Ryan Dagur
Dircia Sarmento Belo often thinks back to her teens when she used to pass through a rainforest when going to her mother’s hometown in Aileu, Timor-Leste, a highland area 47 kilometres southwest of the capital, Dili.
“I don’t know why but my heart always melts when I’m in the forest. The breeze, the fresh air, the birds singing, always make me think how beautiful nature is,” she said.
Happiness while growing up in the country’s second-largest city, Baucau, 122 kilometres east of Dili, was being able to go to the river to swim and catch fish and find shrimps and crabs in paddy fields.
Alas, these activities are becoming increasingly more difficult for children to experience these days, the 26-year-old says.
That’s because “the river has vanished, the water has dried up and it’s not easy to predict the weather anymore.”
She said Timor-Leste—with a population of 1.45 million—is being seriously impacted by climate change.
“Around 70 per cent of Timorese live in rural areas with little infrastructure and are enduring unpredictable weather patterns, and the impact of more intense wet seasons and longer dry seasons,” Dircia explained.
“Their lives and livelihoods are significantly affected by climate-related events such as drought, erosion, floods and rising sea levels,” she said.
She pointed to inappropriate and irresponsible waste disposal management also having a negative impact on the environment as well as triggering health issues. That encouraged Dircia to take action and work for climate justice.
She believes that awareness of the impact of climate change is not yet strong among the Timorese, although the country has already been on the receiving end of its negative effects, including the flash floods and landslides on Easter Sunday due to Tropical Cyclone Seroja, which caused the worst flooding in 40 years, killing 45 people and affecting more than 30,000 households
She said she draws her inspiration from Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ ground breaking 2015 encyclical on the environment, which she said has given her a new perspective on the issue.
Dircia has been involved in various environmental programmes thanks to her previous work with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Timor-Leste as an environmental consultant training young people, mentoring and conducting door-to-door awareness campaigns.
However, through these activities “I learned about environmental issues and natural resources management from a scientific perspective only,” Dircia, who completed her bachelor’s degree in environmental management and planning at Lincoln University in New Zealand in 2018, said.
“But Laudato Si’ is giving me the opportunity to see, judge and take action from a Catholic perspective,” she said.
Her interest in the encyclical led her to take a course to become a Laudato Si’ animator in a project initiated by the Catholic Climate Change Movement to encourage local leaders around the world to spread its messages.
Dircia, who is also co-founded the Timorese Youth Initiative for Development, was later listed as the first Laudato Si’ animator from Timor-Leste.
She believes that awareness of the impact of climate change is not yet strong among the Timorese, although the country has already been on the receiving end of its negative effects, including the flash floods and landslides on Easter Sunday due to Tropical Cyclone Seroja, which caused the worst flooding in 40 years, killing 45 people and affecting more than 30,000 households.
Dircia tries to spread awareness through various means, including social media such as Facebook and YouTube.
“I want to encourage them to reflect on how climate change has been affecting us, as I believe that the more they understand about climate change, the more they care and take action,” she said.
During this year’s Laudato Si’ Week from May 16 to 25, lockdown restrictions meant they organised a series of webinars where animators shared their experiences on how they created an impact at community level and spread the encyclical’s messages
Her efforts have attracted the attention of at least 50 other young people who have also become Laudato Si’ animators.
Hirondina Ribeiro Gonçalves, a 22-year-old student at the National University of Timor-Leste, said she only found out about Laudato Si’ last year from Dircia’s Facebook page before taking course to become an animator.
“From Laudato Si’ I learned how to respect our common home. As the encyclical says, we are indeed connected,” she said.
To further spread the spirit of Laudato Si’ at the grassroots level, the animators have organised social activities.
Last year they held waste management socialisation and recycling activities in Camea Village, St. Peter’s High School and Motael Parish Church in the Archdiocese of Dili.
“Currently, the team is working on a small project in tackling a water shortage and pollution in a rural area of Dili,” Dircia said.
During this year’s Laudato Si’ Week from May 16 to 25, lockdown restrictions meant they organised a series of webinars where animators shared their experiences on how they created an impact at community level and spread the encyclical’s messages.
Salesian Father Placido Teofilo Freitas, who spoke at one of the webinars, said he was really impressed and amazed by the enthusiasm of Dircia and her colleagues.
“The fact that this group emerged from the bottom, from the youth’s own initiative and not from the top of the Church hierarchy, shows that Laudato Si’ touches and answers the aspirations of Timor-Leste’s youth,” he said, adding that their initiative shows that Timor-Leste’s young people are not a passive generation ignorant of social and ecclesiastical issues
“The fact that this group emerged from the bottom, from the youth’s own initiative and not from the top of the Church hierarchy, shows that Laudato Si’ touches and answers the aspirations of Timor-Leste’s youth,” he said, adding that their initiative shows that Timor-Leste’s young people are not a passive generation ignorant of social and ecclesiastical issues.
“They are able to take the initiative and are determined to fight for what is right, fair and beautiful,” he said.
The priest, who is finishing his doctoral studies at Salesian Pontifical University in Rome, said the activities they carried out were quite comprehensive, with a combination of spiritual activities such as praying the rosary together every week and social service activities.
He hopes they will continue to raise public awareness of the importance of maintaining our common home and can get support from political and church institutions.
Father Freitas also hopes that Laudato Si’ can be a guide for the government of Timor-Leste in making policies aimed at stimulating economic growth and social welfare without damaging the environment.
Dircia realises that spreading the environmental message is a long process as it is not only unfamiliar to the people of Timor-Leste but also among Church people.
“Most churches across the country never talk about this topic or even have any concern for environmental issues,” she said, expressing her sadness at seeing a lot of rubbish scattered around a church after a Mass.
“It’s even worse during special celebrations such as Christmas and Easter,” she said.
“Therefore, through Laudato Si’ Animators Timor-Leste, we aim to spread the message and encourage churches to start implementing Laudato Si’ in pastoral activities,” Dircia added.
As a small country usually greatly affected by man-made disasters, she said, “It’s important for Timorese to understand the relationship between God and his creatures,” adding, “This includes listening to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor, and understanding our role in protecting God’s creation.” UCAN
