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The seeds of our future
Cell's Entrance
As part of the Advance environmental education class, we were given the opportunity last Oct 1,2016 to go to Cavite and visit CELL. Now what comes into your mind when you hear CELL, well it stands for Center for Ecozoic Living and learning it is a quiet and peaceful place where everybody is welcome to visit. Actually, when I first discovered that we were going to CELL I really had no clue about the place, I didn’t know what the place looked liked and I didn’t know what to expect. So the day before we were going to CELL I was quite reluctant in going because I thought I wouldn’t have fun. But as the next day passed I somehow became excited of what cell was in store for my fellow classmates and me. I began to become curious especially when our teacher said that we can’t kill anything there even mosquitoes, insects and ants. I started to wonder what activities we would do when we get there.
When we arrived at CELL we were fascinated by the peaceful and calm environment around us, we were welcomed by chirping birds and fresh air.
Cell's Entrance
As we walked by the gravel pathway and entered CELL I was amazed of what I saw. The covered pathway had different plants wrapped around it, making it seem that you are entering an enchanting forest.
After placing our belongings in one place, we moved to a house made out of kawayan. When we first sat down we noticed how it seemed so quiet and how one sound can easily be heard even from a far place. We began with an opening ritual which was held by Mang Reynato, this ritual was focused on the four elements and our earth today. After the ritual we were oriented about the practices and activities done in cell. We learned that CELL is a NGO or Non-government Organization, it is an eco-spiritual center. PICTURE A place for restoration of the Planet earth, he explained the meaning of ecozoic which means eco; household/home, zo; zoo/zoa or life and ic; means period of time or era. He elaborated that CELL’s vision is to have “A world where humans live in harmony with the rest of Creation through living in harmony with one another in a just society.” and their goal 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.”
Pathway Entrance to CELL
Kawayan House (Hut)
Orientation
After the orientation we began to start exploring CELL, the first activity that we did was to go to the biodigester, now you may wonder what a biodigester is even I didn’t know what it does, not until CELL introduced it to me.
It is anaerobic digester or a biogas device it’s system includes an enclosed tank wherein waste and organic materials are stored and it has a valve system where the gas is released. In this device bacteria breaks down the wastes and these organic materials are slowly converted to methane gas. This gas can be used to produce direct heat and fire when lighted with a match. I was quite fascinated on how it works and how eco- friendly it was. I also discovered that not only is it a form of renewable energy but it is also a sustainable waste management system. Mang Benny one of the person’s in charge of CELL demonstrated to us how the biodigester works and how it operates.
Discovering the biodegester it made me made me more aware that even in our own home’s, when we incorporate a clean and green lifestyle we could make this a source of renewable energy. Another activity that we did was very interesting for me, they showed us three different kinds of plants which were Eucalyptus Tarragon, Stevia and we were asked to get a leaf then eat it. At first, I was reluctant to even try one leaf because I thought it would be really weird, but after hearing comments from other people that it tastes good I was intrigued of what it actually tastes like, turns out it tasted like mint, soda and the other one tasted very sweet. It was refreshing and thrilling experience. I was glad that I was given the opportunity to do this because not all people have the knowledge that these plants actually tasted like this.
Our next activity was with Mang benny he showed us the cacao tree, he explained how chocolate was made from the seeds of the fruit of the cacao.He also gave us one of the fruits from the tree and yet again it was my first time to see and eat a fresh cacao.
Mang Benny & the cacao tree
Mang benny also showed us the pets that they are taking care of which are bunnies, it was a very thrilling experience especially because they are super adorable. After that we went to the vermicomposting area this is where the wastes of the worms turn to rich and good soil, Like what I have experienced last year in my outbound trip, we went to kahariam farms where we were also were introduced to vermicomposting and it’s processes. I was able to find out that the the soil that is produced through vermicomposting are used in the different plants/crops in CELL that’s why their plants are also considered organic. We were toured around the place where the crops are planted for example chili and cabbage. Then we went to the eco friendly toilet, I found out that with their unusual looking toilet that it was actually good for the environment, it doesn’t use water so the wastes go directly to the septic tank. Their advancement has greatly affected the amount of water that they are consuming. In today’s time we are consuming about 80-100 gallons per day mostly because of flushing the toilet and taking a bath. If we don’t lessen our consumption we may experience water scarcity in the future and this could be the next global issue that we could likely experience in the following years. So I do think that having this innovative type of toilet greatly benefits our environment.
Bunnies in CELL
Worms that are specifically for vermicomposting Vermicomposting area
Small Farm
Farm
Plants in CELL
Eco friendly toilet
Our next stop was the Aquaponics, Mang Benny explained to us how with this type of watering system could profoundly lessen the amount of water that is being used. Aquaponics refers to any system that combines conventional aquaculture with hydroponics in a symbiotic environment. Then we went to the activity of picking rambutan’s from the tree, all of us were so happy when we got the chance to eat the rambutan freshly picked out from the tree.
Rambutan
Finally, the last stop that we made was the old tree, he explained to us that when one of the priest owners died it also somehow took the life of tree. It started to die said Mang Benny he also told us how beautiful and big the tree was back then but because of the unfortunate event, it also started losing it’s beauty. With that our tour ended, after a few time for resting we proceeded back to the bamboo house to synthesize and evaluate. We were asked different questions and were told to share what he have shared in our group. We thought that in order for our sharing to be more creative that we would do a skit. So for the first question who are we as the new generation, we presented how in today’s time we are too focused with the technology that we have. That we are by some means enslaved by technology and this results to us forgetting about the important things around us. We stop thinking about the welfare of our environment. The second question is “where are we now?” I believe that we are in a phase where we are gradually realizing the importance of mother earth to us. It has become evident to us, our destructive ways towards our environment. The effects of our actions toward climate change and the soon to be demise of our mother earth. We in today’s time are becoming more aware that we should not only think of the ways that could benefit us. We should be letting other people realize how their actions greatly affect the situation of our environment today. The third question is “ What has to change in our generation”, I believe that we should open our minds and thoughts about the extreme effects of what climate change and other global issues does to us. We have to change our ways and our habits in order to have a better environment. We should stop thinking only of ourselves & stop being egocentric. The last question is “ What do we do now to create a just and sustainable future” as stewards of mother earth and as a part of the Adv. Environmental Education class we should all take part in making our world a better place to live in. By working hand in hand as a community we could gradually stop the destruction that we are causing. For us to be able to create a just and sustainable future everything or everyone must have equal rights. All of us should not abuse our resources just for us to benefit. Instead we should conserve it and find other ways that are still environmentally friendly. By using renewable resources like what we were able to see in CELL. We can incorporate the use renewable sources of our energy in our lives for example wind, solar, geothermal energy and etc. We should be reminded of what effects our actions does to the well-being of our environment. For us to create a sustainable future we have to stop and prevent these global issues from escalating. Since all of us are interconnected our actions greatly affect the things that we do in our community. We should learn to care for other things and it is important for us to think of other ways on how we could help for the betterment of our environment.
After all the sharing’s we went outside to end our visit with an activity. We were told to gather around and form one big circle. Again we proceeded to do a ritual that was centered about the environment.
Ending Ritual
Plant your own
Plants of the students
After that we were all given one plastic bag wherein we would need to fill each bag with soil that was located in the middle of the circle. We were taught on the steps on how we can plant the herb correctly and this was a truly fun experience. I am glad that I was able to be given this opportunity to go to CELL and have a deeper understanding on how our simple ways of helping our environment could greatly affect the situation of our mother earth. It made me become more aware of my actions towards my surroundings and it encouraged me to make a change for the advancement of the situation of mother earth. To end this blog I would like to remind all of us humans & stewards of God’s creation that we need to take action. That it is better to do something rather to do nothing at all.
