Archbishop Lawrence Subrato Howlader of Chittagong inaugurates the Season of Creation, a year-long campaign, in Cox’s Bazar Rohingya camp on Sept. 9. (Photo: Caritas Cox’s Bazar)
To mark the Season of Creation and the 50th anniversary of Caritas Bangladesh, the Catholic charity inaugurated a campaign to plant 50,000 trees in Rohingya camps and host communities.
Archbishop Lawrence Subrato Howlader of Chittagong launched the year-long campaign in the Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar on Sept. 9.
“On the occasion of the Season of Creation and the 50th anniversary of Caritas Bangladesh, the Church and Caritas will jointly plant trees in the Rohingya camp and host communities within this one year,” Immanuel Chayan Biswas, head of operations of Caritas Bangladesh’s emergency response program in Cox’s Bazar, told UCA News.
“With the support of the Church, Caritas Bangladesh has taken the initiative to plant trees and conduct activities in the camp by eliminating as much plastic as possible. We have formed groups in the Rohingya camp and host community to take care of the trees.”
Abdul Rafique, a 28-year-old Rohingya from Kutupalong camp, said he was not familiar with the plantation program but thought it was a very good initiative.
“There are no trees in the camp and we continue to struggle with the heat of the sun, landslides and other natural disasters. If there are trees here, then we can at least survive all these woes,” Rafique told UCA News.
The Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh inaugurated the Season of Creation (Sept. 1 to Oct. 4) with prayers for creation.
Father Liton Hubert Gomes, secretary of the Justice and Peace Commission, requested all to share and participate in the prayers and called on all Catholic organizations to pray during this year-long program whose main theme is “Restoring Our Common Home.”
Credit: Source link
