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Friday October 26, 2007

Fifty churches receive training in protecting the environment

José Aurelio Paz, HAVANA, Cuba, November 21, 2006

Since 1999, workshops in environmental awareness are held throughout the country. These workshops begin with Taxi Heathrow Airport biblical reflection on the care of the world, and then through artistic and cultural art expressions carry out the training of adults and children. The methodology used is that of an education model accessible to all, with techniques that stimulate participation.

So far this year five regional festivals have taken place, in which the results of these workshops are displayed through painting, literature, music, pantomime, bodily expression and theater.

Marbelio Tamayo, who heads the Rangers workgroup for the CIC, explains that “among the objectives that have been set is that of bringing together and supporting the efforts of the churches committed to creating a community ecological awareness, by providing and securing the space needed so that the children and adolescents can discover and protect their community environments through practical activities, and contribute methodological expertise for the preparing of the local resources responsible for the structuring of this important work.”  

Among the most significant results achieved are, the incorporating of environmental awareness into the Christian education programs, the generating of environmental protection actions by the churches within their own settings, and, within that context, the producing of teaching materials that are the basis for the creating of a local environmental awareness.  

“Although we began in 1999 with the support of Bread for the World (PPM in Spanish), the German agency of Christian inspiration, we are presently receiving cooperation from the Foundation for Aid to Protestantism (FAP), which is financing the project until 2007, and we have the hope that we will be able to continue forward with the support of other ecumenical agencies interested in the matter,” Tamayo further explained.

The concern for the environment, which has undoubtedly become one of the movements with the greatest impact on the world level, has in this Cuban project an example of a clear responsibility and stewardship with regard to the preservation of the integrity of creation.