Sister Earth, Sister Mission: Caring for Creation Is Part of the Adveniat Regnum Tuum
In this month dedicated to the care of Creation, a theme so important in our charism, we join our efforts to those of the many eco-social actors who are working for environmental preservation and social justice.
Our small contributions gladly bring us back to our sources: Marie Eugénie summed up our Assumption mission in the phrase "Thy Kingdom come," a "social" Kingdom[1] — she said — "where no one has to suffer the oppression of another"[2]. For this it was necessary — as she wrote in the same letter cited above — to offer young people "a philosophy, a passion, a character…" so as to transform themselves and to transform reality.
At the Assumption of Águilas (Mexico), we are fostering learning experiences that integrate knowledge and conviction, passion and creativity, and that translate into small but resolute actions that make a difference. In this spirit, together with the teachers and students, we carried out an interdisciplinary project, in collaboration with the farmers of the semi-urban region of Xochimilco.
This area has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, being a lakeland region and a habitat of wild flora and fauna threatened by the uncontrolled urbanisation of Mexico City. Xochimilco currently has more than 180 km of canals that serve as a means of transport and as a source of irrigation for the chinampas (small floating islands where farmers grow a variety of vegetables). The climate of Mexico City depends largely on this wetland, which in recent years has been disappearing due to excessive urbanisation, the pollution of the canals and the abandonment of farming.
In this context, the high-school students, guided by several teachers, carried out a research and community-intervention project to restore an apantle (an irrigation canal for the chinampas): they took water samples to analyse in the Institute's laboratory, and then to draw up an intervention proposal to help clean it naturally.
One of the solutions was to plant a variety of aquatic plants in the apantle, in order to promote the diversity of species and restore the natural balance, combating the water-hyacinth infestation and achieving the right water conditions to recover the habitat and the life of various species, especially the axolotl, an endemic amphibian in danger of extinction.
The young people shared their experiences and achievements:
We sadly discovered the situation of inequality in our city, but we feel glad to be part of a change for the environment, making a contribution grounded in science.
We learned to put ourselves in a farmer's place and to value their work, as well as to recognise the eco-social and cultural importance of the Xochimilco wetland, because, besides being a tourist area, it supplies the markets with many of the fresh vegetables we all appreciate and consume.
We contemplated nature and experienced God's presence in it, during days of service that began at dawn, admiring the sunrise over the canals and the chinampas.
The philosophy, passion and character of which Marie Eugénie speaks, we have made concrete in our annual Institute motto: "an open mind, an attentive heart, hands that transform." In this way, the high-school students have learned to appreciate, with an open mind, the cultural and environmental diversity of Mexico, seeking — from their own knowledge — ways to preserve it. They have cultivated an attentive heart to empathise with the situation and the cry of the farmers, making proposals for the preservation of the habitat; and they have put these proposals into action with hands that transform, generating a positive and evangelical impact on reality, one that opens up meaning and hope.
Elsa Vázquez, Social Service coordinator
Sr Ana Sentíes, R.A. (Sister Reference at the Institute)
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