John-Paul Roberts

As part of the Global Mothers Union 120 years celebration for its community work in various countries and communities, the Mothers Union of the Diocese of Johannesburg together with the Parish of Christ the King held a one day cleanup and awareness campaign. This took place in Coronationville, Johannesburg on the 27th of July 2024.  The aim was not only to observe the day but to show when organizations join forces with the local community members a lot can be achieved. The main message of the day was to highlight the importance of a clean environment and its impacts on the health and well-being of human-beings. The Mothers Union in the Diocese of Johannesburg calls on all of us to recognize that:  “We have destroyed the healthy relationship our ancestors had with the environment and most of the creatures on it. They knew the importance and the value of these relations for our physical, mental and spiritual well-being. We have ourselves thinking that we are the owners of this earth and of the creatures living on it. We think we can do as we wish with them without accountability, but the current state of our planet proves otherwise. Let us change our attitude towards Mother Earth and give the respect and care it deserves as people with ubuntu and as honorable citizens (refer People shall govern)”. One of the main lessons from this clean up is that community engagement and participation is important when it comes to the matter of caring for creation as this is our common home.

The impact of spiraling informal settlements in the country cannot be ignored as one of the leading factors that are exacerbating climate change. Their increased vulnerability to climate change, the lack of resources, and ill preparedness for disaster further exacerbate the devastating impacts of climate change. Unprecedented population increase, homes and other buildings infrastructure in urban area increases the exposure and vulnerability to floods, crime, and fires. A lack of basic needs and services leads to informal settlements having impacts on the environment.  A recent tour to Tembisa informal settlements by CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE STRATEGY AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN WORKSHOP delegates revealed that the informal settlement may have resulted from various factors that include rapid urbanization, lack of affordable housing and unequal distribution of resources and opportunities. Despite efforts made by the government to improve housing conditions and living standards, the informal settlement continues to grow due to high demand for housing and feasible alternatives. The settlement is facing significant environmental injustices and human life as people are vulnerable to infectious disease. Poor sanitation, lack of access to clean water, poor drainage systems, poor waste management, over population were major and identified as environmental issues. The observations were that the area is vulnerable to flooding, veld fires and diseases leading to loss of human and artech life. Therefore, the CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE STRATEGY AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN WORKSHOP which included government stakeholders, different departments, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), aimed to come up with solutions and mitigation to informal settlements and their impacts in the country. The workshop proposed that the government should create mutual relationships with the people living in the informal settlements. This included coming up with realistic solutions tailor made to address the problems encountered, as well as empowering communities with agency and networking capacity on climate resilient human settlements. Furthermore, the workshop raised the need for active involvement of the communities in the planning and implementation processes as this would inspire a buy in from communities and increase the success of any endeavor made to address the problems encountered in the society. The plausible mitigatory measures suggested included building safe homes and settling people in safe places to preserve those ecosystems. Also, addressing vulnerable settlements that are settled in unsafe places. The government should also consider establishing and the enforcement of strong intergovernmental and societal laws and the arrangement of informal settlements in the country. More so, there is need for the mobilisation of financial resources, creating free educational awareness campaigns on dangers of informal settlements, investing in natured based solutions, fighting mass and illegal migration from the neighboring countries were among recommendations made to the government to respond to climate change and informal settlements .

On Saturday 4th of November 2023 young people from Eluvukweni Anglican church in Crossroad Cape Town hosted a hike, at Table Mountain. The motivation of the day was to create a strong bond among the young people but also to connect with nature. The hike was attended by 40 young people from the host Parish, and they were joined by members from the Anglican Youth Fellowship (AYF) from the Diocese of Saldanha Bay.   The day was opened with words of prayer and encouragement from Mr Masibulele who’s the member of Eluvukweni but also the Diocesan AYF president. He stressed that it is important for us to initiate such events which not only creates a bond amongst us but also allows for one to de-stress from the situations we are faced with back in our communities. The hike was filled with fun, songs of praise on route and meditations along the Pipe Track trail. The day ended with a picnic for all at Camps Bay beach where young people shared snacks and a meal by the beach under the hot sunny Cape Town weather. Photo Credit : Sisipho and Malesedi

It was a day of great jubilee at St Michael’s Primary school in Harare on Tuesday 31 October 2023 when 57 Grade 5 learners from the school and seven adults from St Michael’s Anglican church in Harare had their graduation for having completed a ten week long home vegetable gardening course, which was facilitated by Ms Mazibuko. During the day weeklong program, the learners who were organised by Ms Thobeka Babi and adults learned how to do a seedling boxes, start a vegetable nursery, add sheet mulch, prepare a tea fertilizer, planting, intercrop and how to plant trees.  During the graduation learners from different grades of the school joined in to celebrate the achievement of their peers with traditional songs, dance and a praise poem. Revd Deon McDillon who is the Diocesan Environmental Coordinator for the Diocese of False Bay gave a word of thanks to the school for having allowed its learners to gain this needed skill. He also thanked the learners and all participants for their commitment and mostly to the educators and facilitator.