching Eco-documentaries together and reflecting on the same, making videos, attending and giving online talks, prayer services, seminars, conferences etc. via webinars and WhatsApp on Mother Earth and the pandemic.
- Drafting and circulating letters to the concerned authorities against degradation of the planet and collecting signatures to stop the same via the media.
- Writting of comprehensive factsheets on five burning environmental problems in India, together with questions, activities, actions on Saving our Environment, Fossil Fuels, Migrants, Christian Response to Covid-19 and Eco-Spirituality.
- The New Normal were disseminated in the Province for community prayer and reflection. Responses were collated and shared with all in the Province; as well as with the Sisters of the Cross of Chavanod and Religious of the Assumption who joined us in this celebration.
III. Giving Witness as Artisans of Hope:
- Advocating Eco-Spirituality as a way of life-the new normal via multi-media.
- Promoting doable green good deeds like terrace, kitchen, vertical herbal gardens and vermin composting.
- Health is Wealth-making and sharing simple tried out home herbal and condiment remedies/recipes etc to boost immunity.
IV. Walking with Hope:
- Starting the Ripple Effect Movement. Do a good deed each day. No thank you. Pass on the good deed to another.
- Networking with other organizations, NGO’s, medical facilities, Food security etc. to help the poor and the planet.
- Caring for the elderly, the sick, the depressed and the mourning through Generative Listening and Generative Speaking.
V. Caring for our Common Home:
- Eco-Creative Activities like making bags and masks from old and left over fabric, mending torn clothes, footwear and other accessories etc. thus promoting the reduce, re-use, recycle culture.
Outcomes:
A few RSCJ communities of the Indian Province did not respond but those who did, responded at depth. There was enthusiasm, learning, good will and heightened awareness about the Planet and the pandemic. Two other international congregations joined us in this celebration, Sisters of the Cross of Chavanod and Religious of the Assumption which was an added bonus. Results were obvious, seen in the change and transformation in life-style and choices made as shared in the responses:
I. Using Natural Resources with Care and Responsibility:
- Responsible use of electricity brought down the electricity bill considerably (e.g. Rs 1000 in one community). Solar panels have been installed in our institutions and in our home for the elderly at Pune.
- Greater awareness and sensitivity to collecting E-waste and disposing it off appropriately.
- Avoiding the use of plastic and thermocole and educating others on the ill effects of burning plastics.
- Recycling paper, using paper on both sides, turning/reusing envelopes, using handkerchiefs instead of tissues and paper napkins. Recycling water bottles, tins etc as containers.
- In the nursery school children were taught to love and nurture plants by giving them pots with soil and seeds to see the different stages of growth and also encouraged to reuse their broken toys as pots to grow plants.
- Small steps like not using the lift, air-conditioner, geyser, using the computer on the power saving mode etc. Using water sparingly e.g. closing taps, water in a mug to brush teeth, not using the shower or using the washing machine only for a big wash. Using basins for community scullery, walking instead of using a vehicle, or pooling the use of vehicles on the campus, using public transport etc.
II. Adopting a Holistic Approach to Self, Others and Care of the Environment:
- Striving to de-clutter one’s room by giving away all that is not needed, eating home-cooked natural and nutritious food, no junk food, sleeping, relaxing, praying and exercising sufficiently.
- Separation of garbage, recycling garbage, composting etc. One RSCJ even ventured to do this in a miniscule way on the terrace in her herbal garden by using vegetable and fruit peel for vermin composting, thus making her herbal garden self-sufficient.
- Art from Waste for art and craft classes in the school e.g. using bubble and sweet wrappers.
III. Health is Wealth:
- Using the treasure trove of spices and condiments in the kitchen prudently to boost immunity.
- Growing herbs, Malabar spinach and decorative plants in pots on the terrace garden, window sills etc.
IV. Recognizing our Symbiotic Relationship with the Environment in a variety of ways:
- Both at the personal, community and institutional levels. Social distancing, making and using masks, sanitizers etc. during the pandemic.
- Organizing a Pet Day in school to encourage empathy and kindness to animals, Rain cycle and Rain Day to appreciate the gift of water from the heavens.
- Sustained interest in environmental issues of concern. This was evident in conversations, discussions, reading of the newspapers, cutting out articles of interest, magazines, books etc as well as online internet resources e.g. Albert Einstein’s quote, “No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more man”.
V. Solidarity with Compassionate Hearts:
- Using WhatsApp to connect with people; two elderly RSCJ’s, sisters Irene and Marie collected Rs 38000/- within 24 hours and thus helped 15 families who had no job, food, money or mobility during the first sudden lockdown. They provided them with basic daily necessities.
- Migrants working in our institutions were provided daily meals and a few were even given accommodation for a while. A few RSCJ decided not to bargain with vegetable and fruit vendors etc or take the small change from taxi drivers during the pandemic.
- While many other institutions and companies cut a percentage of the salaries of their employees due to lack of income during the lockdown, the Indian Province decided to pay all our staff their entire salaries despite the financial crunch.
VI. Solidarity and Sensitivity to the Environment and the World:
- Drafting letters to the concerned authorities, mobilizing ‘Fill the Jails’ and signature campaigns to exert pressure to stop or start something in the public domain beneficial to all e.g. 600 acres of Aarey Milk Colony were declared as a ‘reserved forest’ at Goregaon, Mumbai, the first instance of an extensive forest blossoming within the limits of a metropolis anywhere in the world.
- Six RSCJ got mild COVD -19 and one had a bad attack of Covid -19. She looked at it with eyes of faith, as a time of grace, love and care.