Sisters of Saint Joseph of Annecy

A Novel Initiative

     You are What You Eat

The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul. -- Alfred Austin

The Province of Visakhapatnam under the guidance of Sr. Rose, Provincial Superior and the JPIC team conducted a meeting regarding the implementaion of Human Rights in the Province. The JPIC team after some days of discussions formed an action plan.

The action plan had been divided into 4 categories.

  • Social work: To raise awareness of women’s issues through programmes to be conducted in all the parishes of our diocese. We will share information on organic farming especially kitchen gardens.
  • Medical: To share a clear and vivid understanding on how to care for one’s own health, in all our communities.
  • Educational:To provide Legal Literacy to all children especially focussing on the rights of children in our schools and colleges.
  • Formation: Educating our Sisters on Human Rights. 

The Action Plan’s first step had been taken on 28.12.2020 in the form of a Webinar for all the sisters in the Province on the theme ‘Kitchen Gardens’. All the communities had taken an active participation in the webinar. The webinar was from 5.30pm to 7.pm.

                                           

The webinar began with a welcome address by Sr. Jacintha, who also briefed on the connection between human rights and environment leading into the discussion on kitchen gardens. This was followed by an opening prayer by Sr. Anitha.

               Subsequently, Sr. Rose gave the presidential address explaining the importance of having a kitchen garden in all the communities. She also announced a competition of the kitchen garden in which each community had to submit a Power Point or a video of their kitchen garden by 17- 4 -2021. This challenge encouraged and motivated all the communities.

         Sr. Deepa one of the resource persons and our best kitchen gardener then shared her experience on the importance of the organic kitchen garden and the spiritual and psychological benefits of it. This was followed by the speaker of the day Sr. Anne, who demonstrated homemade organic and chemical fertilizers. All were spellbound by their informative and enlightening talks.

The webinar was concluded by a vote of thanks by Sr. Sangeetha.