
The SCA Earthkeepers Summit was SCA’s way of celebrating its 80th year of celebration. It is a time not only to remember what SCA has done, but to seek what SCA still can do, with other partners, in response to the call of “Protecting Our Common Home.”
The Summit began with an exposure in various situations that different communities are facing due to the rapid rate at which climate is changing and the abuses done in nature. It was then followed with inputs from various experts in studying and reflecting on what is going on with our Common Home. The inputs from the exposure and talks are then reflected upon by the participants. We underwent workshops to know how to push through the environmental campaign in various ways possible and the outputs were showcased afterwards.
It was a wonderful process because it guided the participants from seeing the problem in its entirety, evaluating the present factors as to which it is in favor and which is against the goal of protecting our common home, and reflecting as to what can be done to address the situation. The workshops also geared the participants with the skills that they need to further develop better approaches in spreading the campaign about environment and in approaching the problem in different angles.
During the summit, I realized a lot of things. Though I was not able to be fully immersed in the activities because of helping out as the National Chairperson, I can say that I viewed things a different angle, but learned as much as they did. I realized that protecting our Common Home requires a personal commitment to change, but in order to do that, we must be able to spread the need to change, resist big changes that harm the environment, and make sure that people know the essence of why we do things.
If the big players change their approach to the world, the individuals will find a hard time adjusting yet to the changes for care for the environment. If the individuals start to change their approach, the big players would suffer greatly, which would harm a lot of workers under them. To really succeed, I believe that gradual understanding of what’s going on and a group decision to change based on personal commitments is necessary to accomplish the goal of having a cleaner and greener future ahead of us. This is hard, but this is one of those thorns worth grasping to reach the well-deserved rose.
As an SCA leader, I commit myself already to follow the resolutions done during the summit down to the very last one. As of now, I am utilizing every connection that I was able to make from all the conferences, seminars and such that I have attended to be aware and to make them also aware of the various efforts done regarding our environment. I plan to be in touch with all these groups in order to give ways for partnerships on some activities for the future.
As a personal effort, I have decided to spend more time exploring nature. From the busy streets of the city to the peaceful roads to the mountains. I think that in order to really put myself well into this advocacy, I must get to know what I am fighting for and I must see first-hand what it is that we must hope for. I never had much chance to explore nature myself outside of our farm, and I want to see it all in order to be able to maximize what I can do.
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*Steven Nelson Segura recently graduated BS in Electronics and Communications Engineering and passed the licensure exams last August 2016. He will be exiting as SCA National Coordinating Council College Chairperson in 2017.
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