Ecological education for students in Cambodia

The preservation of life on our planet is a human responsibility of immense ethical and spiritual importance. 

The first day of this month coincided with the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and the beginning of the Season of Creation.

During this time we were all invited to pray for the protection of creation and the promotion of sustainable, eco-friendly lifestyles.

Thanks to your support, our Ecology program in Cambodia focuses on forest conservation efforts to enhance capacities of local communities, including students in Ecological Restoration, Education, Advocacy and Sustainability. 

The Ecology program is carried out by our local partner Jesuit Service Cambodia (JSC), in the rural Kambal District of Phnom Penh and in the rural Prey Thom community of Battambang Province, Cambodia.

“Young people have a new ecological sensitivity and a generous spirit, and some of them are making admirable efforts to protect the environment,” writes Pope Francis in his encyclical Laudato Si’, a book which focuses on care for the natural environment as well as the relationship between God, people and the Earth.

Our partner works closely with school communities as a way to teach and empower children to become caretakers of their surrounding environment. Young students, teachers and families can get involved with activities such as managing plant nurseries and the production of seedlings.

Funding from Jesuit Mission and our generous supporters provides the ongoing supply of seedlings to local schools along with tools and training to support a thriving ecology system.  

Many families living in rural villages in Cambodia rely on a healthy, diverse natural world to farm for the food and income they need to survive.

Communities simply cannot afford to lose forests as a critical part of the ecosystem.

Thanks to your generosity, these communities are given the ecological training to ensure that their environment remains protected and cared for.

"There is a nobility in the duty to care for creation through little daily actions, and it is wonderful how education can bring about real changes in lifestyle,” writes Pope Francis (Laudato Si’#211).

First Spiritual Exercises - Prayer to be Ever Inclusive

Let us join together in the Prayer to be Ever Inclusive written by Fr Michael Hansen SJ, National Director of the First Spiritual Exercises Program.