Collecting rubbish dumped on the local beach - Photo: Sr Cristita de Leon
Six years ago, Sr Gloria Santos, in collaboration with Lay Associates of the Columban Sisters, established a small ecology centre in Uyong, Labrador, in the Philippine province of Pangasinan. She had two important goals: to help alleviate the living conditions of the families there and to increase awareness within the community of its environmental problems.
During the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, I got to know some of the families in the area as I had time to immerse myself in the locality and appreciate nature all around me. The landscape is incredible with the sea on one side and the farms leading up to the mountain on the other.
However, a closer look identified a range of problems. The water in the streams seemed to have changed colour, the creeks were clogged with rubbish, and heavy rains were pushing this rubbish downstream to the bigger streams, which in turn led to the sea. Along the beach, dead fish were left rotting, along with plastic bottles, old and tangled fishing nets, and other rubbish.
On those early mornings when I walked along the shore, I often asked myself how many local people paused to consider the root causes of the destruction and exploitation of nature around them. Their daily struggle and toil for survival meant most did not have the chance to stop, look and notice that their environment was filling up with filth. Their lack of awareness was symptomatic of the daily thoughtlessness that has resulted in the destruction and exploitation of the rich gifts of the environment.
Finding concrete steps to animate others, specifically a small group of mothers, and getting them engaged in caring for Mother Earth, was a challenge. But gradually we began to work together as a group despite the restrictions of the pandemic. The pandemic taught me to embrace what life was offering each day and find God in each situation, trusting in His providence.
There were many days when no one was selling fish because the fishermen came back to shore with empty nets. Going to the market was also unsafe because of COVID. Together with Beth, a Lay Associate of the Columban Sisters, we visited the Barangay leader to share with him our growing concern around waste management. He was very supportive of the aims of our advocacy group and made a commitment to join us in our clean-up of the beach, the canal, and the streams.
We also began to work with the mothers and spend time reflecting and praying with them. This time of personal soul-searching saw my prayer life, lifestyle decisions, and commitments challenged by all that I was experiencing in this small community. I felt I had to go through a personal conversion before I could invite and animate others to care for Mother Earth.
Working with the mothers, we introduced them to mindfulness while working and eating meals. At times, we invited them to do each task in silence, allowing themselves to be aware of every detail of what they were doing when fetching water from the pump, cleaning and washing fish and vegetables, gathering firewood for cooking, etc.
We tried to guide them to think of the origin of every object they held - Where did this come from? Who made it? How important is it in your daily life? How long did it take nature to produce all these through the sustaining grace of our Creator?
When we were ready to partake of the food that we had cooked, we invited them to think and recall the many hands that laboured before the food reached us - the farmers, fishermen, factory workers, vendors, those who transported crops and goods from remote farms to towns and cities. And as we shared the food, we were nourished not only physically - we also sensed God’s grace flowing into each of us, and we hoped that this grace would flow out to others.
And when the mothers returned home, they carried with them the desire to continue to find answers to their many questions: How do we now understand the meaning of our interconnectedness with all of God’s creation? How can we pass on to our children what each of us has become aware of? How can we encourage our family members to begin to look around and see our connection with God’s creation?
In what concrete ways can we take care of God’s gift of life, shared by all of us? How can we develop mindfulness as we continue to receive God’s grace in and through creation?
Columban Sr Cristita de Leon lives and works in the Philippines.
Listen to "Ecology ministry in Uyong"
Related links
- Read more from The Far East - July 2023
