Over the weekend, our global associate in the Philippines, Dr. Susana Anayatin celebrated Earth Day 2015 by leading a series of trainings on Environmental Protection and Cultural Sensitivity to over 129 soldiers of the 61D Division Training School, Philippine Army. The partnership that Susana has created with this Division is key to ongoing efforts in Mindanao to bring clean water to schools and communities most needing infrastructure improvements. Find out more on how they are doing this at our info page here.
Susana has a long history of being a strong proponent of environmental causes in the southern Philippines and it bears repeating her stance on why Earth Day should be a rallying cry to everyone to take action:
For me, Earth Day is a time to reflect on the condition of the planet as a result of human activities. We know that the scientific evidence reveals that our ecosystem is in a very critical situation - the shortage of food and water, rising air pollution, and global climate change are very real and alarming. Threats on human survival and other forms of creatures have hastened our need to act.
Mitigating plans and actions must be taken by all nations and people to save Mother Earth. It is VERY URGENT. We can start with education, which will play a great role to instituting long term solutions.
As part of our project work in restoring water supplies to primary schools in the southern Philippines, we have proposed to make environmental education part of the curriculum so that students and their teachers are more aware of the inter-relationship between human beings and their environment as a source for not just water, but also food, air, shelter and other basic needs.
The necessary actions to protect the environment, such as tree planting, proper waste management and enforcement of policies and laws should also be part of school curriculum - and the Goldin Institute Philippines continues to play a part in making this a priority.
As my team and I work on the ground in trying to bring safe drinking water to the schools of Maguindano, I become more aware that the work cannot be done without additional government advocacy in partnership with civil society and business sectors. These must be strengthened here in the Philippines, but I imagine that it is the same for all regions, whether it is Chicago or the developing world.
There are many planets in the universe but only one which sustains human life ... Let us love and respect mother earth so that future life will not be compromised."
- Dr. Susana Anayatin
We are proud to continue to partner with Susana and the on-the-ground grassroots efforts to improve the environment in her part of the world. We invite you to learn more and become more involved!
