Salesian Ceferino Namuncurá School part of Don Bosco Green Alliance

(MissionNewswire) The Salesian Ceferino Namuncurá School in Argentina takes an active part in the Don Bosco Green Alliance, an international Salesian movement that contributes to global environmental action, thought and policy. One of the initiatives of the school’s Eco Escuela-Huerta Escolar project is a composting project facilitated by seventh-grade students.

Students learn about the material cycle, environmental responsibility, teamwork and the satisfaction of producing something with their own hands. During the 2024 school year, youth embarked on this mission by learning all they could about composting. They researched, read, shared ideas and developed texts to clearly explain what composting is, how it is done and why it is so valuable for the planet. They also created posters and drawings to teach younger students the details of this natural process.

With the entire school community, special days were organized for the other grades to bring in clean organic waste such as fruit and vegetable peels, used grass, paper napkins, among other items. The seventh-grade students were in charge of collecting and taking them to the compost bin.

The materials are placed in alternating bins labeled “green” (wet, such as fruit scraps) and “brown” (dry, such as leaves or clean cardboard). The compost is left to rest, stirred from time to time to oxygenate and watered carefully.

A Salesian noted, “This year, with the same hope and joy, a new team has begun to prepare. They are studying, informing themselves and are ready to continue with this beautiful task. Because as Don Bosco used to say, ‘education is a matter of the heart’, taking care of the planet is also a matter of the heart.”

More than a quarter of the people in Argentina live in conditions of poverty with no formal employment and poor-quality education, according to the World Bank. The country’s high school dropout rate is close to 37% and youth account for a third of those unemployed. Almost 12% of children aged 5-17 are working instead of being in school and 20% need government assistance. Many face malnutrition, a lack of clean water and sewage, and inadequate housing.

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Sources:

Photo courtesy of Don Bosco Green Alliance

Don Bosco Green Alliance – Composting to Transform: Caring for the Common Home from the Classroom

Salesian Missions – Argentina

World Bank – Argentina