Africa – “Ecological weeks” at the Catholic University of Central Africa
Since 2020, Jesuit scholastics studying philosophy at the Catholic University of Central Africa (UCAC) have been organising what has now become a tradition, an “Ecological Week”. The twofold aim of the week is to make known the presence of Jesuits in Yaoundé, Cameroon, and, more importantly, to respond to the 4th Universal Apostolic Preference of the Society of Jesus: Caring for our common home.
To raise awareness of the importance of caring for our environment, Jesuit scholastics collaborate with the UCAC Environment Club in Yaoundé, organising activities that mobilise students and administrative staff. They are all inspired by Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato si’. This initiative of dedicating weeks to ecology is part of a series of commitments to raise awareness of the need to protect our common home. Participants are guided by themes that invite them to ecological conversion.
The third Ecological Week was launched last March during a Eucharist at which the UCAC Vice-Rector, Fr Epiphane Kinhoun, presided. The celebrant stressed that “we remain determined in our pursuit of this initiative, following in the footsteps of the Holy Father, for what he calls the preservation of our common home”.
Many activities are organised during these weeks, including conferences, ecological walks (known as “eco-jogging”), and “eco-quarter-hours”. These activities encourage the university students to make a concrete commitment to ecology. They can do so, for example, by helping with reforestation or, quite simply, by keeping the places where they live clean. Ecological weeks thus provide Jesuits in formation an opportunity to promote ecological actions and to integrate environmental concerns into university education. All this contributes to building ecological citizenship.
Method
The Jesuit scholastics intend to follow Ignatian pedagogy, which emphasises learning through service within the student community. Learning through service is a form of training that encourages students to get involved in the community in which they live. The UCAC Environment Club, with the support of all the Jesuit scholastics, reaffirms its commitment to training young people as ambassadors of ecology for the protection of our common home. Between March 2021 and March 2023, three editions of the “Ecology Week” took place on three university campuses in the city of Yaoundé. Despite the pandemic, the first edition was encouraged by the university rector’s team and was a great success. The second and third were also very rewarding... Preparations are already underway for the fourth edition.
Source : jesuits.global
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