Advocacy & People. India. Alok Shukla
He led a successful community campaign that saved 445,000 acres of biodiversity-rich forests from 21 planned coal mines in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. In July 2022, the government cancelled the 21 proposed coal mines in Hasdeo Aranya, whose pristine forests—popularly known as the lungs of Chhattisgarh—are one of the largest intact forest areas […]
Herbs & Plants. Bridelia micrantha. A robust medicinal plant
It is a small to medium semi-deciduous to deciduous tree up to 20m in height with a dense rounded crown. The plant is traditionally used in tropical Africa to treat a wide range of human diseases. The bark on young branches is grey-brown and smooth while on older branches, the stems are dark brown and […]
Vocation Story. Fr. Jemboy. “God makes a way”
Father Jemboy Caspis from the Philippines shares his vocation journey with us. I remember very well the difficult situation I found myself in when I felt God was calling me to a religious vocation. Being the only child of my parents, I experienced all the love and care they could ever give me. Home then […]
Mission Diary. Fr. Gordon. Passion For Christ – Passion For His People
Father Gordon Rees from South Africa shares his missionary journey and experiences. I am the fourth child of seven (4 brothers and 2 sisters), I am also blessed with 5 nephews and 4 nieces, as well as 6 great-nephews and 2 great-nieces. All my schooling and tertiary studies were done in Pretoria. I worked for […]
Reflection. Ecology Shapes Our Destinies
Sustainable development should focus on the needs of people and communities and involve them in the endeavour. The effort towards sustainability has to be holistic, involving social, spiritual, moral, and environmental consciousness and resources. Voices are growing louder every day, crying hoarse, that the planet is facing an environmental crisis. We hear of global warming, […]
Advocacy & People. Australia. Murrawah Maroochy Johnson
She blocked the development of the Waratah coal mine, which would have accelerated climate change in Queensland, destroyed the nearly 20,000-acre Bimblebox Nature Refuge, added 1.58 billion tons of CO2 to the atmosphere over its lifetime, and threatened Indigenous rights and culture. Murrawah’s case, which overcame a 2023 appeal, set a precedent that enables other […]
Oral Literature. How Hare fooled Elephant
Once upon a time there lived two friends; Elephant and Hare. There had been no rains for a long, long time, and a great famine hit the land. So, the two friends decided to sell their hides, in order to raise enough money to buy cows. The market was in a far-off land, which they […]
Vocation Story. Sr. Maria José. “Education. For a better future”
A Comboni sister Maria José Carrero Viñas from Spain shares his vocation journey. At birth, I was named Maria José after my paternal grandmother. I was seven years old when the missionary who had arrived at the parish on World Mission Day explained to us that there were many children in the world who still […]
The Guarani. The great family of creation
For indigenous peoples, the earth is like a mother who offers her children the best that she herself can produce. Women are the producers and guardians of the common home. At Guarani ceremonies in Paraguay, shamans perform prayers in the form of a sacred dance to the rhythm of the beating (with the tacuara) of […]
Women as the true guardians of life and land
In Latin America, not a day goes by without communities and territories being stripped of their assets to incorporate them as commodities in the markets. The aggressiveness of these systems imposes itself with asymmetric relationships based on inequality of power and abuse. This cold logic materializes in mining concessions, in the extraction of hydrocarbons, in […]