LEBANON
Cte Saint Vincent de Paul Baskinta: we cannot help but kneel before God’s life-giving creation.
Echo Project
“Life is a precious gift we have received from our Creator, and our duty is to care for this rare jewel with gratitude and responsibility.”
Dalai Lama.
Together, we protect our Life!
It is with this slogan that the General Secretariat of Besançon Schools in Lebanon has chosen to raise awareness among pupils throughout the 2023-2024 school year.
And to put this slogan into practice, the kindergarten of the Besançon – Baabda School of the Sisters of Charity, directed by principal Sister Wafaa Rached, Sandra Bader, head of the maternal cycle, and Janine Saadé, cycle teacher, has entered into a partnership with the Go Green environnement association and its president, Raed Al-Rayes.
On September 19, 2023, the kindergarten building was equipped with colored containers for the separate collection of paper, cardboard and plastic. An explanatory environmental booklet was also prepared and sent electronically to each family, inviting them to participate in this initiative.
But the school does not stop there. It is currently working on creating children’s toys with wheels of different colors, which will be placed in the playground. This is serious and challenging work, with the goal of sending a message of awareness and preparedness to future generations. We must respect our planet, our guardian. That is why the partnership with the Go Green Environmental Society is so important.
“The Go Green Environmental Society is so valuable. Together, with God’s help and strong cooperation, we are committed to caring for our environment. Join us in this great initiative and let’s protect our planet, because it is beautiful and deserves to be preserved.”
From Jeanne Antide baabda school in Lebanon, comes the following message:
“Hello, I would like to encourage you to sort your waste and dispose of it in the recycling bins that Besancon Baabda Preschool has already started using. Recycling is a simple but essential way to preserve our planet. By recycling you help reduce pollution, conserve natural resources and protect biodiversity”.
An online meeting led by sister Mirna Farah, general coordinator of the International Integral Ecology Workshop, with the six members of the Lebanese national team was held on Wednesday, September 13, 2023. The objectives of the meeting were to
- To explain the concept of “integral ecology” and the mission of a national representative.
- raise awareness of the danger to our “common home.”
- To explain the dimensions of ecological conversion and lifestyle change.
At the end of the meeting it was agreed that each member should diagnose the needs of their local area.
“Praise to you, my Lord, for Sister Mother Earth, who bears and nourishes us, who produces a diversity of fruits, with flowers and diaphanous herbs.” (St. Francis of Assisi)
As part of our educational project entitled “Taking Care”, and to conclude the creation period, a figure stood out before us: St. Francis of Assisi, patron of ecology, who walked the streets preaching humility, peace and love.
On Thursday, Oct. 12, sisters, teachers and pupils from the complementary and technical classes went to Mr. Ghanem’s large park. There, in this natural cathedral, our hymns mingled with the songs of the birds to raise a single “Laudato Si’.”
During the offertory procession, we brought a flowering plant, apples, a rabbit and birds to the altar as symbols of our commitment to safeguard our “common home.”
We experienced an exceptional moment of praise and prayer and with His Holiness Pope Francis we prayed, “O God, One and Triune, sublime community of infinite love, teach us to contemplate you in the beauty of the universe, where everything speaks to us of you“. (LS246)
