NE India school celebrates Don Bosco with environment exhibition

A Catholic school in extreme north-east India celebrated the feast of Don Bosco on Thursday with an exhibition to promote and strengthen friendship with the created world.

Peace with nature

The Light of the World School (LWS) in Miao Diocese in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh organized the exhibition on the theme, ‘Peace with Nature’ on the occasion of the Jan. 31 feast of Don Bosco.

The paintings and models the LWS students prepared for the exhibition focused on the care and appreciation of nature and on living in peace with it. Green energy, windmill, recycling, carpooling , forestation, and kitchen gardening models drew much attention of the audience.

The children also held placards with themes like ‘Be a part of the solution, not part of the pollution’ and ‘Trees are the poems that the earth writes upon the sky’ at the entrance of the expo to send out a strong message.

St. John Bosco, popularly known as Don Bosco, is a 19 ^th century apostle of youth who founded the men’s religious congregation of the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB) that has a strong presence in the north-eastern states of India.  

Explaining the theme of the exhibition to the parents, the School Headmistress, Sr. Rose MSMHC, said that the recent natural calamities point to the lack of love for nature. “Human civilization is rooted in the eco-system and our actions have direct impact on them”, she said.

Green bishop

The school patron and the chief guest, Salesian Bishop George Pallipparambil of Miao appreciated the children for choosing such a relevant theme. Echoing the words of Pope Francis in his 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si” on the care of our common home, the bishop said the fate of our tomorrow depends on what we do with the nature today.  

He said we are not masters but stewards and each one of us has a responsibility to care for creation, the gift of God.

Bishop Pallipparambil has been encouraging all in his diocese to plant trees and to protect and promote the environment. Under his initiative, Miao Diocese earned praise for the novelty of greeting the guests with saplings instead of the customary flower bouquet at every function from 2013.    

Exhibition organizer, Bablu Gogoi hopes the show will lead the students and parents to develop a strong friendship with nature.   (Source: Miao Diocese)