Anglican youth from four Dioceses – Mzimvubu, Mbashe, Mthatha and Khahlamba met for the Eastern Cape Youth Cluster from the 10th to 12th of October at the All Saints Cathedral Ngcobo.
During the opening Eucharist service, Dean Fikizolo blessed a tree as a symbol of new beginnings for the youth of the Eastern Cape, the tree was later planted on the church grounds. During the day, the Green Anglicans team challenged delegates to respond to Archbishop Thabo Makgoba address to the Taize pilgrims at the closing Evening Prayer of the Pilgrimage of: Trust in Cape Town Archbishop which reads “Please, young people, don’t wait for the rest of us. Show us the way as you have always done. Show us what unity in action means. Show us what hope means. Show us what just economic relationships mean. Show us the way on climate justice. Show us that there is no Planet B. Show us that the poor will suffer most when water levels rise. Show us that serving Mammon will only lead to our destruction and that we should speak out on behalf of the trees and the birds and the animals. Ecological destruction is all around us and if we are not careful, we will soon not have enough fish all around us and clean air and clean water. Help us to defend and preserve this.”
During this time, the young people from each Diocese acted out how mankind continue to cause harm to God’s creation and how the poor continue to suffer. Different groups were given a platform to act out different scenarios.
Group one: the messages that came was that, even during this time of water shortages , some people still continue to waste water for luxury use forgetting that, there are people who are less fortunate and rely on the same water being wasted for survival.
Group two: The theme was air pollution, showing us how the poor living in air polluted areas continue to suffer as they catch all types of illness caused by the chemicals in the air and to make matters worse the public health system in our country is not really coping currently and loss of life is experienced.
Group three shared an act based on a true story of how a family in Namibia lost a loved one during the draught, while trying to dig up a blowhole for water. T
Group four – the theme was on plastic and its harmful effects: because we continue to throw plastic all over and the fact plastic is not biodegradable , it harms the soil making it hard for those who depended on the land for survival due to low quality production, we also saw how people lose their livestock from eating plastic.
From the different topics and themes that were covered, one can confidently attest that the young people are ready to save God’s creation and should be given the support needed for them to execute and implement this goal.
Bino Makhalanyane