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By the time I enter the grounds of the Senior High Building, I know my life would change bigtime. I am aware that I’ll be encountering new and familiar faces, new teachers, learn new subjects and even experience a new environment. When our adviser asked about what elective or cognate we will be taking up this semester, I didn’t even think twice and wrote “Advanced Environmental Education”. Considering that I took it as an elective during the 10th grade and it was really fun, convivial and heuristic. In honesty, we were not expecting to have an “Outbound” this semester due to our schedule and amount of schoolworks we need to accomplish. That’s why, when I found out about it and was confirmed by our teacher, Ms. Reyes, I was really looking forward to our Outbound and I really can’t wait to discover more things about that place.
So, last October 1, 2016 our class together with our science teachers went to CELL that is located in Silang, Cavite, Philippines. CELL or also known as the Center for Ecozoic Living and Learning is a Non-government Organization and Eco-spirituality Center that uses the creation as an aid in admonishing us humans about the different ecological and social crisis we are experiencing, and also evoking us to have a vision in taking action at the present moment in history. This center has lived with a vision of “A world where humans live in harmony with the rest of Creation through living in harmony with one another in a just society.” and also has a mission of converting us humans from being an eradicator of the environment to a contributor of environment’s well being. Moreover, CELL’s geography and design are based on the philosophy of design that is known as Permaculture. They keep in mind that the environment should be balanced hence, every creature has its own place. In addition, they also promote Ecozoic living, Biodiversity, Organic Farming, Zero-Waste Management, Renewable Energy, and Native Architecture.
One of the beautiful views in CELL-- cabbages surrounding the "wild chili" or siling pula in the middle
When we arrived at the place you will immediately smell and feel the freshness and the true essence of a healthy environment. You will immediately notice the difference of this place in the city. In that, instead of seeing smoke and hear honks of vehicles when you get out of the car, you will see grass and hear birds chirping--It’s really a new environment and a new perspective of beauty that we are capable of having just in front of us. Before our tour starts, we had a ritual about the four elements which is the fire, air, water and earth, then the four directions which is the north, east, south, and west.
During the ritual of the four elements and four directions
During our discussion with Kuya Bennie in Brendan Hall
Then, we had a short introduction about the history of CELL and what is it all about. Everything was facilitated by Kuya Bennie and Kuya Renato. We we’re able to discuss a lot of things and it’s surprising that we are able to discover new things in such a small period of time. They thought us how they segregate thair wastes and at the end of the year they would sell them to a junk shop and the money collected from it woulld be donated to a public school near CELL. Furthermore, one of the things that strike me the most is the Biodigester. We found out that all of the toilets there are connected in one septic tank since, a biodigester is where human wastes are converted to methane gas.
Location of the Biodigester
Fire produced by the Biodigester-- it was demonstrated by Kuya Renato
There are different plants there that you won’t be able to see in the urban areas and the city. Kuya Bennie and Kuya Renato allowed us to have a taste of the herbs available there such as eucalyptus and peppermint. We are able to interact with some animals there too such as native chickens, birds, turkeys, and even rabbits. Speaking of rabbits, Kuya Bennie said that it’s rare to see red-eyed rabbits that’s why they take really good care of them. Moreover, they also have their small and simple aquaponics. Where there are soilless growing plants and fishes in one integrated system.
Kuya Bennie showing us how the Aquaponics work
An example of soilless plants
So after the long tour and discussion, we had our synthesis together with our science teachers. There are four questions presented to us for us to reflect on:
- Who are we as the new generation?
- Where are we now?
- What has to change in our generation?
- What do we do now to create a just and sustainable future?
By these questions, we have realized that we are in the time that technology has a big role in our lives. The fast evolution of technology and our dependence on it is very evident, that in a way we forget our roles as the stewards of God’s creation. We are pre-occupied of the things that we need to do that we forget the environment. Our generation is known for making plans, but in the end we forget to put action to it.
As part of this generation, I have a voice to spread awareness and to take a stand for the environment. The changes in the environment is evident nowadays especially in our country. We experience intense El Nino and it markedly affected everyone. Our water resources decreased and because of that we need to conserve water, recycle water and even harvest rainwater. With this, we really need to take action about it immediately-- since it’s immensely affecting us, our surroundings and even our everyday activities. Our environment is changing as the years pass by and not everyone is aware of it. Responding to climate change and spreading the knowledge about the grievous state of our environment may lessen the "human activities" that contribute to climate change and may improve the state of our environment. As citizen of my country and a protector of our Earth, I'll start with conserving energy at home and at school, segregating waste, lessen the waste I produce, raise awareness in social media about the causes and impacts of climate change or sharing my knowledge to people about the things I know about climate change, and even teaching other people on how to lessen their contribution of carbon emission to the environment because I truly and completely believe that even the smallest and simplest actions we do can make a big difference in our environment.
We ended our outbound with a prayer and a ritual where we will touch the soil with our own hands for us to really feel the elements of the Earth. Also, together with our teachers we planted our own eucalyptus as a contribute. This outbound is an eye opening and very educational for me that in a way that it's nice to know that there's a serene place within this chaotic world. This shows that there's still hope for making our home a better place! On to the next adventure again...
During the touching of the soil
Eucalyptus that we planted before ending our adventure
