Br Paul Noonan Formation Centre, Tamale: Taking Earth hour to the next level

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Taking Earth hour to the next level - Way to go Delhi!!

The Delhi Government has proposed to hold an Earth Hour on the last working day of every month urgings residents to switch off non-essential lights to save power on the lines of the recently held global campaign. "The Earth Hour will continue. All lights in government buildings should be switched off at 8.30 pm on the last working day of the month for an hour," Delhi government's environment secretary J K Dadoo said. The proposal has been given the go-ahead by chief minister Sheila Dikshit, Dadoo said.

"It is an important concept and we will get support from the people of Delhi just as we did for the global campaign," Dadoo added. According to officials, Delhi managed to save a whopping 10,000 MW of power. The rainy evening had also attributed to power cuts but a major chunk of the saving was thanks to Earth Hour. The monthly affair could save up to 100 MW of power every month.

"Like what we had done for the March 28 campaign, we will communicate with 2,000 residents welfare associations (RWAs), with 2,000 students in school ecological clubs and market associations as well," Dadoo said. "We have also asked the Archaeological Survey of India to switch off the lights at the national monuments like India Gate and Humayun Tomb during the time," Dadoo added.

So will it work?

"After the success of March 28, I think it is possible. Do not underestimate the will of 2,000 RWAs and thousands of people," Dadoo stressed.

Ravi Singh of the WWF-India lauded the Delhi government's proposal. "The Delhi government's action shows that positive voluntary action by citizens can lead to good things for larger benefits for environment. Secondly, I am sure that if Delhi takes the lead then other cities and states are likely to follow and can be pursued," Singh said.

The global campaign to save energy emerged at a crucial time, months ahead of the Copenhagen climate change summit. Singh said the government's role now is even more pressing than ever. "The one billion people in India endorsed the Earth Hour campaign that says something significant about how the issue of climate is perceived here," Singh added

(Taken from the Times of India, 2nd April 2009.... hope this is no April Fool's Joke!!)

I hope other cities follow suit soon!!!

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What do we want this novitiate to be?

There is a saying that goes something like this: “If we don’t do what we believe in, then we’ll end up believing in what we do”. Without a vision that is authentic and alive to guide our actions, then we can settle for rationalizing the status quo or what is convenient and comfortable.
One of the first things the new team in Tamale did was to spend time beginning to articulate its vision of a novitiate beyond the basics laid down in our Constitutions. Here are some elements of what we came up with:
Novitiate is a journey, a process that involves KNOWING, EXPERIENCING and CHOOSING.
It is an INITIATION into Christian Brother religious life, so a “rite of passage” into a new identity, a time of learning and testing.
Novitiate confronts the novices with the Brother’s vocation as a call to brotherly solidarity and community, not to privilege, status and security.
It involves exploration of the basic values of faith and vocation, and the challenge to embrace these out of personal conviction and free choice.
Novitiate means understanding that a religious vocation makes a claim on the whole of the person and his life, including his inner life, his relationships and his professional activity (ministry). Furthermore, it challenges the novice to see the dynamic inter-relationship of these areas and to learn what their integration means.
Novitiate is a time of DISCERNMENT. The novice learns more deeply who he is, and what this Christian Brother life is. There is a constant back-and-forth movement between these two poles as an answer is sought to the question, “Is this where I am meant to be? Is this the life that will enable me to find my true self in God?”