Newly Launched Integral Ecology Plan for Salesians in Kenya “special commitment” to Youth: Provincial Superior

At the international level, especially within the United Nations (UN), the Salesian Superior for the East Africa Province, bringing together Kenya, Sudan, and South Sudan, said, various initiatives have been taken and many conventions, agreements, and protocols established.

He went on to list some of the notable initiatives at the international level, including the Stockholm Declaration, the Geneva Convention, the Earth Summit in Rio, the Berne Convention, the Montreal Protocol, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement.

Fr. Tharayil observed that despite significant global efforts, many nations continue to struggle in assuming full responsibility for effective climate action and meaningful progress.

“We, at the Salesians of Don Bosco worldwide, have taken it up as our responsibility as well,” he said, and added, “What we are launching today is our commitment to what we have planned to do.”

Fr. Tharayil emphasized that what SDB members are doing in Kenya is their “commitment to God, to Mother Earth, and to the people, especially the young. It calls for action within our establishments, in the neighborhood, and in our pastoral and educational.”

He explained that the document is referred to as integral ecology and a comprehensive plan because it affects “our whole life, our entire way of thinking, and everything around us.”

“As we launch this Integral Ecology Plan, it will not be just for the Salesians alone. It is for all of us. That is why we have invited many of you here. It is our common responsibility,” he said.

For the Salesians, Fr. Tharayil said, “it is a special responsibility as it concerns the future of the young people we are involved with. The cry of the young will sound in our ears: ‘Please do not destroy my future.’”

“The environment is on loan to each generation, which must then be handed on to the next. We have a great responsibility to the young people who are the next generation,” he said in reference to paragraph 159 of the Laudato Si’ document.

SDB members in Kenya launched their first-ever Integral Ecology Plan, aiming to end the long-standing “piecemeal” approach to projects across their institutions in the East African nation.

In an interview with ACI Africa ahead of the launch, the Executive Director of the Don Bosco Development Outreach Network (DBDON) stated that the plan draws inspiration from the Laudato Si’ document.

The launched document will guide the implementation of projects across the 14 Don Bosco institutions in Kenya, and is anchored on six pillars: energy, carbon, water and waste management, sustainable agriculture, and ecological conversion.

Several activities, including a tree planting session and discussions around the six pillars, were carried out during the launch, and SDB members appealed to more partners to come on board and help in the implementation of the document.

In an interview with ACI Africa on the sidelines of the launch, Rose Omariba, the Kenya Chapter Leader of the Laudato Si’ Movement Africa (LSM), commended SDB members for the initiative, noting that she was particularly drawn to the pillar on waste management.

Ms. Omariba said, “From the six pillars, I’m a champion of sustainable waste management. I can talk about waste management because that is where my passion is.”

(Story continues below)

“The biggest challenge is when we think, as people who understand the space, that we have a solution for the community, so we go into the community as saviors instead of co-creating the different ways of reducing waste and also in sustainable agriculture,” she said.

The LSM official also lauded SDB members for inviting more stakeholders to the launch, saying, “When we come together, the workload becomes easy.”

Nicholas Mwandikwa, an Agronomist working with the Catholic Diocese of Kitui, described the launch as “a blueprint for action across Kenya.”

Mr. Mwandikwa told ACI Africa that the pillars are in line with what happens in their Diocese, including water management, agricultural practices, and ecological conversion.

“What I would call for today is that we turn ideas from paper in Nairobi, we turn the conferences from Nairobi into action in the community, such that this community can also be helped to see that these things are doable,” he said.

He added, “It is a call for all of us, the policymakers and the other partners, the NGOs, the private sector, and above all, a call for the youth to address the environmental changes that are happening right now, failure to which we shall now be subject to a lot of issues moving forward.”