- SUNDAY - 1st September 2002

- SUMMING UP THE SUMMIT. WHO WON?

To whom it may concern. Does the summit matter?

…… In as far as people matter, or the planet matters, which in fact means all of us, yes it does.

The WSSD is formally only about to start but already an enormous amount of work has been done. An enormous of amount of paper has been produced and used – not always recycled paper, but then even recycling paper uses valuable energy which may or may not be wasteful depending on one’s perspective and agenda.

The debates or on.

Debate about poverty and a consumer society.

Debate about population, human rights, women’s issues, reproductive rights, land rights, job rights.

And while many people I have spoken to, as an accredited media person, agree that the family as a resource in sustainability does matter it is conspicuous by its absence on almost every agenda.

I have so far been exposed to a range of views and agendas and have learned a lot, accepted and adopted some ideas and left others that seem too one-sided, extreme or esoteric.

I have reflected on the fact that we human beings are part of a wider family, not only a human family but a natural created order. On top of that we live in a structured world that we have constructed, are deconstructing and “destructing” at an alarming rate.

Language is a powerful resource, so is the media and so are we humans.

I still believe that family structures in a variety of forms matter very powerfully to how a future society will look and operate.

So I make no excuses for continuing to lobby for and promote the concept of STABLE FAMILIES FOR A STABLE SOCIETY AND A STABLE ENVIRONMENT.

“The animals of Africa teach us a thing or two

they’ve learned in their indabas that life’s not just a zoo.

See them gather around the table.

Can they make the world more stable?”

Animals do not have the capacity that we humans have to build or destroy.

We have the life task of knowing, loving and serving God in and through one another too.

It is clear that whether the questions are economic or social the answers to the dilemmas facing the global society are moral ones, questions of justice, of individual and communal moral choices by and for everyone. The affluent and more wasteful, less sustainable lifestyles of the North (we are not speaking of the West any more) produce and use the bulk of the earth’s resources often from raw materials of the South, and must be willing to sacrifice. But then can they rightly ask “why do the countries of the south, who contain but cannot support most of the poor, continue to breed indiscriminately, producing families that they cannot sustain and continuing through HIV/AIDS to pose one of the greatest social and economic dilemmas?”

In the end each individual, each family and community must answer the questions for themselves. Are we being responsible to God and one another?

Because if spirituality and God do not feature on what grounds do I consider myself my brother or sister’s keeper? And the answer to the question “what will motivate and inspire us all to make the changes demanded?” was HOPE.

So as the World Summit for Sustainable Development is about to start in Johannesburg, South Africa I invite all readers to join in praying earnestly for that hope and a real experience of joy

for the whole interconnected family of all created matter,

the human family - for all kinds of families undergoing all kinds of stresses, poverty, joblessless, homelessness, lack of trust and commitment,

for couples preparing for or working on their marriage, those who have given up or lost spouses,

for children and orphans,

for our leaders and educators who guide and direct.

But it can be very abstract to pray for global matters, so in the meantime I pray for just the right amount of wind so that MARFAM’s Kite Flying Family Day this Sunday will be a success – and the sand from the mine dumps outside Soweto in Johannesburg will not pollute the air too seriously for local residents and summit participants, otherwise precious water (even though it is recycled) will have to be used to damp the dumps,

And then prayer leads to action and we can also become more community- and conservation-minded.

We can save water and electricity in 1000 small ways in our homes. As spring is almost upon us here, relish the new growth and new life, plant flowers and food producing plants. Put energy into relationships and communication, play and maybe visit some of the WSSD exhibits and venues at NASREC, UBUNTU Village, St Stithians, the Dome.

There may be cynicism about the outcome of the main UN deliberations, but the ordinary people can and do have a role to play and a say in our own future, because Family Matters.

Toni Rowland

PS. Many locals think that the summit is only for delegates. I have gathered some information about events or exhibits that could interest families. Feel free to call.

“Our earth it is our voyager, our nestegg and our home

where every kind of creature may forever freely roam.

To sustain it are we able?

If our families are stable!”

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SUNDAY - 1st September 2002

Happy springday, one and all, from us here in Johannesburg, South Africa, Southern Hemisphere, site of the World Summit for Sustainable Development 2002.

Turning on the radio at 6am I was greeted with Mozart's Requiem and it hit me, "Requiem for a dead planet, or for the people and the planet?" After a bit I chose to switch off the radio to listen to the birds outside my windows, chirping, cooing, squawking birds greeting a new day, a new season.
Yesterday at the WSSD site at the Sacred Place in Ubuntu Village a group of Capuchin Franciscan students led by Fr Donal O'Mahoney, a champion of eco-spirituality, presented a celebration of creation. And something deep inside me asked, is this a presentation, or is this a deep, urgent prayer for the needs of our world and society at this time? Like some players and activities at the various WSSD sites, are we going through the motions or committed to the cause? Are we willing to do what is required?
The African word Ubuntu is about the good life, what Costa Ricans call Pura Vida and French speakers as joi de vivre. Ubuntu is about the vision of interconnectedness, also translated as "a person is a person through persons."
Sadly the vision of a good life has become distorted too. It isn't really about material wealth and power and control, but about feeling human, loved and accepted, responsive and response-able. And it applies to man, woman and child.
Then I was reminded of John Paul's Jubilee of Families letter, "Children Springtime of the Church and Society"
"A ray of hope from the Holy Family also shines on the reality of families today. In Nazareth, the springtime of the human life of the Son of God began the very moment he was conceived. Jesus spent his childhood between the hospitable walls of the House of Nazareth." THIS MYSTERY TEACHES "EVERY FAMILY TO BEGET AND RAISE ITS OWN CHILDREN, MARVELLOUSLY CO-OPERATING WITH THE CREATOR'S WORK AND GIVING THE WORLD IN EVERY CHILD A NEW SMILE."

The WSSD is certainly concerned about a future for the children of the world. Huge posters proclaim that message. There are many serious issues being debated, economic issues of trade and subsidies and access to markets. For ordinary people that means having work and being able to provide for one's family.
Issues of water security, food security, access to land and provision of energy are debated. The rights to education and health are as important for girls and women as for boys and men.
Much of the focus of the summit has been on the rich and the poor, the top and bottom 20%. But together with them the 60% sandwiched in between need to be supported as well as conscientised. They are stressed sometimes more than the desperately poor by the battle for survival. Human security in the form of healthy relationships is a need and value for all and it is necessary to get all of humankind on board to make the changes that are demanded for survival of our world.
The cause is Ubuntu. The vehicle is hope for the future of our children. And so the refrain is stable families are what will build a stable society and contribute to a stable environment.

On this springday in Johannesburg the sun is up, shining brightly, Not far from Ubuntu village is a bird sanctuary, but bird song is free anywhere if the environment is friendly.
Around the gardens of greater Johannesburg trees are in blossom, the perfume of jasmine and wisteria fill the air. In our garden our Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow shrub is about to burst into flower. It is my hope that readers will take a moment and pray with and for those decision-makers at the WSSD that the memories of yesterday and the needs of today will inspire the hope that is needed to build a tomorrow for all God's creatures… and their children.
Toni Rowland
…………………………………….
For reports on the WSSD activities visit http://www.rio10.dk. or apply to receive the Jesuit newsletter sjs.headlines@sjcuria.org or see other references on our website.

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It all seemed to end quite abruptly, or maybe the participants in the great jamboree were suffering summit fatigue. The heads of state and other world leaders came and made their predictable statements, much of the challenging stuff in the Johannesburg Summit statement was watered down - excuse the pun and the world has gone back to business and life continues.
So who won? For those whose agenda was fighting for the right to life for unborn babies the war was won and the wording on human rights was acceptable. Reference to cultural and religious values is their ally. Radical women's groups saw this same wording as taking the world back 10 years in the battle for the liberation of women, who in some parts of the world are oppressed precisely by "religious values." So much depends on one's agenda and the interpretation of very specific wording.
Many claim that the World Trade Organisation grabbed control. Others laud the progress of civil society in getting more than just a toe in the door and playing a real part in the big show.
Civil society is mostly us, the middle classes, but we can only claim to have won even just a tiny victory when we take the message home and to heart and each become more environmentally aware, use water and energy more sparingly and become more informed about biodiversity and genetically modified foods. And we need to model much to our children e.g. to fix dripping taps and not waste water by using more water in one bath than a whole poor family may use in a day. We must teach too that concern for the poor is a Christian virtue.
And that is where a certain sadness comes in. Although there was a strong team of Jesuits, some Franciscans and through the SA Catholic Bishops' Conference a number of lectures and papers were presented on economics and eco-spirituality it seemed to me that there was little "religious" presence. There were plenty of Catholics present in the various delegations. There were some rather esoteric New Age groups and a Sacred Place at Ubuntu village where individuals and groups could meditate and where the Capuchins held a Creation celebration. There was a joyful WSSD Mass in one Jesuit parish, but still what will inspire and motivate us all to continue the work of building a safe and healthy planet and society if we do not consciously see it as building God's Kingdom?
Another seriously disturbing factor for me was the almost total lack of a sense of family-community. Women's issues are often not pro-family issues. Youth and children do need a sense of family for their human development and yet there appeared to be a tendency to make nice statements like "for our children's future," an end without consideration of the means.
On a post-summit, stress-releasing, soul-massaging hike I reflected a bit. It is very difficult to be committed to all the agendas, to be concerned about the plants, birds, insects, butterflies, small and large mammals, the rocks and soil and the water. And when you are out hiking on your own with baboons hovering and barking threateningly not far away, you realise it is also a question of adaptation to a particular environment. A Sandton businessman would be lost if his 4 x 4 broke down in the desert while a San/bushman with few possessions and no wealth is rich in his own environment.
And you might even agree with the bushman that "The gods must be crazy." Certainly leaving this fragile yet so resource-filled planet in the hands of human beings, unless they have a sense of God and of our need to be our brothers' and sisters' keeper seems an act of utter madness.
And of course knowing, loving and understanding these brothers and sisters in the human family begins with building
STABLE FAMILIES for a STABLE SOCIETY and so a STABLE ENVIRONMENT.
Enough said. Please continue to pray for the ongoing work of sustainable development and especially that in the years Johannesburg+10 families will not have become an endangered species as well.
Toni Rowland

For more in-depth information about the WSSD and its outcomes search for Johannesburg Earth Summit, see our website or the Jesuit site www.sjweb.info/sjs or Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute site www.c-fam.org

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