Kids Eco Morning at ISKCON Durban
By Divesh Maharaj
In a Srimad Bhagavatam purport (1.11.12), Srila Prabhupada wrote, “..human energy should be properly utilized in developing the finer senses for spiritual understanding, in which lies the solution of life. Fruits, flowers, beautiful gardens, parks and reservoirs of water with ducks and swans playing in the midst of lotus flowers, and cows giving sufficient milk and butter are essential for developing the finer tissues of the human body”.
With this and other such quotes of His Divine Grace in mind, hundreds of children from the local communities and schools were invited to the Sri Sri Radha Radhanath Temple of Understanding in Durban, South Africa to participate in a Kids Eco Awareness Morning. The event started with a visit to the temple room. The children took darshan of the exquisitely beautiful Sri Sri Radha Radhanatha Deities, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada. They relished the beautiful forms of the Deities and danced to a melodious kirtan led by His Grace Akhanda Kirtan Das of Umlazi, a suburb of Durban.
Everyone then walked down to the amphitheatre area and the first presentation was delivered by Yashna Maharaj, an Environmental Consultant on Renewable Energy. She spoke to the kids about how to save energy in the home and demonstrated these principles with models such as a wind turbine and solar panel. By this time, the special guest of honor for the morning, Her Grace Urmila Devi Dasi had arrived. She is a disciple of Srila Prabhupada and a very senior and well known leader in ISKCON worldwide. Mata ji interacted wonderfully with the kids, emphasizing that everything in nature belongs to Krishna and must be used with care and reverence. Mata ji used a globe of the Earth planet to show the kids the North American continent and the city of her birth. The kids and their parents listened with transcendental rapture; it appeared, understanding their good fortune of being in the association of an exalted and saintly personality.
The children were then addressed by Bret Thompson of the “Meat Free Monday”program. He enthused the kids with interesting facts about vegetarisim and its positive impact on the environment. He highlighted the success of the programme which was promoted in schools and corporates. Bret presented the kids with bright green silicon wrist bands branded with pro-vegetarian slogans as well as other gifts. The kids excitedly scrambled around for the gifts. The final speaker was Troy Govender, the Environmental Advisor for Eskom in South Africa. He asked all the children and parents to rise from their seats and engaged them in many fun and game activities that had various themes relating to the environment and nature conservation. The kids were rewarded with various gifts sponsored by Eskom.
Everyone then made their way to the garden for the tree planting session. The kids were divided into teams and each team had an opportunity to plant a tree. Troy explained that the trees were indigenous to the KwaZulu-Natal region and that there is currently a campaign to re-introduce indigenous vegetation into this region. Everyone was then treated to a scrumptious lunch, but they had to walk along the public road and around the Temple precinct as part of the health and wellness component of the morning. For further information or to participate in such activities in the Durban area, you can e-mail vaishnava.research@gmail.com
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