Educators and Educands Protecting Mother Earth

COMPANION

SANGATI

Konkan Salesian Bulletin Province of Panjim (INP)

Oct - Dec 2015 | Volume - 08 | Issue 04

EDUCATORS & EDUCANDS

Protecting MOTHER EARTH LAUDATO SI’ and SALESIAN EDUCATOR

Be the CHANGE

‘NATURE’ in Salesian Pedagogy

Editorial Editor Joaquim Lobo, sdb Editorial Team Francis Xavier, sdb Ralin De Souza, sdb Local Communication Delegates Layout & Cover Design Joaquim Lobo Consultants Ian Figueiredo, sdb (Provincial) Paul D’Souza, sdb (Vice Provincial) Allwyn D’Souza, sdb (Economer) Distribution Lazar Vaz Printed at Rajhuns, Kolhapur Published by Boskon Communications Don Bosco Provincial House Odxel, Goa University P.O. Goa 403206 sangatidonbosco@gmail.com

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At the beginning of this year, as in the previous years, Nolasco family had booked hundreds of serial lights from the decorator for the next season of Christmas. After the release of LAUDATO SI’, they have thought otherwise. Instead of just lighting the whole house, the family now plans to save electricity by creatively arranging limited number of bulbs and yet celebrating the Christmas with same enthusiasm and fervour.

One of my friends, recalling his school days, reminded me of the principal of his school who never switched off his office lights and fan, even when he wasn’t in the office. “Principal’s office was always open and we saw it every passing day,” he said.

Every good teacher will strive to bring out the best from his pupils by providing every opportunity to grow in wisdom, knowledge and skill. Pope Francis like a Good Shepherd, never misses an occasion to tell the world that, we are all children of God and thus must make every effort to live in harmony and peace with one another and nature.

Green, the colour of life, renewal, nature, and energy is associated with the meanings of growth, harmony, freshness, safety, fertility and environment. Green is also traditionally associated with money, finances, banking, ambition, greed, jealousy, and wall street.

Recent trend that packs same old content into green colour boxes or wrappings have instant buyers.

Today, green sells.

‘Green mine’ is a beautiful concept, might take decades to be a reality in our country. Our neighbouring countries having green flags, have hardly represented the colour they signify. UNTIL WE CHANGE, painting everything green and parading our love for nature, will not have any positive effect on the environment we live in.

Joaquim Lobo, sdb This is a Salesian Province Bulletin, and is directed towards the Salesian works in the regions of Sindhudurg, Goa and Karnataka.

For private circulation only.

COVER STORY

Fr Ivo Coelho, General Councillor - Formation

LAUDATO SI’ and the SALESIAN EDUCATOR

‘This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her.’ (LS 2) These words of Pope Francis touch my heart deeply as I leave Bangalore, my mind filled with images of a city in the throes of savage growth, choked with traffic and filth, its serene beauty lost forever. Things are not very different in Goa: we all are witness to our beautiful land, amchem bhangarachem Goem, being slowly choked in its own filth, its greenery swallowed up in savage expansion. What is happening to Goa and Bangalore is a tiny bit of what is happening to our planet in general. Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ is a huge call to all human beings to wake up and do something.

Where, we might ask, are the roots of the ecological disaster? The pope suggests that the root causes are in ourselves, in our attitudes towards the earth: ‘We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life.’

(LS 2) Spontaneously we tend to think that the ‘ourselves’ here refers to the great and the powerful, the politicians and the industrialists; but the point is that it also includes you and me. The degradation of Goa and Bangalore stems from a combination of macro- and micro-factors: growing population, uneven development, unequal opportunities between rural and urban areas, and egoism at all levels – from those in power to the common man and woman who will not hesitate to bribe to get his or her way, and to dispose of rubbish just outside their doorstep. Each of us is certainly subject to what philosopher, theologian and economist Bernard Lonergan calls “individual bias,” which is just another way of speaking

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about selfishness and egoism. But we are also subject to something that he calls “general bias,” which is simply the tendency – a most commonsense kind of thing – to restrict our vision to the here and the now, without bothering about the long-term consequences of our attitudes and deeds.

We are all affected, then, by the dominant techno-economic paradigm. ‘Compulsive consumerism is one example of how the techno-economic paradigm affects individuals.

Romano Guardini had already foreseen this: “The gadgets and technics forced upon

him by the patterns of machine production and of abstract planning mass man accepts quite simply; they are the forms of life itself.

To either a greater or lesser degree mass man is convinced that his conformity is both reasonable and just”.’ (LS 203) What follows is strong, something that makes me think: ‘“Purchasing is always a moral – and not simply economic – act”. Today, in a word, “the issue of environmental degradation challenges us to examine our lifestyle”.’ (LS 206) Each of us needs, therefore, to repent of the ways we have harmed the planet, as Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew urges: ‘for “inasmuch as we all generate small ecological damage”, we

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are called to acknowledge “our contribution, smaller or greater, to the disfigurement and destruction of creation”.’ (LS 8) What is needed is ‘a change of humanity’. We need to replace ‘consumption with sacrifice, greed with generosity, wastefulness with a spirit of sharing, an asceticism which “entails learning to give, and not simply to give up. It is a way of loving, of moving gradually away from what I want to what God’s world needs. It is liberation from fear, greed and compulsion”. (LS 9) As Pope Benedict XVI said, “the deterioration of nature is closely connected to the culture which shapes human coexistence”. (see LS 6) The question of ecology presents, therefore, a great educational challenge, most especially to us in the Salesian Family who are educators by vocation.

A first challenge is to cultivate a basic awareness of our common origin, our mutual belonging, that fact that we can no longer pretend that we can survive by ourselves. ‘Many things have to change course, but it is we human beings above all who need to change. We lack an awareness of our common origin, of our mutual belonging, and of a future to be shared with everyone. This basic awareness would enable the development of new convictions, attitudes and forms of life. A great cultural, spiritual and educational challenge stands before us, and it will demand that we set out on the long path of renewal.’ (LS 202) The basic interconnectedness of all reality is one of the great teachings of Laudato Si’, and this should find its way into the core of our educational processes.

St Francis of Assisi is a great example of the new attitude and the new culture that is required.

From him we learn the importance not only of a new awareness but also a love of creation.‘ Just as happens when we fall in love with someone, whenever he would gaze at the sun, the moon or the smallest of animals, he burst into song, drawing all other creatures into his praise. He communed with all creation, even preaching to the flowers, inviting them “to praise the Lord,

just as if they were endowed with reason”.

His response to the world around him was so much more than intellectual appreciation or economic calculus, for to him each and every creature was a sister united to him by bonds of affection. That is why he felt called to care for all that exists. His disciple Saint Bonaventure tells us that, “from a reflection on the primary source of all things, filled with even more abundant piety, he would call creatures, no matter how small, by the name of ‘brother’ or ‘sister’”. Such a conviction cannot be written off as naive romanticism, for it affects the choices that determine our behaviour. If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs. By contrast, if we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously.’

(LS 11) I love this, because of the way it reminds me of an old battle in our lovely Divyadaan compound: ‘For this reason, Francis asked that part of the friary garden always be left untouched, so that wild flowers and herbs could grow there, and those who saw them could raise their minds to God, the Creator of such beauty.’ (LS 12) Our current systems of education could certainly do with a great dose of education to beauty.

Education would do well to make students aware of the existence not only of individual and group bias, but also of the general bias of common sense, that bias that leads us to neglect the long term consequences of our attitudes

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“people who run schools.” The choice, as ever, is between consumerism and creation.

We can choose to be merely consumers and reproducers of contemporary culture; or we can choose to be creators, people who push this culture into new and healthy and deeply spiritual directions.

and actions in favour of short term benefits and results. Young people who are concerned only with their own immediate success, and schools that unreflectively encourage such short term goals, will only serve to reinforce general bias.

Schools and universities need to learn to draw attention to and challenge the general bias that cuts across culture, politics and economy. ‘A politics concerned with immediate results, supported by consumerist sectors of the population, is driven to produce short-term growth.’ (LS 178) ‘In any discussion about a proposed venture, a number of questions need to be asked in order to discern whether or not it will contribute to genuine integral development. What will it accomplish? Why? Where? When? How? For whom? What are the risks? What are the costs? Who will pay those costs and how? In this discernment, some questions must have higher priority. For example, we know that water is a scarce and indispensable resource and a fundamental right which conditions the exercise of other human rights. This indisputable fact overrides any other assessment of environmental impact on a region.’ (LS 185) The province of the Konkan can think in this context of the environmental disaster caused by mining activities in Sulcorna and elsewhere, and also of confreres like the late Brother Philip Neri who were passionately involved in people’s movements in favour of the environment. Are these really issues to be relegated “to a few crazy individuals”? Is

not Laudato Si’ calling us to a serious and difficult change of basic attitudes? Are we not called to being prophets? I do not think educators can avoid these questions any longer – unless we want to be merely

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Connected to the above is also the question of eco-friendly architecture and infrastructure.

When I look at our new roads and bridges and our great buildings, I cannot help asking myself: Where does all this stone come from?

Which is the mountain or hill that has been destroyed in order to build this bridge? There are significant initiatives with respect to building technology; only, we Salesians have never been interested in that, thinking that such things are quite irrelevant to our job of educating people. But imagine a school that promotes an eco-friendly ethos; image a whole educative and pastoral community involved in planning an eco-friendly school building – whether it be in a remote rural area or in an urban area.

I realize I have been raising issues that are uncomfortable at best, and that will appear irrelevant to our Salesian common sense at worst. But I do think that our prophetic pope is calling us to go in these directions. Laudato Si’ is a bold encyclical; it is breaking fresh ground; and it cannot but be uncomfortable. Pope Francis is telling us that care for our common home is something deeply spiritual and deeply Christian. Not to give heed to his call would be unspiritual and unchristian. I pray for genuineness openness and great courage!

This would be one more way of renewing our fidelity also to our father Don Bosco, one great way of updating the Preventive System that he left to us.

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LAUDATO SI’ Fr Ashley Miranda, SDB

A call to Ecological Conversion When Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope and took the name ‘Francis’ he set the course of his pontificate in the very act.

As Pope and leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics he wanted to be a harbinger of peace, solidarity and simplicity. His encyclical Laudato Si’ dated June 18, 2015 is a revolutionary document centered on these very themes.

Apparently many of the views that Pope Francis has expressed in this encyclical draw their inspiration from the reflections of theologian priest Romano Guardini in his critique of ‘Modern Man’s treatment of nature’. In 1986, at the age of 50, after having served in various leadership positions including provincial of the Jesuits in Buones Aires and Rector of the Seminary, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was sent to Germany to complete his doctorate in theology.

He began working on a thesis on the thought of Guardini but had to give up his work for reasons not altogether clear. But Guardini’s thought made a lasting impression on him and this can be seen in the fact that he cites Guardini as many as eight times in his this encyclical. Guardini was convinced

that the world needs an ecological conversion that can only be achieved by a conversion from the crass consumerism that modern man has fallen victim to and his tendency to evaluate the worth of everything and anything purely in terms of its ‘commercial utility’.

Pope Francis has the amazing ability to say things clearly as he sees it. This ability comes through very clearly in Laudato Si’. This perhaps is one of the reasons why this encyclical attracted so much admiration as well as flack from so many different quarters all over the world. Some critics have termed it path breaking and revolutionary while some others have called it anti-modern and anti-progressive.

For the purposes of this article I will first highlight some of the central insights of Laudato Si’ in the pope’s own words and then go on to identify some practical measures spelt out in the encyclical itself which we as Salesians can take to make the ‘ecological conversion’ proposed by the encyclical a reality in our own lives and in the lives of our collaborators and the youngsters we work with.

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1. [Our] sister [the Earth]… cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use an abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her.

[2] 2. [Like St. Francis we need to learn] to see nature as a magnificent book in which God speaks to us and grants us a glimpse of his infinite beauty and goodness. [12] 3.

[Global warming and environmental degradation affects adversely the lives of all people] especially the poorest.

[48] [Unfortunately those of us who are privileged seem to suffer from a] widespread indifference to their suffering… …[25] 4. It is not possible to sustain the present level of consumption in … wealthier sectors of society where the habit of wasting and discarding has reached unprecedented levels. [27] 5. Access of safe drinkable water is a basic and universal human right. .. Our world has a grave social debt towards the poor who lack access to drinking water, because they are denied the right to a life consistent with t h e i r inalienable dignity.

[30] 6. B e c a u s e a l l creatures a r e connected, each must be cherished with love and respect, for all of us as living creatures are dependent on one another.[42] Every act of cruelty towards any creature is contrary to human dignity. [92] 7. A true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.[49] 8. Approximately a third of all food produced is discarded, and whenever food is thrown out it is as if it were stolen from the table of the poor. [50]

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9. We must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s image and given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures.

[67] the Bible has no place for a tyrannical anthropocentrism unconcerned for other creatures. [68] 10. Jesus lived in full harmony with creation ..[he was not ] an ascetic set apart from the world, nor an enemy to the pleasant things of life. .. He was far removed from philosophies which despised the body, matter and things of this world. [98] 11. Scientific and technological progress cannot be [unambiguously] equated with the progress of humanity and history. [113] [the present technocratic paradigm seems to be focused inordinately on the maximization of profits]. [We must put science and technology] at the service of another type of progress, one which healthier, more human, more social, more integral. [112] 12.

There can be no renewal of our relationship with nature without a renewal of humanity itself.

There can be no e c o l o g y without an adequate anthropology.

[118] 13. N a t u r e cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves or as a mere setting in which we live.

We are part of nature, included in it and this in constant interaction with it. [139] 14. Human ecology is inseparable from the notion of the common good. … The common good is the sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfillment.”

[156]

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15. Intergenerational solidarity is ... a basic question of justice, since the world we have received also belongs to those who will follow us. [159] 16. ‘Environmental Impact Assessment’ [should be part of every business venture or project] [183]. Profit cannot be the sole criterion to be taken into account. [187] 17. A technological and economic development which does not leave in its wake a better world and an integrally higher quality of life cannot be considered progress. [ 194] 18. [We must guard against becoming slaves to a compulsive consumerism]. The emptier a person’s heart is, the more he or she needs things to buy, own and consume. [204] 19. Education… aimed at creating an ‘ecological citizenship’ can bring about real changes in lifestyle. [211] 20.

The ecological crisis is a summons to profound interior conversion [that enables us to move from self-centeredness and selfabsorption to a genuine solidarity marked by responsibility and compassionate care.]

[208-210] [This conversion is rooted in] placing God at the centre of our lives [224] and in the awareness that each creature reflects something of God and has a message to convey to us. [221] Now for the practical lines of action. : a. Let us cultivate within us a spirit of gratitude and gratuitousness [220]. Everything we have, all that we are, every bird, flower and tree, the world itself, is God’s gift, unearned, given to us freely and an expression of his boundless love. Gratitude to God for his blessings fosters within us selflessness and generosity. b.

Let us seek to develop in ourselves and among our collaborators and the youth good ecological habits such as ‘avoiding

wastage of water [30] and food, reducing our use of plastic and paper, separating refuse, using public transport whenever possible, planting trees, turning off unnecessary lights [211] and preferring natural ventilation to the use of air conditioners whenever possible. [55] c. Let us resist the temptation to adopt a consumerist lifestyle that craves for more and more and that measures the worth of other humans and all creatures purely in terms of their utility. [222] let us cultivate a simple and balanced lifestyle that enables us to appreciate the small things and to be grateful for daily blessings. d. Let us teach the young and remind ourselves of those simple gestures of courtesy and respect that include the kind word, the gentle smile [230] and words such as ‘thank you’ ‘please’ and ‘am sorry’. These are an important element of human life which not only strengthens and fosters genuine human communion but also eventually determines our relationship with nature.

[213] He who cannot treat his fellows with respect is highly unlikely to extend that courtesy to nature. e. Let us value times of silence and contemplation that enable us to be completely present to everyone and to everything like Jesus was and to resist the unhealthy anxiety and frenetic activism that tends to make us aggressive, superficial and compulsive consumers. [226] f. Let us promote a comprehensive and integral education to ‘ecological citizenship’ [211] in our schools and all our settings.

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OUR EARTH Fr Ian Figueiredo, SDB

Whose Earth is it Anyway?

In the late 1970’s, the Boney M musical group released an album containing the song “Rivers of Babylon” which went on to become a great hit. The song took its inspiration from Ps. 137.

The first part of the psalm tells the story of a group of Israelites who were carried away by a tyrant from the land that God had gifted to them, and were taken into exile to Babylon (587-538 B.C.). This experience, though painful, proved beneficial to the Israelites, because it forced them to ask life-altering questions.

“Our land back home was given to us by God himself. We derived our identity from it, it gave us our food, it gave us all that we needed for our life. Now, why are we in this strange land? Has God abandoned us or have we brought down this disaster through our undiscerning choices?”

The answer they came up with gave rise to a story. Those Israelites, sitting around the campfire, six hundred years before the birth of Jesus, related how a loving, generous God created the world in an orderly fashion and then made the human person, “in his own image; male and female he created them” (Gen 1:27). Solemn words described the task that God had entrusted to them: “Be fruitful ..., fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over ... every living thing” (Gen. 1:28).

His earth or the right to mine and burn and kill without care for nature. He is its Creator! Why would He immediately command Adam to ruin it or to do anything he wants to the planet?

The second account of the creation story offers a clearer explanation regarding man’s role in God’s creation. Therein we read: “Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it” (Gen.2:15).

Here we have the Creator’s clear command to man about his obligations towards creation.

To tend is to look after, to cultivate, to improve and embellish it, while to keep it means to exercise great care over the land, to guard and watch over. As caretakers, man and woman of all ages are ordered to protect the land they have been entrusted with so as to return it to its owner in as good, or better, condition than when they received it. Basically therefore, the biblical lesson is that creation is a gift of God for all to enjoy and everyone must respect and care for the earth and shoulder responsibility for creation.

Increasingly, however, we are witnessing the destruction of the earth. Rather than treasuring the gift and developing it responsibly, we are

“Subdue” and “have dominion” seem to justify a domination that is not concerned with caring for the earth and its fruit, but plundering it for personal advantage.

Certainly, God did not give man the authority to degrade and destroy

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becoming re-creators and consumers of nature with no reference to the One who gave it to us in safe-keeping. “So bleak is the picture, that the bulldozer and not the atomic bomb may turn out to be the most destructive invention of the 20th century” – author Philip Shabecoff, New York Times Magazine, June 4, 1978.

Is there any way out? As Christians, we are people of hope! We cannot afford to despair! It was with that intention that Pope Francis published an Encyclical letter on the environment, “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home” on 18th June 2015.

One of the outstanding insights of Laudato Si’ is that neither technology alone nor even political debates can save the earth from destruction.

That will happen only when there is an ‘ecological conversion’, i.e., when mankind realizes that there is a three-fold relation between God, mankind and the earth. At the moment, we live in a world that is forgetting God. Consequently, we are destroying nature.

This, in turn, is disrupting relationships between people especially the poor, the elderly, the unborn, the unemployed, the migrant and the disabled who are cast to the margins because they lack economic utility. Pope Francis reserves his strongest criticism for the wealthy who ignore the problem of climate change, and especially its effect on the poor.

“Profit,” he says, “cannot be the sole criterion”

of our decisions. (LS 187) The entire encyclical could be summarized in a tweet that Pope Francis sent out on 2nd July 2015. “A great challenge: stop ruining the garden which God has entrusted to us so that all may enjoy it”.

As educators, we have an urgent duty to promote an ecological commitment among our students. They must be helped to protect the environment through little daily actions that indicate a change in lifestyle. These actions would

include avoiding the use of plastic, reducing water consumption and wastage, separating refuse, cooking and purchasing only what can reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings, using public transport or car-pooling, planting t r e e s , turning off unnecessary l i g h t s , sharing with those who do not have, or any number of other practices...

We must not think that these efforts are not going to change the world…

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The time to begin is now, before our God-given earth, with all its beauty and rich variety, is reduced to a screen saver!

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INTRO TO LAUDATO SI’ Fr Joshtrom Isaac Kureethadam, SDB

“Go and repair my house which, as you see, is falling into ruin” One day in 1205, a young man, son of a wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi, restless and searching for the real goal of his life, walked into the dilapidated church of San Damiano in the outskirts of the town. There occurred something, that would radically change the course of his life, the life of the Church, and to an extent even of the world. Here is one of the earliest accounts of what happened. We quote from the celebrated biography Life of Francis by Bonaventure.

One day when Francis went out to meditate in the fields he was passing by the church of San Damiano which was threatening to collapse because of extreme age. Inspired by the Spirit, he went inside to pray.

Kneeling before an image of the Crucified, he was filled with great fervour and consolation as he prayed. While his tear-filled eyes were gazing at the Lord’s cross, he heard with his bodily ears a voice coming from the cross, telling him three times: “Francis, go and repair my house which, as you see, is falling into ruin.”

Trembling with fear, Francis was amazed at the sound of this astonishing voice, since he was alone in the church; and as he received in his heart the power of the divine words, he fell into a state of ecstasy. Returning finally to his senses, he prepared to put his whole heart into obeying the command he had received. He began zealously to repair the church materially, although the

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principle intention of the words referred to that Church which Christ purchased with his own blood, as the Holy Spirit afterward made him realize....”

God was asking Francis of Assisi to repair the Church which had become dilapidated by the accumulation of excessive wealth, the search for mundane glory, wide-spread ignorance and immorality among the clergy, and a host of other problems. Deeply transformed by this mystical experience, Francis radically changed the course of his life. He began to spend long hours in prayer in caves and country chapels seeking to discern God’s will for him. He began to contemplate God’s beauty in nature where every flower, every blade of grass, every little bird, spoke to him of His infinite love and glory. He also began to care for the poor and needy people around him, particularly of the lepers who lived as outcasts in the peripheries of the city. Soon he attracted many disciples. Together they initiated a gentle yet radical revolution in the Church. Their arms were simple but incisive: evangelical poverty, simplicity, humility, and universal love. Historians today largely concur on how the humble revolution initiated by the poverello of Assisi and his followers made an important contribution in the renewal of the Church, in the centuries that followed. Francis was indeed a man raised by divine providence to renew the house of God in those times.

On the evening of 13 March 2013, as the winter sun was setting over the limpid skies of the

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eternal city, the large crowd at St Peter’s square went ecstatic. A plume of white fumes had just begun to spew out of the chimney of the Sistine Chapel accompanied by the continuous peeling of the church bells. They were witnessing a historical moment: the election of a new Pope. In no time the sprawling square was filled to capacity as people rushed in from the neighbouring streets and alleys and television crews began to perch themselves at vantage points. All eyes were fixed on the baroque balcony in the middle of the imposing façade of the St Peter’s basilica, draped in red velvet, where the new Pope was scheduled to appear.

Several minutes later, a shy yet smiling person, clad in white, walked into the balcony. There was a moment of silence. He was not any of the so-called papabili about whom newspaper columns and television reportage had extensively gossiped in the days preceding the conclave. The pope-elect, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, was better known in the slums of his metropolis than in international media. Then the crowd burst into a roar of thunderous applause and loudly chanted “Francesco”, “Francesco”, the endearing name that the new Pope had chosen for himself.

Many saw in the election of Pope Francis, a divine intervention to “re-build” the Catholic Church that appears to have fallen in shatters in the wake of a stream of scandals and mishaps, factors that some even attributed to the resignation of his predecessor, Pope Benedict.

Here was the new Francis who would re-build the “house” of God that was falling into ruin.

Pope Francis did not disappoint. He appeared to have set in motion, in full earnest and with courage, a spate of reforms and initiatives within the Church, reaping some immediate and positive results already.

However, scarcely did anyone realize that the mission of Pope Francis was to re-build not just the “house” of the Church but much a larger one, the very common home of the Earth.

“Francis, go and repair my house which, as you see, is falling into ruin.”

The new encyclical of Pope Francis Laudato Si’ significantly carries the sub-title: “on care for our common home”.

Today, our common planetary home is falling into ruin. There has been no dearth of warnings in this regard, especially from the scientific community. We are on the brink of an unprecedented global challenge regarding the sustainability of our common home, which places a question mark on the very future of human civilization. Yet international response to the crisis has been painfully slow and incommensurable to the magnitude of the challenge facing our common home. Swayed by vested economic interests, political leadership around the world has been pathetically helpless before the precarious state of our common home. Climate change negotiations in the last few years, for example, reached such a stalemate that it appears that we are condemned to warming world, sweltering temperatures, melting glaciers and inundated shorelines in the decades and centuries to come. The horror movie of the destruction of our home planet, the only abode for complex forms of life in the entire universe - at least as far as we know – may now play out before our very eyes. We may be condemning future generations to a “common home in ruins”.

It is against this background that Pope Francis appears to have stepped into the scene. He too appears to have given a receptive hearing to the command of the Lord, like his namesake centuries ago, to “go and repair my house.”

Our common home is in grave peril today.

Laudato Si’ is therefore rightly about “care for our common home”. Pope Francis is inviting the churches, religions and all people of good will, to care for our fragile planetary home, before it is too late.

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OUR HOME Fr Paul D’Souza, SDB

Care for our Common Home, the planet Earth – which is I. Pope’s Encyclical: An Introduction

“LAUDATO SI’, mi’ Signore” – “Praise be to you, my Lord.” These are the words that open Pope Francis’ encyclical on ecology and care for God’s creation. These words from the beautiful canticle of St. Francis of Assisi, remind us that earth our ‘common home’ is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us.

In its early chapters, the encyclical pinpoints the source of the damage to our common home.

The document also explores the theology of creation and God’s plan for us within it.

Encyclicals convey authoritative teaching by the Church, which 1.2 billion Catholics around the world are meant to consider for their own lives.

Popes have in the past used them to intervene in global political debates. This encyclical of Pope Francis makes a clarion call to all humans, rather than just Catholics. The Pope notes, “when we speak of the ‘environment,’ what we really mean is a relationship existing... nature cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves... we are a part of nature, included in it and thus in constant interaction with it” (139).

in crisis:

Pope Francis

common home.’

Pollution

and climate change: The Encyclical in its first chapter states “Exposure to atmospheric pollutants produces a broad spectrum of health hazards, especially for the poor, and causes millions of premature deaths.” Pollution is caused by transport, industrial fumes, substances which contribute to the acidification of soil and water, fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and agro toxins in general. Then the chapter moves on to the pollution caused by waste, much of it nonbiodegradable, highly toxic and radioactive, from homes and businesses, from construction and demolition sites, from clinical, electronic and industrial sources. The global warming can lead to melting of glaciers and polar ice, rising sea levels, and the release of methane gas from the decomposition of frozen organic material.

Chapter one of Pope Francis’ first encyclical is titled: What is happening to our Common Home? Pope Francis, basing himself on the scientific facts says “The Earth, our home, is beginning to look like an immense pile of filth.” This chapter deals with “several aspects of the present ecological crisis”. It summarizes the current thinking of scientists about environmental issues. This chapter addresses six of the most serious challenges facing ‘our

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The issue of water: The encyclical reports on polluted water supplies, dying coral reefs, and deforestation. The entire populations and especially children get sick and die because of contaminated water. To deprive the poor of access to water means to deny “the right to a life consistent with their inalienable dignity”.

Aware of the profound differences over these issues, Pope Francis shows himself to be deeply affected by the “weak responses” in the face of the drama of many peoples and populations. Even though there is no lack of positive examples, there is “complacency and a cheerful recklessness”. An adequate culture is lacking as well as a willingness to change life style, production and consumption.

III. Pope’s invitation to work together towards “ecological conversion”

Loss of biodiversity: “Each year sees the disappearance of thousands of plant and animal species which we will never know, which future generations will never see, because they have been lost forever”. The great majority become extinct for reasons related to human activity.” These are resources that will not be available to future generations.

Decline in the quality of human life and the breakdown of society: In the framework

of an ethics of international relationships, the Encyclical indicates how a “true “ecological debt” exists in the world, with the North in debt to the South. Current models of development adversely affect the quality of life of most of humanity and “many cities are huge, inefficient structures, excessively wasteful of energy and water.

Global inequality: Environmental problems

affect the most vulnerable, the poor people, the greater part of the world’s population and the solution is not reducing the birth rate but counteracting “an extreme and selective consumerism”.

Facts matter when it comes to the environment, which is why Francis begins his encyclical with a presentation of the scientific consensus on the state of the environment and where we are going. These facts present the world with a moral dilemma. The Encyclical explains climate change as a largely human-made symptom of what is wrong in the world today, including social and economic injustice. It places the wider picture of ecological damage caused by waste, pollution, biodiversity loss, and toxic chemicals. It invites people to protect God’s creation for future generations, to embrace a lifestyle change for their own good, and to take care of people who are poor and more vulnerable. Pope Francis invites us to listen to the groans of the abused earth and all the forsaken, urging each and every one – individuals, families, local communities, nations and the international community – to an “ecological conversion.”

Only by radically reshaping our relationships with God, with our neighbors and with the natural world, Pope says, can we hope to tackle the threats facing our planet today.

A ray of hope flows through the entire Encyclical, which gives a clear message of hope. “Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home”.

The Holy Father optimistically states, “The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together…, for we know that things can change [13]”.

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ECOLOGICAL CONVERSION Banzelão Teixeira, sdb

BE THE CHANGE! Change begins with me I’ve often complained that the world is becoming dirtier, polluted and less inhabitable.

I’m moved by documentaries that speak of global warming, climate change and the extinction of species, and when I think of the ways in which human activity has resulted in the pathetic state of our common home, I despair, “Our governments aren’t doing enough.” And it is rightly so, our governments lack political will when it comes to the protection and care of creation. Our leaders are concerned with short term gains at the expense of the Cosmos.

Indeed, some of them are real dumbos when it comes to understanding the present ecological crisis as was recently demonstrated by one of our national leaders. In responding to a student on climate change he said, “The climate has not changed; instead our capacity to endure heat and cold has diminished.” I laughed; I guess the nation too laughed.

But as I laughed I was compelled to reflect: “You’ve always complained that they aren’t doing enough. But what have you done?” It’s true I’ve had lots of ideas on how stringent laws and severe penalties should be introduced to curb abuse and exploitation, but more than that nothing. It amounts to great thoughts and no actions, while the ecological crisis is

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worsening. The Mahatma challenges us, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world!”

In Laudato Si’ while calling us to ecological conversion, Pope Francis insists that change is not possible unless it is accompanied by personal conversion. He says, “Many things have to change course, but it is we human beings above all who need to change.” (LS, 202)

Ecological Sin Pope Francis enumerates the many ways we are contributing to the plunder of our common home and thus guilty of sins against creation.

As I read this profound encyclical on the care of our common home, it becomes clear that the perpetrators are not only out there; I’m one of them.

We are products as well as victims of the contemporary culture of Individualism which makes us think of “I, me, and myself.” This obsession with the self makes one think of his “wants” without any concern for the needs of others and the wellbeing of mother earth. We want to be masters of the world and no longer stewards of creation. This is evident in the many ways we exploit creation and manipulate others for our own gain.

The last few decades have witnessed the phenomenon of compulsive consumerism. The temptation to possess the latest in the market affects not only the young but even priests and religious. The rapidity with which we change our gadgets, clothing and the like is indicative of this impulsive behavior. The ‘throw away’ culture is not just at the level of paper and plastic but is also seen in our relationships. The other person has now become an object to be used and discarded.

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But the bigger danger, as I see it, is the sense of complacency when it comes to the ecological problem. While scientists and NGO’s are drawing our attention to the alarming signs, most of us are least concerned to take notice.

Many are in the state of denial like the above mentioned national leader who said, “The climate has not changed.” What he actually means is “Everything is well, let us continue the plunder.” Some others are passive spectators resigned to the fate, “Nothing can be done; the harm is irreversible!”

3. Sense of interconnectedness: it is time we abandon the less helpful attitude of selfcenteredness and cultivate a spirit of harmony with others, with other living creatures, with nature, and with God. A walk to the garden, beach, or the mountains could reawaken the spirit of connectedness with God and the rest of creation more than any social media. By being deeply connected with creation, we can truly find ourselves.

The encyclical clearly states that our harmful acts towards creation as well as our inaction to protect it are to be considered sinful. Laudato Si’ challenges us to examine our attitudes, convictions and lifestyle. (LS, 218)

The Need for Conversion Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew asserts that each of us – without exception – need to repent of the ways we have harmed the cosmos.

True repentance can happen only when we acknowledge our contribution, whether small or great, to the disfigurement and destruction of mother earth. (LS, 8) True repentance is always accompanied by a desire for change and to put right the harm done. For change to happen, we need to cultivate: 1. Sense of gratitude: a deep sense of gratitude to God for the wonder of creation, for the gift of life, and for all the graces we receive. This implies a sense of awe for the grandeur of creation, being happy with the little we have, to appreciate the small things of life and to enjoy beauty.

2. Being at peace: Ecological conversion also means being at peace with ourselves – with who we are, the way we are made, and with what we have. This will be manifested by the respect that we have for our bodies, the way we take care of our health by avoiding access activity, by adopting a balanced lifestyle of work and rest. (LS, 155)

4. Stewardship: We need to rediscover our human vocation to be stewards who are called to “till and keep the earth.” God calls us to cultivate and care for the earth, not to dominate, plunder and destroy. It is our duty to protect and preserve the beauty and diversity of creation. We cannot forget that by caring for creation we are actually saving ourselves from self-destruction. (LS, 79, 83) 5. Joining forces: we need to collaborate and network with like-minded persons to address the present ecological crisis. Those who have truly undergone metanoia will not be afraid of standing up for the truth and joining forces with citizens’ groups that are standing up to mighty politicians or companies.

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The Prophetic call of a Salesian

power of young people to bring change.

As educators, we Salesians have an added responsibility to educate young people to environmental responsibility. Through our example and involvement – more than our talks – we should lead our students and beneficiaries to ecological commitment. A simple, clean and beautiful campus is itself very educative. Young people should be helped to cultivate ecological virtues. Our students should learn that there is nobility in the duty to care for creation through little daily action. The Pope says:

Don’t give up

Education in environmental responsibility can encourage ways of acting which directly and significantly affect the world around us, such as avoiding the use of plastic and paper, reducing water consumption, separating refuse, cooking only what can reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings, using public transport or car-pooling, planting trees, turning off unnecessary lights, or any number of other practices. (LS, 211)

To conclude I would say “All is not lost!” We are capable of rising above ourselves and make a new start. If we are willing to take a honest look at ourselves and acknowledge our sinfulness, we are on the path to authentic ecological conversion. (LS, 205, 211) The Pope reminds us that we must never get discouraged that our efforts are not going to change the world. Our little efforts benefit society in ways unknown to us; with these we sow seeds of goodness which sprout, bear fruit and multiply with time. So don’t give up!

Conscientizing young people and inviting them to be positively involved in the care of creation is laying the foundation for an eco-friendly and sustainable future. Initiatives such as Greenline or Eco-clubs are a wonderful manifestation of how education can bring about real changes in lifestyle. We can never underestimate the

A Prayer for Our Earth All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures.

You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.

Pour out upon us the power of your love, that we may protect life and beauty.

Fill us with peace, that we may live with brothers and sisters, harming no one.

O God of the poor, help us to rescue is abandoned and forgotten of this earth, so precious in your eyes.

Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it, that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.

Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain of the expense of the poor and the earth.

Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature as we journey toward your infinite light.

We thank you for being with us each day.

Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle for justice, love and peace.

POPE FRANCIS

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A POEM Jolene Rene Fernandes

Look at the World Look at the world Look at the street The ground is all concrete A problem comes And we cheat it away.

How are you going to cheat pollution?

This world will end up An empty vessel.

A beautiful planet called Earth A place where hardships are built so that we can build relationships, so that we can have faith in each other, and he who has created us in this bittersweet place called earth.

I see a flower garden I smile as I breathe in the scent It takes me into the wonderful world Out of the horrid place of tin We have changed our beautiful Earth We have made it bad I wish we could go back in time And get back the world we had.

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CLEAN WATER Sr Melissa D’Souza, FMA

The Source of Life In his encyclical Laudato Si’, our beloved Guru, Pope Francis has presented to us the shocking reality of our Mother Earth and has invited each of us to understand, awake and do our bit… It’s high time now.

Faced as we are with global environmental deterioration, I wish to address every person living on this planet. In this Encyclical, I would like to enter into dialogue with all people about our common home. (#3) This common home has many important elements that have to be taken care of. Permit me today to touch only one vital aspect.

I am… the source of life Hey, hi! I have so much to tell you that I just don’t know where and how to begin. But let me begin by introducing myself. I am the source of life, the sign of abundance. I bring growth and joy wherever I go, rather, wherever I flow.

Can you guess who I am? … Yes I am ‘WATER’.

No one on Planet Earth can survive without me, neither the trees nor the animals, nor the birds, and of course not you dear human being.

You use me for most for your work, washing, cooking, drinking, cleaning, bathing etc. Did you ever imagine what life would be without me? And yet, I am a free gift given to you. You get me so easily in your taps and in your wells.

will you do anything to save me, to use me sparingly so that others can have more of me?

Will you continue to let me flow and get wasted by your open taps and your broken pipes? Did you ever stop to reflect if you could manage with a bucket instead of a shower for a bath, or a mug instead of a running tap while brushing your teeth, or a bucket full of clothes instead of a few for a washing machine? Alas! If only you would think of the countless people who are in great need of me… things would be different!

Let me present to you a few of the latest statistics:  The largest source of water pollution in India is untreated sewage  An alarming 80% of India’s surface water is polluted, according to the latest assessment

by Water Aid, an international organization working for water sanitation and hygiene  Around 37.7 million Indians are affected by waterborne diseases annually  Survey by Eureka Forbes showed that 77% of Mumbai homes are vulnerable to water borne diseases as water contamination levels are extremely high  As per BMC-ESR 24.6% of Water Samples: Dangerous to Health  Globally, freshwater species have faced an estimated extinction rate five times greater than that of terrestrial species Shocked…?

Sad…?

Upset…?

But… did you ever realize that there are millions who struggle to get a little bit of me; who have to walk miles and miles to get me to fulfill their basic needs? Are you aware that there are many children and people who die of thirst? And let’s not go far… did you know that the drinking sources in your very own state Goa are being destroyed because of mining and new constructions? And after all this information,

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Did you ever realize that you are destroying me bit by bit, by dumping all sorts of waste in my home; I mean the oceans, the lakes, the ponds etc? I am a home to millions of fish and aquatic plants whose very existence is threatened because of all the sewage, junk and garbage that you dump into me. It hurts me to see so many marine animals get choked with plastic bags and rubbish that is carelessly dumped into me. If you come down into the deep, you yourself will be shocked to see all the waste in me, and yet I feel so helpless, as I have no hands like you to rid myself of all this mess. Poor corals, they are almost suffocated and drowned in thrash. The oil from various sources that enters into me forms a layer that blocks the entry of oxygen into me, and the result is the death of many helpless fish and plants. And did you think of the many marine birds that are affected?

Anything is

Anything is Valuable Valuable only in two only in two situations... situations...

1. Before 1.

Beforeit Getting Getting it 2. After 2. After Losing it!

Losing it!

The United Nations General Assembly, has understood the need of preserving me for the sake of your own survival, and had declared 2013 as the United Nations International Year of Water Cooperation. The objective of this International Year was to raise awareness, both on the potential for increased cooperation, and on the challenges facing water management in light of the increase in demand for water access, allocation and services. The year 2013 has come and gone… how much of me is saved?

Oh! How I wish YOU would do something to remedy this desperate situation! Act now, before it is too late! Remember that you will have to pay the price, sooner or later!

‘We never know the worth of water, till the well is dry’ - Thomas Fuller

‘Water is being depleted many, many times faster than nature can replenish it’ - Maude Barlow

Be a Part of the Salesian Family!

As a Salesian (Priest/Brother/Sister) Contact: Vocation Director, Don Bosco Benaulim, South Goa. Ph: 0832 2771587 / 09763571877 jccoelhosdb@gmail.com Fr Rector, Don Bosco Panjim, Goa Ph: 0832 2221986 / 09921461597 saviogomes61@gmail.com Fr Rector, Don Bosco Youth Centre, Shirva, Udupi, Karnataka. Ph: 0820 2576655 / 09483153613 simaoferns@gmail.com Fr Rector, Bosco Udyogshala Pinguli, Kudal, Sindhudurg. Ph: 02362 222332 / 09673947144 maximsdb@gmail.com

As a Benefactor / Donor Contact: Fr Romulo Noronha, Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Don Bosco Panjim, Goa 403001 noronharom@gmail.com Ph: +91 832 221986 ext 276 Mob:+91 9423056734

To BOOK MASSES & MAKE ONLINE DONATIONS visit: www.donboscopanjim.com

As a Volunteer Contact: Executive Director, Konkan Development Society, Odxel, Goa. Ph: 0832 2360711 / 0988180953

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PRACTICAL SOLUTION Fr Joel D’Souza, SDB

What are

Doing About It?

As a kid cartoons fascinated me. What interested me most was to watch toons converse through a gadget by which they could see each other. Enter the 20th century and it is surely possible to converse and see the other who is at a distance through Skype, Face time and many other ways. But I dread even to recall if I have seen an episode in which toons were taken to a museum… and to see what… trees which are preserved for the future generations.

Or do I recollect being glued to the television and seeing some cartoons carrying an oxygen cylinder on their back in order to breathe some oxygen (not on the moon but on earth) in order to survive. If it is true that I have seen these things then I only hope it does not come true.

Or can we say it may happen if we fail to take care of mother earth.

becoming uninhabitable, we inhale air full of dust, our weather has become erratic, and we eat food with traces of pesticides and other toxic chemicals. All this takes its toll on our well being. At this juncture we can either sit back with hands folded hoping for some miracle to happen or we can play an active role in doing something for the care of our mother earth. I propose a few ways in order to do our little (recollect the widows’ mite..Lk. 21: 1-4) to care for our common home.  Reduce – Reuse – Recycle: Our consumeristic society leads to a lot of throw-away culture.  Plant trees. Planting trees can help much in reducing global warming than any other method. They not only give oxygen but also take in carbon dioxide, during the process of photosynthesis, which is the main source of global warming.  Switch to compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. They consume 70% less energy than ordinary bulbs, have longer lifetime and a good saving on your wallet.  Save water; let not your tap keep running when not in use.

Cartoon: Ashwin Rodrigues, XI, DBYC Shirva

Humanity today is facing one of its gravest challenges and threats… our need to respect mother earth. Since many years we have lived under the illusion that global warming was felt only in the Antarctica with the melting of glaciers. But today global warming is a phenomenon whose effects can be seen almost everywhere in our country, from the over-crowded cities to the remotest villages.

Our rivers are polluted, our environment is

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 Turn off your lights. Friend! If you’re not using a room, there’s no need for the light to be on. (Let it begin from me…just switched off the fan in my room)  Remember your first cycling lessons…well it’s time to get back on your humble cycle and avoid a visit to your family doc.  How about carrying your own bags for shopping? Cutting down on use of plastic

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bags will do mother earth a big favour.  Keep in mind, all our efforts should begin from home, segregate your garbage into wet and dry.  Last but not the least...Spread the word. Let’s speak about our efforts to protect our mother earth. We need to tell others ‘What I am doing about it’.

Dear ‘family members of our Common Home’, • If you are already doing this… then Kudos to you!

• If you plan to start right now…then All the Best.

• But (this is the most dangerous) if you are still on the fence (cf. Rev. 3: 16), then…God Bless you and our Home.

Parish Goes Green The Jan 7, 2015 was a significant milestone in the history of Sacred Heart Parish, Yerwada. On this day the SHY Group under the leadership and guidance of parish priest Fr Anton D’Souza embarked on a new journey, to make it an environment friendly and a Go Green parish. Endeavouring another fundamental step in that direction, the month of August was declared as the Go green month for the parish. A plan was chalked out to conduct several activities spread across the month involving groups like the parish council members, altar boys, choir groups, parishioners.

The 1st week was dedicated towards AWARENESS. Presentations were shown during the church services educating the parishioners about the impact of climate change, the importance of trees, the impact of plastic waste and global warming. The 2nd week covered simple steps of REDUCE, REUSE and RECYLCE which could make the parish eco-friendly. During the 3rd week a stall

with saplings, seeds, cloth bags, pots, etc. were put up to encourage parishioners to grow plants at their homes. A total of 200 saplings and 300 cloth bags were sold during the event. In the 4th week, initiatives were taken to make the people living around the parish, green. A group of 100 parishioners from various age groups took to their cycles after the 8:30 am morning service and participated in a 10 kilometre cycle ride. With banners, posters and slogans communicating to the general public to Go Green. Fr Rock Green culminated the Go Green month of August by breaking the word of God during the Sunday service with a strong message to the parishioners of how important it is to live and let live.

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ECO-FRIENDLY INVENTION Prof. Satyesh Kakodkar

Bricks Without Cement A group of Five Students of Final Year Civil Engineering from Don Bosco College of Engineering came with a new concept of manufacturing bricks without the use of cement.

As a part of Final Year Project, Students namely Kiran Chandra, Dipti Nagvenkar, Mamata Mistry, Shreya Shetgaokar and Sunandini Naik under the guidance of Prof.

Satyesh Kakodkar carried out a research on new eco-friendly materials for manufacturing of bricks.

The students in their project have given a thrust on manufacturing eco-friendly bricks. Currently the available bricks are made from mineral rich clay, the same clay on which agriculture relies. CPCB has declared a brick industry having high resource and energy intensive and polluting industry and hence there is a need to manufacture bricks, one of the main building components with other material.

The students in their project have identified tailing as a substitute for this clay. Significant amount of mine tailings are generated every year. Tailings consist of ground rock and process effluents that are generated in a mine processing plant, commonly referred to as backfill. Easy availability of Raw material, saving of natural clay, no need of baking of bricks, good strengths are the advantages of the bricks made from tailing wastes.

The Chemical tests performed have given results within the permissible limits. The Physical tests like sieve analysis, smearing test, soil shape tests, clay ball drop test, dry ball test, sedimentation test also gave positive results .

Apart from mine waste, Stone dust was also used which gave higher strength.

Different trials were conducted in order to go for an economical design.

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Trial No.

Material Used

Results

Changes for Next Trail

1

Mine waste Rice Husk Ash Stone Dust Fly ash

Dissolved when kept for curing

Replacement of Rice Husk Ash with Rice Husk

2

Mine waste Rice Husk Ash Stone Dust Fly ash

1. With intermittent curing the surface/ edges become rough.

2.Continuous curing the bricks got dissolved

Revision of Proportion

3

Mine waste Rice Husk Ash Stone Dust Fly ash

1. With intermittent curing the surface/ edges become rough.

2. Continuous curing the bricks got dissolved

From above trails it was clear that the above proportions cannot bind together Hence Lime was used.

4

Mine waste Rice Husk Ash Stone Dust Fly ash Lime

1. Gave positive result but the finished product was not up to the mark and also the strength targeted was not achieved.

Replacement of Rice Husk Ash with Rice Husk

5

Mine waste Rice Husk Ash Stone Dust Fly ash Lime

1.Showed Positive Results

Number of samples were casted based on the mix as per Trial 5 and resulted in good strengths

This brick manufacturing has resulted in a simple and efficient method of reusing mining wastes with binding materials generating revenue from waste, which otherwise occupies large spaces and interfere with environment. Process is economical due to the readily available raw material and assured quality which doesn’t involve the process of burning which gives assured supply even during monsoons without compromising with the quality. The method of manufacturing is simple and has less work than that of conventional burnt clay bricks.

The bricks manufactured were further tested for different properties like weight, compressive strength, dimension test, effloresce, fire test, drop from 1 m height, and were found to be positive. The overall economics of the brick manufacturing was also worked out.

The students were helped with materials and machinery by Anandvaddar from Curchorem.

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CLIMATE CHANGE Jolene Rene Fernandes

The Race Against Nature “When the last tree is cut and the last fish killed, the last river poisoned, then you will see that you cannot eat money.”

- John May, The Greenpeace Story Pope Francis, in his encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for a Common Home, stresses on the issue of our ailing ecology. He speaks to all humankind on the importance of caring for our environment in a 184 page document.

Laudato Si’ addresses the error in our ways and makes us aware of the consequences of our thoughtless actions in an effort to awaken our conscience in this materialistic world.

“God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars.”

-Martin Luther We are all aware of our assault on the environment; the excessive use of natural resources and wastage being on top of the list of problems. This behavior rises from our ‘throwaway culture’, where we use and discard unwanted items and people (like the unborn, elderly and the poor). We have no value for the earth just as we do not care for our fellow brothers and sisters. The illusion of neverending resources and the power of money has led us to believe ourselves to be better than all other life forms.

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It is safe to say that we face an environmental crisis today. As our wants increase, we do whatever we can to meet the demand irrespective of what it costs the earth we are consciously creating problems for ourselves.

The real problem according to Pope Francis lies in the fact that humans no longer see God as the creator. Instead of viewing man as having ‘dominion’ over the earth, we must see that everything is inter-connected and that all of creation is a ‘kind of universal family’. In other words, we have to maintain a symbiotic relationship with the earth - adopt a live and let live policy.

“To waste” to destroy our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity by which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed.” -Theodore Roosevelt Global warming of the planet is a symptom of a greater problem: the developed world’s indifference to the destruction of the planet as they pursue short-term economic gains. I’m sure we have all promised to fulfill the wishes of our children; give them what we never had.

What we fail to understand is that we are at the same time taking away their future. They will grow to have no value for things, they will believe everything to be replaceable and know

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that everyone and everything has a price.

Pope Francis says that until greater progress is made in developing widely accessible sources of renewable energy, it is legitimate to choose the less harmful alternative or to find short term solutions. While this stands true, we, as a people put ourselves before the earth.

Developed countries have implemented ways to deal with climate change, leaving the rest of the world defenseless.

Poor nations, the Pontiff says, are ill-prepared to adapt to the effects of climate change. Pope Francis asks, “what does the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’” means when “twenty percent of the world’s population consumes resources at a rate that robs the poor nations and future generations of what they need to survive.”

Here at Pope John XXIII, we teach the young

to care for their surroundings. Not only do they maintain cleanliness on campus but they are also conscious of the amount of waste they generate. Students have gotten together to spread the importance of garbage segregation: they rallied through the surrounding village to promote proper waste disposal and alternative waste management techniques.

‘Like music and art, love of nature is a common language that can transcend political or social boundaries’. By giving the future generation knowledge of the importance of the ecology, we are advancing, albeit with baby steps, towards a better future. There is no short-cut or quick solution to the crisis at hand. But a purposeful effort made towards a cleaner and greener earth will go a long way.

I would like to end in the words of Lao Tzu – ‘Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished’.

Eco-Science club at Don Bosco High School, Tuem The Eco-science club is a voluntary club made of students interested in plants and nature. We the club members are in charge of seeing to the upkeep and maintenance of the school gardens. We trim the hedges and flowering plants, besides watering pots and other plants.

In the month of August we went for a field trip to Siolim and learnt many things by observing different types of plants and flowers. We are very grateful to Fr. Principal and Teacher Romana for encouraging and guiding us.

- Sahil Parab (Std. VII)

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INTERVIEW Joaquim Lobo, sdb While most of our local youngsters prefer any type of well paid jobs abroad, the statistics show that their attitude towards the same work here is appalling. What

Vaz,

Clinton

a young mechanical engineer is doing as an independent, responsible and highly alert citizen of the country, is an example not only to the people but also for the governments of the states to follow. Swachh Bharat is a mere slogan on which crores of rupees are spent... Why not invest in such well proven initiatives having potential for a huge industry? Or do we only prefer the glamour of the IPL and ISL? Its time our leaders recycle their vision!

1. What have you studied?

I am a mechanical engineer by profession.

Honestly, I have absolutely no theoretical qualifications to work with waste, however, I can say that I have plenty of practical qualifications from working at the grassroots.

2. How did you get into working with garbage?

Pay scales are bad in Goa. I was bored at my job and realized that I was curious about waste.

With not much to lose, I quit my job and started exploring my interests. I had no idea that I would be working with waste at that point.

3. What do you really do?

In the beginning, I spent time learning from waste pickers and scrapyards on how waste is recycled. After a short course on Composting

by Goa Foundation, I began to realize that I could use these skills together to reduce the waste I produce.

Now, my company vRecycle helps prople manage their waste in the best possible way.

Along with my wife Emma, we recycle dry waste, compost wet waste, design waste infrastructure and spread awareness in schools and communities about proper waste management.

4. What is your aim?

To reduce as much waste as I possibly could from going to a dumpsite. At that time I had

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got to 70% reduction, and today we are at 98%.

We are not there yet, but are much closer to achieving our aim.

5. When did you start?

Sometime in 1999 I decided I would share my information over the web. It was only in 2005 that I started working for a Municipality with waste and in 2009 that I started vRecycle Waste Management Services.

6. How much success do you have with garbage treatment?

Today there are a lot of systems in place thanks to our early efforts.

Awareness of the problems is high.

Awareness of the solutions is increasing.

There are at least 20,000 p e o p l e composting food waste and more recycling in Goa. I have also proven that it is possible

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to sustain a business that works with waste management.

7. What is the attitude of Goans with this kind of work?

Almost all Goans appreciate the work we do. Our clients also cooperate with our requirements for waste treatment: Separation of waste at Source. However, the only Goan employee in our team of 14 is the Driver. Goans don’t seem too keen to physically work with waste.

8.

Are p e o p l e aware of the

problems? What are they?

Everybody knows that mixed waste is a problem. But they always blame somebody else for it. Unless we have people taking responsibility for their own waste, we cannot achieve quick results.

Very slow Governmental action on waste treatment is also a problem. People lose faith in such initiatives when successive governments promise the sky but do very little to achieve it.

Increased disposable packaging and products is the third problem. Single use plastic bottles, single use diapers, and above all single use plastic and paper packaging all contribute to the growing size of the garbage heap that has to be treated or disposed.

9. How big is the problem of garbage in Goa? Nobody really knows. But by a rough estimate, Goa generates about 400,000 kgs of waste each day. Each year, with an increase in population as well as visitors, the figure climbs. To add to this, each year, newer products are added to the disposable items list thereby adding to the waste heap.

10. Is Goa d o i n g anything about it?

There are

multipronged efforts by individuals and the Government. Collection programs have begun for the Cities, Villages, Beaches, & Highways. However these programs are not yet comprehensive. Also, other important generators such as Industries and Hospitals still don’t have efficient systems for collection.

But collection aside, Goa has no centralized treatment facility nor disposal point. We continue to export some our waste out of Goa while we build our systems here.

11. What is Zero garbage?

Zero garbage is a concept, or rather an aim.

Zero garbage means that all generated waste is diverted from disposal. This could be by composting, biogas, recycling, reuse and energy recovery. Nobody has ever achieved this yet, but the closer we get to zero waste, the better it is for everybody. This could mean very small landfills or even doing without one altogether.

12. How big is your work?

What is your future plan? vRecycle’s team of 14 staff manages waste of 7000 homes in Goa. We do this manually, but with the support of the residents that give us their sorted wet and dry waste. The single biggest achievement is that we have not required a landfill for disposal for 98% of our collected waste. We currently store the remaining 2% at our warehouse until the Government helps us dispose it.

In the future, we expect our operations to max out at 10,000 homes. Rather than expand, we would rather clone our operations in other parts of Goa, encouraging other young Goans to run similar successful operations.

13. Share some of your experiences?

While some of our work can be pretty smelly or messy to look at, at the end of the day, we know we have made a big difference to society.

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Our staff also realize this and feel pride in the jobs they do. Sometimes, we come across a difficult resident that will refuse to cooperate or abuse our staff and it is at these times that we realize why Goa continues to have a waste problem. Sometimes the stick is more effective than the carrot. This is a problem as the local authorities rarely implement or act on the many rules they make.

14. What services does your company provide? vRecycle provides consultancy services to builders, architects, and communities that want to setup a decentralized waste treatment facility within their budget. We also sell waste infrastructure such as bins, composters and treatment liquids. Our service team also organizes door to door collections, composting and recycling services and waste pickup and recycling at our centralized warehouses in North and South Goa. But besides the commercial activities, v R e c y c l e also supports cleanups, c o n d u c t s awareness programmes and school education programmes. We also work closely with the states Pollution Control Department in sharing information and expertise.

14. What changes do you want from people’s lifestyle?

Firstly, we need more people looking into their waste bins to see what is in it. As we progress and get richer, we seem to care less about the stuff we buy, and throw away a lot of stuff that could be used or given away. We need to realize that often manufacturers make us believe that more packaged items are more desirable. We need to reject items that have excessive packaging. We need less than what we already have.

15. What is your suggestion for the schools?

School recycling programmes educate children at a young age. This should be encouraged.

Schools should also organize visits to recycling facilities and waste dumps. We do this regularly and students begin to understand the simplicity and importance of proper waste management.

16. Your message for the people in general and youth in particular.

Start taking ownership of your waste.

Start doing something about it. Don’t wait for somebody else to begin, be part of the change and encourage others to follow you.

17. What is your simplest suggestion for a home treatment of garbage?

First of all, stop mixing waste. Many things can be done with separated waste. If you want to do more, with your food waste you can start composting in your backyard. If you live in an apartment, take a couple of old buckets or pots and begin. Composting takes 30-45 days and by doing this you will reduce half the waste you throw away. If you don’t know how to compost, ask around and somebody should be able to help. You can always get more info on our website www.vrecycle.in. Once you have the hang of it and want to do more, take the next step and start recycling.

Clinton Vaz and his wife Emma are based at Benaulim, having their company at Margao Industrial Estate, Goa

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HOME CARE Valentine D’Souza

Safe Guarding

the Environment Ever since man learnt to kindle a fire with the help of sticks, our environment was under threat from man’s uncontrolled exploitation of its resources. Through the Iron age, the Industrial age and Modern times of automation and internet, the environment progressively degraded to alarming levels bringing global concerns. In the year 1972, UN convened the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment putting environment issues before heads of governments and raising concerns that a resource and environment degradation would lead to a collapse of the global civilisation by 2020. Suddenly man realized the seriousness of the problem that could threaten his survival and began to address the issue in right earnest.

What can we

electrical energy. It makes better sense to limit than to exhaust, since electrical energy in India, comes at the cost of fossil fuels. Switching off power when not in use, replacing high energy consuming devices like incandescent lamps with CFLS or LEDs, increasing use of solar energy in the form of solar heaters, solar lamps and solar panels will reduce our dependence on fuels that degrade the environment.

We could be conservative in our use of potable drinking water too. There are two aspects to this issue. One is conservation and the other pollution. How about fixing those leaky taps and faucets? Look around the neighbourhood and we will find plenty of wastage of water and nobody is complaining, and yet, depletion of ground water is going on at an alarming rate which, if not checked and reversed, will lead to water scarcity and famine.

Pollution of rivers is mainly

common people do to help?

Plenty! And to begin, let us start in our own homes and neighbourhood.

Around the home we could make a conscious effort to conserve and support the environment by simple practices of good responsible living.

For a start we could be disciplined in the use of

caused by thoughtless disposal of sewage and effluents into the rivers. How do we dispose our house hold wastes? Segregation into dry and wet waste and then responsible disposal

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into designated collection centres is the right way.

Alternately if possible, composting of wet waste into rich manure and cultivating a vegetable garden is a good and wholesome idea. I know of many people who live in cities and tall buildings growing vegetables in pots on balconies high above ground level.

Limiting the use of plastics in our everyday life and using paper bags and the good old cloth bag for groceries make sound ecological sense.

Does ecology have a Christian dimension?

Sure; in this year dedicated to the family let us reflect on what the saintly Pope John Paul II had to say about the ecology and environment.

John Paul II makes it clear that he sees the family as at the heart of the culture of life, as a sanctuary of life. In his encyclical on life issues, Evangelium Vitae (1995, 42), John Paul II strongly affirms the unique dignity of the human person, and points to humanity‘s responsibility for the rest of creation:

which [it] lives, towards the creation which God has put at the service of [its] personal dignity, of [its] life, not only for the present but also for future generations. It is the ecological question-ranging from the preservation of the natural habitats of the different species of animals and of other forms of life to “human ecology” properly speaking - which finds in the Bible clear and strong ethical direction, leading to a solution which respects the great good of life, of every life.

The dominion given to humanity is not an absolute power, but something to be exercised only as sharing in the divine Wisdom and divine love for creation. Again John Paul II teaches that in our interaction with the natural world, ―we are subject not only to biological laws but also to moral ones, which cannot be violated with impunity (1995, 42) Well, friends, all

As one called to till and look after the garden of the world (cf. Gen 2:15), [humanity] has a specific responsibility towards the environment in hands to the plough. Let us do our bit to preserve and promote the environment.

E TO

IB R C S SUB FREE

Email to sangatidonbosco@gmail.com

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Send Your Address to The Editor Don Bosco Youth Welfare Centre Naika Vaddo, Post Verla Parra - Goa 403 510

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EMPOWERMENT Rashmi Mathias

Women’s Empowerment – An ongoing commitment of Konkan Development Society

“Feminism isn’t about making women strong; women are already strong. It is about changing the way the world perceives that strength.” - G.D. Anderson.

Women constitute almost 50% of the world’s population but India has shown a disproportionate sex ratio, whereby the female population is comparatively lower than that of the male.

The concept of empowerment flows from power. It is vesting power where it does not exist, or exists inadequately. Empowerment of women would mean equipping women to be economically independent, self-reliant, have positive esteem to enable them to face any difficult situation and they should be able to participate in development activities.

society, whether it is social participation, political participation, economic participation, access to education, or reproductive healthcare.

Women are found to be economically very poor all over the India. They need economic power to stand on their own. According to the 2001 census, the rate of literacy among men in India is found to be 76% whereas it is only 54% among women. Increasing education among women is very important in empowering them. Women’s empowerment also is not possible unless women come together and work towards empowering themselves. There is a need to work towards reducing feminized poverty, promoting education of women, and prevention and elimination of violence against women.

In rural India, women’s economic opportunities remain restricted by social, cultural, and religious barriers. Rural women have the lowest literacy rates, and therefore do not have the capacity to negotiate pay or contracts, and most often engage in the unorganized sector, self employment, or in small scale industry.

Today we have different Acts and Schemes of the central government as well as state government to empower the women of India.

But in India women are still discriminated against and marginalized at every level of

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Self-help groups (SHGs) are a widely practiced model for social and economic mobility by NGOs and the government. SHGs provide women with the opportunity to manage loans and savings that can be used by members for varying needs. SHGs also are used to promote social change among the members and the community at large.

Among the many projects that Konkan Development Society (KDS) implements in the working towards the Empowerment of women and girls is the project of “Prevention of Child Labour and Devadasis through education and skill training” that was started in 2012. The project’s focus is to combat the practice of and preventing the second generation entry into the system of Devdasis (girl child dedicated to the goddess through marriage to a deity with traditional duties being dancing, sexual services to temple patrons and priests), child labour, trafficking of young girls and high incidence of HIV. The local women along with KDS are trying to tackle this long standing evil through education by linking the children to the formal education system and preventing drop outs. Skill training is provided to the youth for alternate employment opportunities, awareness programmes covering topics in training in the light of bringing about changes in thinking.

and the animators involved.

Since 2006, KDS has also been working with women SHGs. The approach followed is right based cum empowerment, whereby the target group is provided with capacity building workshops and income generating training programmes to assist them in helping themselves. To break away from the earlier tradition of charity and doling out resources, KDS points the target group in the direction of government and private resources available and assists the groups in availing them if interested. This facilitates in making the groups independent and interdependent on the community, government and other societal institutions. This helps the women to generate income, aiming at economic empowerment.

These women are instilled with the confidence that they are capable of changing their world for the better.

Swami Vivekananda once said “Arise, Awake and stop not until the goal is reached”. All of us should thus be catapulted into the horizon

From the impact achieved till date, KDS firmly believes that these issues affecting the women, teenage girls and children of Bagalkot will decrease in time with continued intervention and dedication from the people themselves of empowerment of women. We have a long way to go, but we will get there someday. We shall overcome.

WELCOME BOSCOM South Asia General Assembly 5-8 November 2015 Don Bosco, Panjim, Goa

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YOUTH SPEAK Joanne D’Souza

Eco-Spirituality & Youth How often do we just toss a piece of plastic out of the window of our car or bus? How easy to dump waste on the side of our neighbours compound so that we don’t have to see the mess? We live in denial that as long as we don’t see the garbage it doesn’t affect us. We sympathize with and even express anguish over the fields becoming dumping grounds for garbage and other waste and rampant exploitation of our resources but we believe this is somebody else’s problem. We don’t really care. It hardly matters to us.

Pope Francis in his Encyclical Letter ‘Laudato Si’ says otherwise. In the opening address itself he says ‘Nothing in this world is indifferent to us’ and addresses his letter to every person living on this planet. He speaks about the ‘Pollution and Climate change and the throwaway culture’, ‘the issue of water’, loss of biodiversity, ‘decline in the quality of human life and the breakdown of society’ where he speaks of Media Ecology which means that when media and the digital world become omnipresent their influence can stop people from learning how to live wisely, to think deeply and to love generously.

He speaks about the Gospel of Creation which speaks of our 3 relationships – with self, with God and with the earth itself. We live in a culture of anthropocentrism which means we think we are above all else in the environment and that gives us the right to abuse the environment.

We need to change this and realise that we are part of the environment, equal to all else and not above it.

approach? The Spirituality for ecology speaks about our need for change especially towards a new lifestyle, education towards the problems in the environment, and the awareness of the gravity of todays’cultural and ecological crisis which must be translated into new habits, and Ecological Conversion where we need to focus on community action.

We need to have an attitude of gratitude and gratuitousness, and a loving awareness that we are not disconnected from the world. We need to return to simplicity and realise that ‘Less is More’. A simple action of this is the blessing and thanksgiving before and after meals which is a gentle reminder to us that God is the provider. We need to remember that we have been given stewardship of creation and that we are borrowing the world from our children.

On a parting note I would like to add that it is the small gesture that counts, such as remembering to carry a jute bag from home while going shopping or refusing a plastic bag from a vendor. By doing these small things we are reducing the plastic load on our ecology.

Let us not lose a single chance to educate people about garbage segregation and importance of taking care of our environment.

So, what should be our line of

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COMMUNITY PROJECT Fr George Quadros, sdb

Watershed

A programme – touching lives

caring for our common Home...

The Hot topic of today is ecology/climate change. There is a buzz everywhere from Rome with the Encyclical letter Laudato Si’, to the remotest parts of India of an urgency to care for the Mother earth.

The problems extend from water to garbage.

There is so much of talk and this surely has created an awareness, the first step towards a solution. There is however a very slow movement from awareness to action. May be we are still grappling with the issues and how to go about it. Goa has now focused its attention on Garbage which it is unable to resolve, but there is far greater problem the issue of Water. Much of our wells along the coastal area has turned saline; this is because of excessive use of water without the same being recharged. Large number of tankers have been pressed into service to supply water, especially to the Hotel Industry. A deeper look at our villages in Goa during the months of March to May, you will see a large number of barrel near the houses of villages. They have an acute water shortage. The panchayat arranges for water through a tanker service. We are not far off from Marathwada and Telengana who are facing a drought and famine with several farmers ending their lives, in a matter of ten years from now, we will be experiencing the same problems if necessary corrective action is not taken. I for one surely do not have all the answers.

An experiment with watershed programmes has thrown light into many of the issues faced by villagers with regard to ecology. The Watershed programme of the Government of

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India in particular far better than that of several other agencies because it focuses on the Peoples power to plan, execute and take care of their Natural resources. Giving them the power to make decisions on natural resources and manage finances for sustainable development of their locality.

What does watershed entail ?

Watershed is getting the local community of a definitive water basin to take care of the natural resources of that particular basin to achieve sustainable development, through the increase of the ground and surface water table of the area.

This is what it means a) Community project b) Care of Water, Soil, forests, Agriculture and Health.

Community Project: Watershed is a community project that is owned and designed by the community of a particular watershed area.

A watershed area or basin is the areas falling within a particular basin. If we stand at a point and look around we will see high mountains and lower points, take a full view round and you will see that there is a mountain range round you in the form of high areas and low areas. The high areas mark off the outer rim of the basin. Watershed treats all the area that falls in this basin.

Care of Water: When it rains on the hills, water flows down and as it reaches below, many streams join together and form a river. And this flows into the sea. This huge amount of water

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actually g o e s wasted if not taken care off.

What is actually d o n e in a watershed is to slow down the flow of water from the mountains to the sea, trapping them in trenches, ponds and small dams wherever possible. The water so trapped recharges our ground and surface water tables. This is done by whatever possible method one sees best.

There are several ways proposed from small structures to big Dams. Whatever the method planning is important.

Some of the traditional and time tested structures are as follows.

Trenches, Dug out ponds, louse boulder check dams, Gabions , terracing, etc.

Soil: The top soil of one inch which takes about 100 years to form, has the most amount of nutrients for plants. This is washed away into the sea with successive rainfalls. Watershed through trenching , bunding, ponds and check dams, help to arrest the flow of this valuable soil.

Forest: There is a whole programme to stop deforestation and help forestation. The village is encouraged to use biogas, gobar gas and solar energy for cooking, thus saving precious trees. Also a programme of intense tree plantation is normally undertaken.

Agriculture: With the increase of the water table the farmers are encouraged to go in for a second and third crop of paddy or vegetables.

This increases the family income and bring about a better quality of life.

Health: Having being able to increase the water table, the impurities in the water have reduced and this has proven to be beneficial to

the health of the people. A classic example is the study done by the MSW students of Shirva on water borne diseases in the watershed of Don Bosco at Padi. The study reveals that there is was an 80% decrease in water borne disease in a period of five years which is the result of the increase in the water table which helped in diluting water impurities in the well of the given village.

Don Bosco Society had been engaged in the last 12 years, in the XI and XII five year plan of the Government, in the implementation of watershed programmes.

We have covered seven villages namely Sulcorna, Cazur, Nertulim, Deverem, Gokuldem, Quisconda and Padi in the span of twelve years. They are a Happy lot with smiles on their faces, they have a reason and hope to continue with agriculture and other allied activities. They have been Empowered to take control of the resources that are in their possession.

The secrets of a successful watershed are beautifully unveiled in the editorial of the Navhind times dated 15th Nov. 2013 “There are three secrets of the success of the watershed project of padi, Gokuldem and Quisconda.

One, a committed voluntary group and a committed leader. Two, a proactive directorate of agriculture. Three, and the most important, the principle of making the water users, the community themselves to not only develop the resources but also manage them.� It’s time for action . The Government has several initiatives through the Agricultural department.

Why not more credible organisation take up such noble venture for the care of Mother Earth!

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ECO PROJECTS Fr Xavier Devadas, sdb

Living with Nature Don Bosco Karjat

‘Go Green’, ‘Eco Friendly’, ‘One with nature,’ are few of the buzz words today among the students, corporate and governments. Finally, everyone is awakening to this core issue of Care and Protection of the Environment.

Global warming, draughts, floods, hurricanes, unpredictable seasonal changes around the globe are waking the entire human race from their insensitive, selfish and carefree lethargy.

The ill effects of environmental degradation are knocking hard on the very existence of human race.

If any positive change in the environment has to occur, we, first of all, need to be aware of and accept that the Mother earth, Nature, the whole of creation and self, are one. This integral union can be understood when we see its sacredness. God in his generosity and love created the entire Universe, including humans, to live as integrated entities, caring, protecting and nurturing each other. Above all, human beings, the supreme care takers of this creation are blessed with immense resources the air that we breath, gravity which keeps us grounded, the rain to sprout the seeds, rivers to provide water, seasons, minerals buried under the earth... - to take care of all the living beings on this earth.

earth and the entire creation have kept to its commitment of providing, caring, protecting, sustaining the generations of human beings; but the human beings rather than caring and protecting the Environment in return, have been plundering, destroying, polluting, and desecrating the nature and its resources for their own selfish gains.

In any true relationship, the core offering should be Love, i.e. oneness, ownership, acceptance, concern, commitment. Out of this loving relationship flows the response or manifestation of this love. Without love, any expression becomes only a meaningless activity.

When human beings truly love, get closer to creation, become one, feel its pains and sorrows, the millions of possibilities of reaching out, healing will emerge. This response would flow out of concern and love, rather than compulsion or rule.

In reality, the Mother

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The important thing is not mere action, but the attitude and the perception.

When the attitude is one of concern and responsibility, the response is to use the resources responsibly, to reduce waste, reduce needs, to consume what is really necessary, to reuse or recycle as much as possible, to minimize the sources of pollutions,

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to separate the garbage, to conserve energy and water, to move from chemicals to organic fertilizers, from cutting trees to planting and greening the environment, saying no to plastic, recycling grey water to reuse, conserving water, water harvesting and the like.

In this context, Don Bosco Karjat, near Mumbai is having an institute for the most poor, less educated and deserving youth, where they are trained in a technical trade for three months and placed on jobs in the industry. Due to their economical poverty, they are provided with boarding, lodging and training without charging any fees. But they contribute through their labour.

The Eco center at Karjat shows various working models of Eco projects. Day programs and residential trainings are conducted for school and college students to sensitize them and get them closer to the nature. The aim is to educate people to manage the garbage created by them and to inform them that it is not useless waste, rather there is wealth and energy in it. It is demonstrated through various proto models from the dry waste, like paper, cardboard, dried leaves, twigs, etc.

- Through the Lateral Watering System, one person is able to water hundreds of plants within 5 minutes without using electricity or pump and thus conserving labour, water, time and energy.

- The Deep Root Watering System saves 70% of water.

- Organic composting reduces the time needed to make manure to 60 days from the normal 10 months.

- The center has developed 6 different wood stoves or Choolas in which any dry garbage like wood, twigs, leaves, paper, saw dust, etc. can be used as fuel to produce fire for cooking. These are Eco friendly, low in emission and cost, and use minimum fuel.

These are just few examples to show that when we have love for environment, the response and the innovations emerge.

(To contact us: 9890907774 or xavierdevadas@gmail.com)

- from the wet garbage of the kitchen we make 4000 liters of cooking gas each day and use it for our cooking.

-each day ten thousand liters of bathing water is recycled and reused.

- indigenously developed low cost method of drip irrigation using a bucket and tubes, water hundreds of plants without electricity, pump, filter or drippers.

- Vertical garden on a one and half feet square area cultivates 13 plants instead of just one which is normally done.

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SRI METHOD Joaquim Agnelo Dias

Sow Less, Yield More!

The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a method of rice cultivation aimed at increasing rice production. French Jesuit priest Henri de Laulanié developed this method at Madagascar in 1983. Norman Uphoff, former director of Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development, saw the success

by Madagay farmers and promoted it to the world. SRI method is now used in 40 countries of the world. In 2011 Sumant Kumar from the village of Darveshpura, Bihar broke the world record yielding 22.4 tonnes (1 ton = 1000 kgs) per hector (1 hector = 2.47 acres / 10000 sq mtrs), beating the record held by “father of rice”, the Chinese agricultural scientist Yuan Longping who yielded 19.4 tonnes.

Principles: 1. Young seedlings between 12-15 days old (2-3 leaf stage) are transplanted 2. Planting of single seedling 3. Wider spacing at 25 cms x 25 cms in square planting rather than in rows 4. Aerate/loosen the soil and weed it 5. Alternate wet and dry the field 6. Use Organic manure/Vermicompost Benefits: 1. Yield increases to more than double 2. Requires less water 3. Reduces cost of seed (1 kg of rice seed is required for 1000 sq mtr area; 5 kg for 1 acre land) 4. Increases income

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

This method can be used for other cereals.

(The ‘Jyoti’ variety of paddy takes about 90-100 days to ripe).

Method: 1. Prepare a nursery bed, slightly raised up,

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2.

mixed with bio compost and bio manures like cow dung powder and ash.

Use healthy seeds. Soak in water for 12 hours. Drain water and treat the seed with Bavistin (2 gm / kg seed) or Trychoderma (3 gm / kg seed) or Streptocyclin (1 gm / kg seed). Transfer into water soaked gunny bag. Sprouted seeds are taken to the nursery for sowing.

Cover the bed with paddy straw. Sprinkle water twice a day.

Transplant single plant at a distance of 25 cms after 12-15 days (2 to 3 leaf plant).

After 15 days, furrow the area around the plant by a ‘corner weeder’ (lent freely to the farmer by the agricultural department). It loosens the soil, destroys the weeds, retains the manure and helps to spread the roots.

Avoid water logging.

Use ‘corner weeder’ after another 15 days.

Avoid water logging. Shoots stops coming after 30-35 days of planting the seed. A cluster of 20-40 shoots can be seen for each plant. More shoots means more production.

Occasionally visit the field to check on the pests. Area agricultural department is ready to help spread SRI method.

The writer cultivates his field at Parra, Goa by following this method and fetches rich dividends.

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SALESIAN EDUCATOR Vivian Andrews, SDB

‘Nature’ in Salesian Pedagogy At an early age, John Bosco learnt from his mother Margaret, a sense of the presence of God in nature. She often reminded her sons that the sun, the trees and all of nature were the blessings of God. Looking at the starry sky, she would say to her sons, “God created the world and put the stars up there!” Seeing the meadows covered with flowers, she would remark, “How many wonderful things the Lord has made for us!” Fr. Teresio Bosco in his book ‘The Life of Mamma Margaret’, makes the following observation, “John Bosco from his earliest years had an image of God he experienced through the powers of nature. He is the God of the heavens, the stars, the sun, snow, the trees and the birds. These were aspects of his mother’s God too, aspects that informed the way she talked about the grass, the hay, the sky.” Speaking of John’s sense of the sacred in all that was around him, he further adds, “John Bosco never needed a kneeler to pray on. He would just lift his eyes, look around and speak to God.” His much spoken of ‘union with God’ began in these early years surrounded by nature. While working on the farm, John would often burst into song, happy and cheerful in the lap of nature.

educative system. Speaking of this, historian Arthur Lenti writes, “The land of Don Bosco’s birth was and is a beautiful land. The gently rolling hills and fertile little valleys and plains placed under intense cultivation nourished a hardy race of goaloriented, hard working people, rooted in tradition and strong in faith. Such was the land and the people into which John Melchior Bosco was born”. The countryside certainly had a bearing on some of Don Bosco’s personality traits - his welcoming attitude, his large heartedness, his cheerful ways, his trust and dependence on Divine Providence, his robust physique and his deep perceptive mind had little to do with his years of formal schooling or seminary formation but were the outcome of his early years spent in the countryside.

Don Bosco saw in nature the footprints of God as taught to him by his mother. He knew that trees, fruits, hills, rivers and valleys bore the mark of the Creator. Recollecting his own boyhood experiences, he grasped the importance of large open spaces for youngsters.

He once took the juvenile prisoners for a day’s

The picturesque countryside around Castelnuovo where John grew up was beautiful. Nature as we know plays a role in influencing one’s character. The natural surroundings into which Don Bosco was born, without doubt had an influence on the type of person he grew up to be, needless to say, on his

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outing in the woods for a breath of fresh air.

Growing up in the countryside he was aware of nature’s therapeutic value for the human spirit and often took his boys for a holiday to the countryside and sometimes even to his own home for a few days away from the smoky chimneys of Turin.

In Don Bosco’s pedagogy, nature plays an important role in lifting the spirits of the young. He thus called playgrounds are the lungs of a Salesian house. The young love and enjoy nature and thus hiking and trekking are efficacious educational tools in the Salesian system. Recently, I happened to take a group of scouts for a nature hike over the Tuem plateau and thereafter for a swim to a stream at Zorullem. The boys, I observed were thrilled to walk along the greens, they collected earthworms and millipedes, leeches and bugs.

They went after butterflies, ducked when bees came after them and observed myriad varieties of wild flowers. They were much more open and receptive than in the classroom. An outing in nature does benefit the soul of a human being, more so a youngster. All an educator

needs to do is to build that little bridge between creation and Creator and help them to feel the presence of God everywhere.

It is important to note that although Don Bosco loved nature and the countryside, he was certainly not an ‘environmentalist’ or an ‘ecologist’ as we understand the terms today.

He never really made efforts to ‘preserve’ nature both as a boy and as an educator. As a boy he caught birds and confined them in cages! As a cleric, during a summer vacation, he once chased and shot down a hare! On one occasion at the Oratory, he took up for his boys when Mamma Margaret complained that they had completely run over her vegetable garden during a ‘war game’. The environmentalist of today would perhaps frown at these episodes.

However, in those days one did not feel the need to preserve nature. Nature bloomed everywhere and the industrial revolution was still in its nascent stages. It was only towards the latter half of the twentieth century that there emerged a global consciousness of preserving nature and sustaining the ecological cycle.

Moving on, we need to understand that the world is not as natural as it was in Don Bosco’s time. Land grabbing real-estate monsters prowl around everywhere looking to devour scenic hills and valleys. Hence, besides enjoying the fruits of nature we also need to educate the young on ways and means of caring for nature and making them aware of the need for green spaces to maintain ecological balance.

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ECOLOGICAL IMBALANCE Vanshika Singh - XI DB Quepem

I Will Do My Part

With the development of modern industry and technology all over the world, the issue of ecological imbalance is the most urgent one.

This problem has reached a scale at which it is practically impossible to resolve. Much of what has been destroyed, unfortunately we will not be able to recover.

Ecological imbalance between the natural factors and human activities is known as ‘socio-ecological crisis’. This means that the balance between the environment and society is broken. This situation can lead to the destruction of humanity.

The reasons for ecological imbalance are associated with the increasing industrialization, irrational waste of natural resources, deforestation and water pollution.

On harming nature, man jeopardizes its existence. This also creates a lot of trouble for mankind: a demographic crisis, hunger, lack of natural resources and destruction of the environment. Unjustified deforestation leads to the disappearance of animals, it will lead to the destruction of humanity.

Ecological imbalance is massive in cities construction of buildings, paving lead to lack of natural soil covering which prevents the soil from gaining any nourishment. A large

number of vehicles and lack of green spaces contribute to the accumulation of smog and carbon dioxide. This gives rise to sickness and ill-health amongst the population and to the earth as well.

The sharp increase in environmental issues has gained to concern of many countries. Political leaders and environmental committees are worried about the changes occurring in nature.

Many manufacturers are adopting cleaners and efficient processes in their business.

For example, the production of electric cars or energy efficient air conditioners, the introduction of fuel efficient public transport.

Solar power is being harnessed and is easing the load of energy consumption. Recycling of waste is a novel way to manage the harm caused to the environment by human actions.

Non-biodegradable waste can be used in the making of road; garbage segregation will help in easy treatment of waste. The process of ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ has taken the world by storm, though many countries are not fully equipped to handle such processing.

As a student, I too can do my bit in saving the environment and bring some balance to the ecology. Using public transport or car-pooling to school will save fuel and generate less pollution, being mindful of my surroundings and disposing of garbage directly in the bin instead of littering will save the soil and beautify the area, also, being conscious of the amount of electricity being consumed in my home or classroom will save the environment.

As a student I am aware of the fragile state of the world I live in, and I will do my part in saving the Earth.

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MY VOCATION Fr Thomas Fernandes, SDB

Golden Jubilarian I was an altar boy in my parish that had not just three priests but at least five others who stayed home and came for the mass to the Church. All of them were wonderful persons, “real men of God.” All loved boys, especially the altar boys and often made a little time to say “a word in the ear.” They encouraged us to be good altar boys but they rarely said join the seminary, because the seminary was full and overflowing.

Then one day when I was still very young, I visited the seminary with my mother. There I had beautiful encounter with a priest. After a long talk when he asked me what I wanted to be, I just said: “a Priest.” (It was nice meeting but the space is too short to recount everything). Years passed and for my English studies I landed in Don Bosco. I was 12 when I met Fr Cajetan Lobo in his office with my mother. He looked at me a while then he drew me to himself and said to my mother: “He is for us.” At that moment, I was confirmed as Don Bosco’s.

L a t e r on when my time came to go to Tirupattur, my mother who had

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prayed for me all these years, could not bear the parting. She did not speak to me as I left home, but I knew she wanted me to be a priest.

I recall very often of Fr Lobo and his words.

After 50 years, I say, “Here I am.”

Name: Fr Thomas Fernandes, sdb Parents: Jose MeninoFernandes& Joana Merciana Fernandes.

Native Place: Curtorim Early Schooling: Escola Primaria- Curtorim Hobbies: Games, Camping, Gardening, cooking.

Favourite Food: Sorpotel Favourite Prayer: Our Father Patron/Saint: Thomas, the Apostle Year of Ordination: 1973 Your present work: Care taker of the Lord’s Gardens Your ordination motto: To love and serve Inspiring People in Your Life: My Mother, Fr. Cajetan Lobo Your Challenges: To be better than what I am Who is Don Bosco in your life?: A father and a friend Your message for the Young: You are precious to God. Always have a very good opinion of yourself. Dream big and work hard to achieve them.

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Fr Thomas celebrates his golden jubilee of Religious Profession

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MESSAGE Fr Ángel Fernández Artime

“Be an Expert in Humanity” I am very happy to have this opportunity at the end of the Bicentenary. We have recently completed the year that we started on 16 August 2014. We concluded it with very beautiful meetings, which indeed they really were. The Congress of Mary Help of Christians, a meeting during the Congress with the Past Pupils, another with the Salesian Sisters and Salesian Cooperators, and the beautiful gathering, full of life and full of hope, of all the young people who represented our Salesian world. How could we fail to thank the Lord for so intense a year!

Right now I really want to tell you that the objective we had for this Bicentenary, I think has in large part been achieved; there is one aspect, the external, celebratory part of which we have spoken which undoubtedly went very well, with many events. At the same time the other challenge remains, the inner challenge of a deep personal life, and this, obviously, each one of us must evaluate. I have no doubt, and I have great hope, that this was a very special year in our journey of Salesian life. I am convinced that the fruits of the Bicentenary are not over, but are beginning right now for each of us in our lives.

I want to refer, finally, to the message which Pope Francis left us on two very strong, very important, very special occasions. One was the meeting at Valdocco with the whole Salesian Family; I can tell you that it was a meeting of truth, of the father who loves his sons and daughters, and above all he wanted to encourage us, urging us to be really educators in the faith; to educate as we have learned from Don Bosco, with affection, reaching the heart, and proposing some lofty goals; and as well as

this exciting challenge he said to us: “In difficult times, in times of emergency and crisis, you are able to respond to emergencies and crises”.

That challenge is so fascinating and at the same time, so important!

Finally, he gave us a letter of great value.

Its title is the same as the motto of this year: “LIKE DON BOSCO, WITH YOUNG PEOPLE, FOR YOUNG PEOPLE” inviting the whole Salesian Family to give the answers that Don Bosco would give today; some responses that give priority to accompanying each young person in the journey of faith, helping them to grow and to discover their life plan. He also invited us to live in harmony and to educate the young in the use of the means of social communications and also invite them to be generous in Christian Social Voluntary Service.

My dear Salesian confreres, I embrace each one of you, I want to reach this personal encounter that we will have in these years; Meanwhile, I invite you to ensure that this year of the Bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco which has ended, will continue to give fruits of life to each of us.

Let me remind you of one point among the many I have made: I have expressed a very great desire that I have for each of us, that each of us in our Salesian Family, may be “an Expert in Humanity”. God grant that this wish may become a reality and I would venture to launch this invitation: “Let us become experts in humanity through a deep experience of our vocation, by giving everything for the young, always for the young “.

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Letters to the Editor...

July - Sept 2015 | Vol 08 Issue - 03

Good work! The bicentenary issue was great. (Fr Ivo Coelho, Rome) I must CONGRATULATE you on the Sangati issues of July-Sept. 2015 - a fitting tribute to Don Bosco on his Bicentenary. It is tooooooooooo goooooooood! ... The interview with Steffi from Nigeria touched my heart. What a wonderful testimony of a vocation! (Fr Ian Figueiredo, Goa) Congratulations on the superb issue of the Sangati. (Fr Savio Gomes, Goa) I just wanted to congratulate you for the beautiful issue of Sangati. It was very nicely done with so many people contributing towards it. I could see that you have put in a lot of hard work. I just wanted to give one suggestion, if we could have the font sizes of all the pages the same, perhaps it might be difficult because of the length of the various articles, but it would certainly make our magazine of a good standard. (Fr Joel D’Souza, Karnataka) Sangati has come out really well. I read it voraciously at Trasi. (Fr Maxim D’Souza, Maharashtra) Thanks for the beautiful and informative Bicentenary Issue of Don Bosco’s Birth. Hearty congrats for the pains you and your team has taken. (Fr John Samala, Gujarat) Congrats... awesome work.

This issue of Sangati is indeed hatke tribute to our founder. The matter within it is really inspiring. (Cl. Austin Fernandes, Pune) This Bulletin is really wonderful - it is such a fine practical guide to things. I congratulate your painstaking work in collating and particularly, the writing by Fr Joel D’ Souza on the life and times of St. Don Bosco. (Dr Jay Bhatnagar, Goa) The entire Sangati issue has really done justice to Don Bosco. (Philu D’Souza, Mumbai) I must say ... it is an achievement... CONGRATS!!! a fitting tribute to our founder... I guess the idea of having an issue dedicated to Don Bosco bore much fruit... The articles in many ways cover the entire salesian spirituality and pedagogy. (Fr Banzelao Teixeira, Rome) This is a very good magazine. It is helpful to keep in touch with the Salesian world. It provides the spiritual food. (Sachin Tribhuvan, Goa) Thanks for the wonderful work you are doing . A lot of hard efforts have gone in the Sangati issue. Like the articles, they were inspiring . (Fr Jason Coelho, Goa)

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PROVINCE NEWS 200th Birthday of Don Bosco

The whole Salesian Family got together to celebrate the 200th Birthday of Don Bosco in a grand style at Ravindra Bhavan on August 16, 2015. Laxmikant Parsekar, Chief Minister of Goa was the chief guest.

Special Postal Cover on Don Bosco was released on the occasion. ‘Reminiscences’, the history of the Province of Panjim, Commemorative Sovenir were also released.

Students, past pupils, Cooperators, ADMA, Parents, Benefactors, Salesian Sisters, Clerics, Fathers and Brothers, showed their affection for the Saint with their talents and contribution.

Another celebration of gratitude by the Salesian Family in prayer and fellowship was organised on August 30.

4th Provincial Chapter Begun The fourth Provincial Chapter of the Province of Panjim commenced on August 31, 2015 with its first session at Don Bosco Provincial House, Odxel, Goa. Fr Maxim D’Souza, the Moderator declared the Chapter open. The Chapter members prayed invoking the blessings of the Holy Spirit and held the Lectio Divina.

The proposed theme “Credible as men of God and Relevant as Servants of the Young” was unanimously accepted. The chapter members also endorsed the 4 themes namely – Quality of religious life, Care for Vocations, Reshaping Salesian Presences and taking Lay Collaboration forward.

The commissions then set to work preparing the plans to deal with the assigned themes effectively.

The plans were presented to the general assembly.

The business of the day ended with the concluding words by Fr. Provincial. (Fr Maxim D’Souza)

Birthday Celebrations at Quepem

The ‘Don Bosco Week’ was celebrated from August 10-14, 2015 with great gaiety and fervour at Pope John XXIII High School, Quepem. Handmade yellow flags, symbolizing friendship adorned the school campus heralded the coming of the bicentenary of Don Bosco’s birth.

Various themes on him were creatively depicted during the daily assemblies and parts of the movies on him were also shown.

Students collected pulses, sugar, soaps, tooth brushes, tooth pastes and other non perishable articles for the inmates of the Mother Teresa Convent - A charitable home for the aged.

A chief feature of the final day was the inaugural of the Digitronic school (a class with either a TV or a LCD projector and internet connectivity) for which Fr Paul D’souza, (Vice Provincial), Fr. Tamatur Cardozo (Principal HSS), Vaman V. Bhadri, Chandrakant Babu Kavlekar (MLA) were present.

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Bicentenary Celebrations Concluded at Sulcorna

In Search of Solid Waste Management Solutions The Don Bosco College of Agriculture (DBCA) at Sulcorna Goa is making a subtle effort to bring the youth of the state and other parts of the country back to Mother Nature, organically.

The Don Bosco institute in Sulcorna concluded the celebrations of the Bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco on the 29th August. Each day was filled with some creative programme animated by the teachers and students. The final day mass was well animated by the teachers portraying and acting out a short incident from the life of Don Bosco in the introductory rite.

Two of the best groups which had staged items during the week, displayed their talents once again. A quiz based on the life of Don Bosco was organised. Each student was given a copy of comics on the life of Don Bosco.

10 Salesians Celebrate Jubilees

The DBCA joined hands with the Communicare Trust and Goa Directorate of Education to conduct a workshop on Solid Waste Management for the teachers of Primary Schools across Quepem taluka at the Pope John XXIII School complex, Quepem.

Teachers from over 90 primary schools participated in the workshop initiated by Nalini Elvino de Sousa.

The technical sessions were conducted by Yogita Mehra, Tallulah Dsilva, Dr. Cassie Rodrigues and Miguel Braganza. While Yogita used an actual Daily Dump khamba to explain how to compost household wet waste using a “Khamba” system that was safe and smell-free, Dr. Cassie linked composting to organic farming that is being promoted by DBCASulcorna. Nalini explained how students can be involved in promoting composting and cleanliness through models, animation and even production of videos using the mobile phones and paper waste.

Film clips produced by students in Aldona-Bardez and Morlem-Sattari were shown to the teacherparticipants. Hands-on activity to make wealth out of newspaper “raddi” was facilitated by Natasha Fernandes, Aira Mirchandani and Milan Khanolkar.

The Director and all the teaching and non-teaching staff of DBCA attended the workshop.

For more information: www.dailydump.org

The jubilees of Frs Loddy Pires, Thomas Fernandes (50 Years of Religious Life); Edwin Baracho, Savio Gomes, Dominic Savio Fernandes, Bernadino Almeida, Anthony Alemao, Albano Fernandes (25 Years of Religious Life); Brian Moras and Arvind Severes (25 Years of Ordination) celebrated with a thanksgiving mass on September 16 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Panjim, Goa. This was followed by a felicitation programme.

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SOUTH ASIA NEWS

Youth Expo, Delhi

Salesian Family Congress, Kolkata

The Salesian Family South Asia Congress 2015 was held as a part of the concluding celebration of the bicentenary of Don Bosco’s birth at Don Bosco, Liluah, Kolkata, from September 26 -28, 2015.

The theme of the congress “One Family, One Mission” derived its inspiration from the Salesian Family Charter. The Keynote Address by the Regional Councillor for South Asia - Fr Maria Arokiam Kanaga provided sound orientation to the event.

Well prepared and animated presentations of the services rendered by the various groups in the Salesian Family, panel discussion on the theme, prayer Service, daily Eucharist, the fatherly ‘Good Night’ talks by the Rector Major and loads of cultural programmes staged by the children of the Salesian schools of Kolkata accounted for the 3 days of the congress.

The presence of the Rector Major, Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime - Don Bosco personified - enthused the participants with true Salesian spirit. The Rector Major reminded us that we should not work as divided members of the Salesian groups but relate with each other as in a family.

The theme of the Congress ‘One Family, One Mission’ spurred us all to work in consciousness of being One Family and face the mission together in unity and teamwork. (Enid Varela)

The bicentenary celebrations of Don Bosco concluded with the Youth Expo at Don Bosco Alaknanda School New Delhi on September 29-30, 2015. 90 youth from the Konkan Province attented the Youth Expo adding to the mammoth gathering of over 1200 youngsters from across the country.

On the 29th Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi presided at the Eucharist in the morning. The Youth Expo was then declared open by Fr Jose Mathew, Provincial of New Delhi & Convenor of the event.

A youth talk show that reflected on the challenges and issues faced by youngsters today was followed by the Bosco Fiesta - multi talent show with mime, music, rangoli and canvas painting competitions. The mime saw great performances from all provinces with Tiruchy, Chennai and Panjim emerging winners. The canvas painting contest with `Youth for Change` as the theme saw the youth of Delhi emerge winners, followed by the Panjim and the Kolkata.

The Rector Major, Fr Angel Fernandez Artime was welcomed by traditionally costumed youngsters representing the various states of India. The cultural programme `BoscoUtsav` showcased the rich cultural diversity of India. The Konkan province put up a fusion dance to ‘Maria Pitache’ and a skit on the struggles of the youth in todays world. A sketch of Don Bosco was also completed and the same was autographed by the Rector Major.

The Good Night of the Rector Major invited the young to ``be partners for change, with the will and the determination to make ours a better world``.

The Youth Catechesis by 4 eminent speakers Arbp. Anil Couto, Bp. Dominic Jala, Fr Joe Mannath and Fr Maria Arokiam Kanaga and their interaction with the youth was a very enlightening experience. After the Holy Eucharist, the Rector Major interacted with the youth and spoke about his vision for the youth of India and how we can help the Salesians in their work.

For the grand finale Smriti Irani, Piyush Goyal, Msgr.

Salvatore Pennacchio, Apostolic Nuncio to India were present. (Joanne D’Souza)

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SALESIAN

RM’s Appeal to Care for refugees & immigrants

WORLD NEWS

Indian Appointed Dean of Rome Univ. Comm. Dept.

In the wake visit of the the Salesians Chancellor Pontifical Rome

of the maiden Rector Major of of Don Bosco and of the Salesian University (UPS) to India (26th September) Fr Ángel Fernández A r t i m e announced on September 24, 2015 the appointment of the new Dean of the Faculty of Social Communications (FSC) Prof. Peter Andrew Gonsalves.

Professor of Communication and Education at FSC Dr Gonsalves hails from the Salesian province of Mumbai. He is the first non-European Dean of FSC which was established in 1988.

Former Dean of FSC Prof Mauro Montavani has been elevated as Vice-Chancellor of the same university, UPS Rome.

Speaking to Matters India on the significance of his appointment, Dr Gonsalves says, “[the appointment is ] perhaps, the fruit of a more inclusive mentality open to the wealth in non-European cultures; an appreciation of the work done in Media Education in India since 1984; a recognition of the contribution made to the global body on communication research through the analysis of the Mahatma’s sartorial/ nonverbal communication.” (C M Paul)

New Procurator General Appointed Fr Pier Fausto Frisoli was appointed new Procurator General by the Rector Major and his Council, “ad nutum”.

He will take charge from November 2.

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Seeing the tragedy of refugees and immigrants in thousands fleeing their countries because of war, destruction, hunger and persecution and following the appeal of Pope Francis, Rector Major Artime has appealed to the provinces of Europe to prepare to provide accomodation for them. He called Salesians to welcome them in their work and to take care especially of the unaccompanied children and the youth.

Rector Major reminds them of the words of Pope Francis who said: “I thank you for your practical approach to things ... The Salesian is practical, sees the problem, thinks about it and takes it in hand.”

Don Bosco teaches us to be practical.

Welcome Refugees, Educate to Peace Fr Cristobal Lopez, Provincial of the Spanish Province in his circular letter, expects the arrival of the refugees in November or December.

Their number will reach 15000 in two years, he says. He suggests each community to designate a confrere to maintain contact at local level with relevant authorities in order to accept refugees when they come in. They are already taking care of many refugees but Fr Lopez does not want confreres to stop there, he wants them to do more.

In his letter Fr Lopez also touches on other refugee issues. He says: “Educate to peace and do everything possible to stop wars.” He stresses how essential it is, since “the solution is to stop the war and build peace.” He adds, citing a Salesian missionary in Damascus: “If the great powers and the United Nations wanted to and reached an agreement, this war would end in three days.”

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CHURCH

WORLD NEWS Missionaries of Charity to shut down orphanages opposing adoption policy

Thirteen orphanages run by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in India may face Government de-recognition after it refused to give children up for adoption to single, divorced or separated people. The Missionaries of Charity itself has written to the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) seeking derecognition of some of its orphanages. The NDA government guidelines notified by the Women and Child Development ministry in July made adoption rules more stringent. The Missionaries of Charity has refused to comply with the provisions related to adoptions by single, separated or divorced people.

Card. Telesphore Toppo, the Archbishop of Ranchi, said: “The Catholic Church in India has to deal with this issue guidelines. I support the sister missionaries. Children are not objects; each of them is a precious gift from God. The Missionaries of Charity are at the service of the most vulnerable and those abandoned children cannot be given to any parent.”

Sr Bressila said: “We stopped adoptions, but we will continue to follow the mission and vision of Mother Teresa. We trust in God, who will inspire us on what to do. We will continue to look after the children, but we do not accept the new rules.”

The cardinal concluded: “This is an important aspect of Mission of the Church in India and we have raised these issues to explore all options to get these guidelines changed. This has to be also discussed at the Family Synod, for the Mission of the Church and Family in India. The Church has to take a stand. In India, animals are more cared for and protected and valuable than our little vulnerable children”.

California missionary Junípero Serra Canonized An 18th-century Catholicism to the American West Coast was elevated to sainthood on September 23 by Pope Francis in the first canonization on U.S. soil.

missionary

who

brought

Francis canonized Junipero Serra during a Mass outside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the largest Catholic church in North America.

Serra was a Franciscan friar who marched north from Baja California with conquistadors from his native Spain, establishing nine of the 21 missions in what is now California.

Synod on Family

In his opening address Pope said that, “the Synod is neither a convention, nor a parlor, nor a parliament or senate, where people make deals and reach compromises. The Synod is rather an Ecclesial expression, i.e., the Church that journeys together to read reality with the eyes of faith and with the heart of God; it is the Church that interrogates herself with regard to her fidelity to the deposit of faith, which does not represent for the Church a museum to view, nor even something merely to safeguard, but is a living source from which the Church shall drink, to satisfy the thirst of, and illuminate, the deposit of life.”

The Synod of Bishops on the Family began on October 4 and will continue till 25.

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Drawing for Change Neels D’Souza - XII DBYS Parra, Goa

Anthony Fernandes - IX DB Tuem, Goa

Sai Kumar - IX MBBS Paliem, Goa

Jonecia Costa - VIII Pope John XXIII Quepem, Goa

Ritik Manzi - IX MBBS Paliem, Goa

Shery Moura - VIII Pope John XXIII Quepem

Drawing for Change

Malikarjun Narikal - VIII MBBS Paliem, Goa

Suraj Rajat - VIII MBBS Paliem, Goa

Akshay Sarvade - VIII Sirsi, Karnataka