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October 1, 2016 we went to Silang, Cavite specifically at the Center for Ecozoic Living and Learning or best known as CELL. So here’s a little background of cell. In January 1999, sine Columbian Missionaries in partnership with friends opened the Center for Ecozoic Living and learning or CELL. The vision to open a center was inspired initially by the Columbian Missionary Society which in their 1988 General Assembly reflected on their experience of solidarity of the poor. They came to starlight insight: the system that denies the poor a livelihood is also a system that is destroying the Earth, and therefore denies them the possibility of ever having a livelihood. : The poor," the Assembly concluded, "Required of those in solidarity with them a dedication to saving the source of their livelihood, the Earth." CELL is located in a 1.2 hectare land that the Noel Mondejar Foundation provided rent-free for 15 years. The dynamism and hard word of the founders of CELL continue to create a largely self-sufficient Ecozoic farm comprising a home farm, working woodlands, productive gardens, and restful grounds. The vision of CELL is: "A world where humans live in harmony with the rest of Creation through living in harmony with one another in a just society" while the mission of CELL is " To contribute to the Great Work, whereby humans learn to move from a stance of destroyer of the Earth Community to astance that is mutually" enhancing. The goal of cell is to operate a spirituality center that will propagate the New Story of Creation as a means of alerting the human to the current ecological and social crisis and awaken in them a vision that will give a direction for action at the present moment in history.
It was really fun seeing a new and greener environment aside from St. Theresa’s College QC, our school. I really appreciate places like this because it helps me relax and just forget about reality for a little bit. When we arrived at the place we went to a hut and placed our bags at an outdoor place. We had our orientation held Kuya Renato and we had a prayer ritual before seeing the rest of CELL..
After the having the ritual, discussing the house rules, etc. we went outside and explored the rest of cell. We tasted different plants, one of these is the eucalyptus plant. It was my first time to taste the actual eucalyptus mint leaves. W e also ate some rambutan and cacao that was freshly harvested by Kuya Benny.
While exploring the place we saw rabbits and worms from the vermicompost.
As our last activity, we planted mint leaves. It was really a great experience for all of us and I cant wait to comeback.
Here’s a picture of the Environmental Education class together with our teachers, Kuya Renato and Kuya Benny.
Nature of CELL as NGO…
Center for Ecozoic Living and Learning (CELL) is a NGO or a Non- governmental association becauseit is a not-for-profit organization that is independent from states and international governmental organizations. It is usually funded by donations but some avoid formal funding altogether and are run primarily by volunteers. NGOs are highly diverse groups of organizations engaged in a wide range of activities, and take different forms in different parts of the world. Some may have charitable status, while others may be registered for tax exemption based on recognition of social purposes. Others may be fronts for political, religious, or other interests.
Sustainable environment practices of cell
1.Using the poop of the humans to produce methane (biodigester)
2.Recycling things that can be recycled
3.Vermicomposting- Vermicompost consists mostly of worm casts (poop) plus some decayed organic matter. In ideal conditions worms can eat at least their own weight of organic matter in a day. In fact it seems they don't actually eat it -- they consume it, sure enough, but what they derive their nourishment from is all the micro-organisms that are really eating it. And yet -mystery! -their casts contain eight times as many micro-organisms as their feed! And these are the micro-organisms that best favour healthy plant growth. And the casts don't contain any disease pathogens -- pathogenic bacteria are reliably killed in the worms' gut. This is one of the great benefits of vermicomposting.
Awakening the dreamer...
As the new generation we seem to focus more on technology instead of appreciating the beauty of nature and make the most out of it. Instead of living the life outside the techy world we connect ourselves through social media and ignore the greater things outside.
We need to change our ways and appreciate the beauty around us. God did not make our beautiful surroundings just for nothing. He expects that we the new generation continue to nurture and develop the creation he created for us. The next generations should see how nature is perfectly made.
