Cleaning up 300 metres of Lena riverbank in Siberia

By Fr. Peter Lorenc, SDB (SLK province)

Yakutsk-Autonomous Republic of Sakcha,Russian Federation, 14 September 2020 -- Just like last year, also in this special Laudato Si Year (2020-2021) we managed to participate in the environmental initiative "Let's pay tribute to the River Lena". On Saturday morning (Sept 12) it seemed that nothing would happen, because the rain had started. But the organizers could not be discouraged. It was already clear by the agreed starting time, so we could start.

We cleaned the banks of the River Lena of garbage. People like to come here to relax, but unfortunately they leave a lot of garbage behind. The group of enthusiastic volunteers decided to make a piece of nature more beautiful and thus give a good signal to the wider society. Most of them were young people and together there were about twenty of us. It was very rewarding to help with this initiative and put your hand to the work. Being open to cooperation is a good way to be close to the local population and thus bear witness to your life.

One of the participants shared on her FB:

Look at how much garbage we collected! There was sooo much work. Relaxing citizens leave behind the mountains of waste. Horror, how much dirt, bottles, plastic and all sorts of rubbish. And why? Is it difficult to take a package of containers and other nonsense, especially since most come to a picnic by car. Well, the environmental education of many ′′ people ′′ is limping. But we hope that our actions will help raise the general level of consciousness. And of course, protect our nature from waste.

A huge thank you to the company ECOSETI, that helped for free in garbage removal! Thanks from the heart to the printing company 'Colour' for providing free banners! And of course, we give thanks also to the Catholic parish of Yakutsk!"

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