This month, we mailed out 228 of our large and colourful posters to 20 schools in 6 different school boards across Ontario. The poster is called One River, Two Futures: reflections on water.
You can download this poster from our website, but it was designed to be 27 by 36 inches with lots of image details and fine print. We also made a short video showcasing the poster with commentary voices from across the Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph.
Were you one of those classrooms or schools who got these in the mail for World Water Day (March 22)?
Would you like some of these for your school?
Read on for some ideas on how to use this poster in the classroom.
The left side of the poster states:
When we respect water as the source of life, it invites our acts of gratitude and reciprocity.
Rather than a resource, water is the source of life and deserves our attention, intention, and care. All water on earth is all the water that ever was and will ever be. Water is the foundation of life, the first medicine to enliven our bodies and to renew our spirit.
What has water (the oceans, the rains, the rivers, the springs, the snowflakes, the lakes, the headwaters, the birth waters . . .) given you and how do you (or can you) give back to water?
How well do you know your watershed? Where does your tap water come and where does your toilet water go? Do you feel that your local waters are safe to swim in? How has colonization, industrialization, and consumerism changed people's relationship with water?
We might not be able to control the value of water, but what values do you hold toward water?
The right side of the poster states:
When water is a commodity, large corporations use and pollute it for almost free, while society’s most marginalized are forced to go without.
Because of water scarcity and water pollution, over 2 billion people have to drink contaminated water every day. In Canada, First Nations communities are 90% more likely not to have clean running water at home than the average Canadian.
Bottled water not only costs 3,000 times more than tap water, but requires significant amounts of fossil fuels for the plastics and transportation and results in plastic pollution across the water and landscapes. Canadians annually spend $2.5 billion on bottled water, while our public water pipes and filters need repair and reinvestment.
How can you help secure clean water for all?
More Blue Community learning resources are on our website. Videos, graphics, prayer services, statistics, and reports. See them all here.
Sr. Sue Wilson from the Federation's Office of Systemic Justice created this 6 page lesson on called Looking at Water Through the Lens of Integral Ecology.
Integral Ecology is a key concept used in Laudato Si' Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment and Sr. Sue Wilson looks at four systems of analysis:
Changing Policies
Changing Fundamental Social Institutions
Changing Narratives
Changing Worldviews
She writes:
The lens of integral ecology highlights interconnections, revealing the complexity and multifaceted character of water issues. Complexity doesn’t mean it’s too hard for us to know what to do. It means there are many things to be done – something for each of us – and we need to make sure we’re getting at the root causes of problems when we act. We can identify root causes by exploring how the major systems, which shape our interactions on earth, are impacting water. That is, how are environmental, social, political, economic, cultural and spiritual systems impacting water?
If you are looking for a World Water Day information and prayer service, please download the file below. This was prepared by Sister Kathy O’Keefe and Sister Nancy Wales members of the Ecology Committee of the Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Canada.
Please use with respect. Groups may request permission to use or copy, by contacting: Executive Director, Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Canada at info@csjfederation.ca
Young people are creating ripples in the world of water stewardship. Ripples is an arts zine created by youth, showcasing artwork, prose, poetry, and photography that celebrates a shared love of and connection to water—all created by youth and kids between the ages of 5 and 27.
Download and share parts of this zine with your students. Perhaps they have ideas on what they would create or have water questions that 'ripple' with personal experience and classroom insight.
What images or issues are most important for your students and how do you blend teaching for ideas and teaching for action?