Thursday, April 1, 2021
On the morning of March 27, 2021, the Caritas Da Lat Environmental Department organized an environmental protection training program in the Da Lat diocese. At the Marco 2 chapel in Madagui parish, parishioners met with the following goal – know the current state of the local environment, and to provide solutions to protect the environment. The main participants were parishioners, including children.
The program took place on a Saturday morning, with more than 40 students of primary and secondary school age, joined together with others. While waiting for the elderly participants to arrive, they were shown a video about the gift of life, with the message of environmental protection. After watching the movie, the students were asked some fun quizzes by Ms. Song Tu from Caritas Da Lat.
The program started with the warm-up dance, “Laudato Sí”, which is also the signature dance of the Caritas Da Lat Environmental Department. After the relatives and children settled into their seats, Mr. Tou Pong Son, from Caritas Da Lat, led everyone into the program with a picture of "the earth is about to sink into a sea of garbage", and suggested participants to express their feelings about what they had observed. Many opinions and ideas were enthusiastically raised by the participants: the earth stands on a sea of garbage, a sea of garbage and a globe, too much plastic, the earth is covered with garbage. Mr Tou began by explaining the reason Caritas Da Lat organized the training program at Marco 2 village, and then he introduced the program and its participants (9 Caritas staff and members of the parish). Next, Ms. Dinh Thi Hong Phuc, Deputy Director of Caritas Da Lat, introduced Caritas and its activities. When she asked “Have you heard of or known about Caritas?”, most people here did not know what Caritas is.
During the session, the children's group was led out of the chapel for playing games by Ms. Song Tu and Ms. Ka Riep from Caritas staff and divided into 4 teams, each team has its own name: Thien Su (Angel), Bong Hoa (Flower), Giang Ho Mom and Cun Con (Puppy) to play the game "who picks up more trash quickly". The groups then gathered their results in front of the chapel for a jury to decide the winner. The children's groups continued with an environmental protection painting contest with much enthusiasm and excitement.
Participants were then divided into 4 groups including three groups of adults and one group of children, and three groups of adults discussed the 3 topics of food, household items and garbage. Each group had 1 - 2 Caritas staff members to support and guide the use of 2 tools – "Rich picture” and “Timeline” – to show the current status of waste in the village, the items used in production and household, as well as the history of the local culinary culture.
After the groups presented the results, Ms. Hong Phuc summarized some of the issues faced by the village: poor land quality, consumer debt, disease, difficult in controlling the increasing demands of life, people not being aware of putting garbage in the right place. From those problems, solutions are raised: planting more trees, saving water, picking up trash, cycling to reduce emissions, reducing spending, bringing the basket to the market.
Participants then watched a short video on the Pope's letter about Laudato Sí.
The session occurred during the cashew season, so some people were not able to attend. However, the presence of children also created a joyful atmosphere and encouraged mothers to actively participate. The Marco village in Madagui parish was also invited to participate more deeply in the program “Catholics living Laudato Sí” in the next 2 years, through the exchange and learning forums of the Caritas parish network. The program ended when each person wrote their name on a paper heart and signed their commitment to the activities to protect and take care of our common home.
Charry Son