Sister parishes aim to protect the environment

Sometimes, establishing a sister-parish relationship with Catholics in the developing world means milking a goat.

"My aim wasn't that great," admitted David Rowell, who just came back from a ten-day trip to Panama, meeting Maryknoll sisters in the country's Darien province and the people they serve.

Mr. Rowell traveled with nine other parishioners of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Albany and his wife, Janice, who is pastor of Scotia Methodist Church.

Agriculture

During the visit, the group toured a farm where about 15 families have formed a cooperative to promote organic farming and save Panama's tropical rainforest.

Mr. Rowell and others were encouraged to try their hands at milking goats and cows, picking coffee beans, and making soap from medicinal plants.

"They loved it!" he said of his fellow travelers, noting that St. Vincent's chose the Maryknoll Mission Zone of Santa Fe in Darien as its sister "parish" because of a common interest in protecting the environment.

Twins

The relationship began in 2006. Sister Pat Boland, a Maryknoll sister and parishioner of St. Vincent's, suggested Panama as a country where Albany Catholics could form a sister-parish relationship because she'd previously served there.

Parishioners liked the "spirituality associated with" rainforests and organic farming, said Mr. Rowell, so they contacted the Maryknollers in Panama and began to educate themselves about the country's issues.

Over the next year, St. Vincent's began using Spanish hymns at Masses, and passed out prayer cards in Spanish and English to accustom parishioners to thinking about their Panamanian peers.

Visitors

Last summer, Maryknoll Sister Jocelyn "Joji" Fenix came to Albany from the mission zone and spoke on the threats to its inhabitants and environment (search for her name at www.evangelist.org to read an article about her visit).

There are about 30 parishes in the zone; Darien Province has a population of approximately 40,000.

As Panama headed into its dry season this year, Mr. Rowell recalled, the time seemed right for St. Vincent's parishioners to "see what was happening down there" by making a visit themselves.

Aside from touring the farm, he said, the Albany Catholics worshipped at a Darien parish, including attending Ash Wednesday services.

Organic farm

Meeting a 60-year-old great-grandmother named Celsa Grajales made a great impact on the group. Mr. Rowell explained that "she feels passionate about organic farming."

She owned land near the Pan-American Highway; its construction in the 1970s had led to much clear-cutting of the rainforest, but Mrs. Grajales had "allowed the land to heal."

She had also made three trails into the rejuvenated rainforest so visitors could see what it would look like if natives stopped their slash-and-burn agriculture.

Mr. Rowell described walking to the farm through such land and getting chills at hearing both trees being cut down nearby and the screams of howler monkeys losing their habitat. On the other hand, he said, the group was delighted to traverse Mrs. Grajales' land and see monkeys for themselves; they even spotted a horned owl in the rainforest.

Preservation

The organic farm families "feel they're in the minority" for their struggle to preserve the environment, Mr. Rowell learned.

The Albany group came home with several goals in mind for furthering their sister-parish relationship:

* making connections between catechists from the two countries;

* offering advice from parishioners with engineering expertise on preventing erosion around an important bridge in Darien, which often occurs during the rainy season;

* approaching organizations that market fair-trade products (for example, Catholic Relief Services) about including the farmers' medicinal soaps in their catalogs; and

* writing a draft proposal to Heifer International, a charity focused on providing animals to people in developing countries to help them become more financially secure. The organization operates in many countries, but not yet in Panama.

Making connections

"Right now, we want to educate the parish -- to show the pictures and tell the stories," Mr. Rowell added.

Personally, he said, just seeing the inch-wide cracks in the dry land of Panama made him realize how fragile the rainforest's base is.

"This is a precious resource," he realized -- and was more impressed with the "incredible commitment" of the Maryknollers and farmers to protect it.

"The spirituality there is that there's no distinction between the people and the environment," he stated.

(02/21/08) [[In-content Ad]]