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Climate Yes! Bootcamp – Johannesburg. Forty young people from South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana and even as far as Zambia met together for two days of non stop bootcamp on Climate Justice We first considered the impacts of Climate change on our own selves. Dr Lisa Adjei – global chair of Climate yes! asked us to say what are we seeing which is different, what are we hearing which is different – which really brough the reality home Next we did  a community mapping exercise – looking at environmental challenges in our communities, a vibrant session led by Bino Makhalanyane Rev Rachel Mash led a session on what the Bible tells us about the climate, reminding us that Noah was the first ‘climate activist’ telling people the rain was coming – many thought he was crazy and yet he saved humans and all of biodiversity Makhutso from Swaziland explained how to get involved with the Conference of Youth at the different levels from national to continental gatherings. Ashley from ACT Ubumbano shared about  movement building – how we can learn from our mistakes and Nonhlanhla from PACJA shared Adaptation and Mitigation We then looked at the actions and beliefs of different groups of people such as clergy, school kids, business people, politicians and how best we can communicate with them about climate justice. This ended with a hilarious acting out of the different actions! Each day we started with a powerful contextual Bible Study led by Dr Lisa using the principle of See, Judge, Act. Firstly to look at the passage – what words or images jump out at you, then ‘judge’ what does this passage teach us in terms of climate justice, and thirdly ‘Act’ what actions can we take. We then moved into more action planning, starting with the Problem tree – looking at the issues such as waste or air pollution and identifying the root causes of the problem as well and the results  this helped us to the then identify the actions that we could take in our own communities to combat these issues. We learned about the Biblical basis of advocacy and then did a very powerful exercise called the ‘Goldfish bowl” where church leaders, politicians and community leaders held a noisy town hall regarding an environmental challenge – lots of shouting and nobody listening to each other made us realise how hard it is to speak up! An exciting session was led by JP Roberts on using social media – where we learned to make small videos and also posters. We had an important visit from the Dep of Environment who shared about the COP process and how young people can have a say in the months leading up the negotiations. Our final night a fun creativity evening was held with an environmental theme where poems and songs on the climate justice theme were presented. The last day it was sad to say goodbye to new friends and Rev Rachel commissioned us to go out into the world and be the change we want to see! The whole bootcamp was interwoven with music, friendship and laughter Amos 5: 23-24 says :  Away with the noise of your songs!   I will not listen to the music of your harps.  But let justice roll on like a river,     righteousness like a never-failing stream! But when songs of worship come together on the theme of climate justice then we can begin to build a river of justice together We are grateful for the support of Climate Yes! Anglican Overseas Aid, Act Ubumbano and PACJASA for this wonderful bootcamp

Africa Climate Week in Nairobi Kenya provided a platform for Africans to come together to share ideas, knowledge and concerns looking ahead to COP28 later this year and beyond. Bino Makhalanyane (South Africa), Irene Sebastian, Brian Sunkuya  Desmond Tutu Owuoth and Rev Dennis Nthenge (Kenya) and Kenyi Dube (South Sudan) of Green Anglicans were part of a delegation of 16 participant form the Climate Youth Ecumenical Summit (Climate YES). No to the curse of generational debt The week started with a  Pre-Summit event hosted by African Faith Actors Network on Climate Justice.  We were excited to meet Bishop Ernesto Manuel from Mozambique there. At this event with faith leaders, young people brought emphasized the need for more local based production rather than importing solar panels or wind turbines, they must be produced in Africa.  For a  Just Transition, young people called for a halt to all forms of climate finance which come as loans to African countries. Young people are faced with high unemployment rates and the threat of the curse of a generational debt. As a Climate justice movement for young people delegates from Climate YES continued to advocate for youth inclusivity at all decision-making platforms as this generation remains the most affected generation by Climate change. Key Learnings The youth play a crucial role in the fight for Climate Justice, and they must go beyond being mere bystanders or attendees; instead, they should actively embrace their role as changemakers and decision-makers. Young people ought to continuously invest in and take time to develop the requisite skill sets to match the expectations and ambitions that they set or are set as they are increasingly included in climate solutions. Young people play a huge role in climate action as their innovations can contribute to climate justice and for that, it is important that young people are invited to be part of Climate action discussions because they can produce solutions to the Climate Challenges. Africa climate week was criticised heavily by civil society for being too driven by corporate agendas and a strong focus on carbon offsets and carbon trading which culminated in a march organised by Laudato Si. In issuing outcomes of the Summit (Nairobi declarations), our African leaders continue to call for an acceleration to climate action and finance mechanisms. As young people we call for less talk and more action on commitments made. It was a great networking opportunity as we were able to meet with leadership of the AACC (All Africa Council of Churches) We are very grateful for the support of AACC and Christian Aid for Climate Yes! We were also able to have a braai(nyama choma) and meet with other members of Climate yes! rom across the continent and also held a strategic meeting with leadership By : Bino Makhalanyane          

WORLD RHINO DAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2023 It was a privilege to host an Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and WILDTRUST World Rhino Day event at Durban Seafarers Mission today. Born out of the vision of the late Stephanie Seaward to “bring Africa to the seafarers” and her dream of having a life size Rhino at the Mission, we were inspired to hear of the amazing work being done by such dedicated people to save our Rhino’s. The Rhino will now remain at the Mission offering a unique feature for seafarers to enjoy, promoting the amazing work being done to preserve these spectacular creatures, and inviting seafarers to be part of the solution too. Rev Peter Houston – Mission to Seafarers

The Mothers Union Diocesan Council of Kimberley and Kuruman convened on the 9th September 2023 under the leadership and guidance of Diocesan President Mother Keobakile Rabotsho and MU Diocesan Chaplain Revd. OJ Dithejane ,respectively planted three trees at St Pauls Mothibistad, Kgalagadi Archdeaconry as a way to observe Arbor month, and the Season of creation. The trees planted symbolizes the Mothers’ Union anchor in God as even when swayed by wind and storms the trees remain anchored in our Lord Jesus Christ. The trees will form part of the Communion ForestBy : Diocesan MU Deputy President Mme TK Moeng Photo credit : Diocesan MU Secretary Mme Mother Z Daniels   #seasonofcreation #arborday #communionforest  

On spring day the 1st of September, the Together4Creation team held a youth gathering to kick off the beginning of the Season of Creation. Which was held at St Thomas Church, Rondebosch. About 80 young people from eight congregations from different denominations (Catholic, Anglican, Pentecostal, Lutheran and Dutch Reformed) across Cape Town attended the event. Our evening started off with a welcome from Rev Claire Nye Hunter, Rector of St Thomas & John-Paul Roberts, followed by the opening prayer from Jacques Strydom from the Dutch Reformed Church, before Rev Rachel gave an introduction to the Season of Creation. We ate together and watched the documentary, The Letter: A Message for Our Earth, in which Pope Francis spoke to people who represent the voices of the youth, the poor, animal life and indigenous voices. Afterwards we had smallgroup discussions about what we as youth can do in our own areas and congregations to combat climate injustice. The theme of this year’s Season of Creation is “Let Justice and Peace Flow” and comes from Amos 5:24. We are invited to join the river of justice and peace and take up ecological justice and be a voice for those affected by climate injustice (You can visit https://seasonofcreation.org for more information). Our evening ended off with a final blessing and closing by Fr Emmanuel the Vicar for Youth in the Archdiocese of Cape Town.