A Daughter of Charity thinks globally but acts locally. PACIFIC Islanders face a real problem every day which is becoming more serious as the increasing detrimental effects of climate become more keenly felt. The following is taken from the Fiji Times.

A simple act of care to save the environment goes a long way and making a difference locally is Sister Anna Wiwiek Soepraptiwi, of the Daughter of Charity Development Centre in Nausori.

Sr Anna’s voice has made a big difference in how people look at saving the environment. If that wasn’t enough, this native of Indonesia goes about it with a smile on her face.

Sr Anna believes she is here to make a sig­nificant change in rural women’s lives by using recycled products and at the same time save the beautiful environment they live in.

“I believe that it is very important to save the environment and one easy way is through recycling rubbish to products that can be sold to tourists and locals,” she said.

“Saving the environment comes in many forms. It comes in the form of planting trees, saving water, reducing pollution and many more.

“In today’s society a lot of people just want to have more, human greed has had a drastic impact on the environment. For example the more cars we have the more carbon emission we put out in the environment.

“If we really want to save our environment, we must know when to say enough. If we do not know how to say enough and know when we have enough, we will continue to treat the environment unjustly because the more we buy the more rubbish we produce.

“The creation of God is not our property that we can rule over at our own will. It is a wonderful gift that God has given us so that we can care for it and use it for the benefit of every living thing.”

Sr Anna has educated many women on how to save the environment by recycling rubbish which is then put on the market.

Every year governments and people in the Pacific discuss issues concerning climate change and how it slowly affects their livelihood, their homes, food and water sources, and most importantly the environment.

Over the years, the pleas of climate change advocates, whether they be in government or the private sector, have fallen on deaf ears. People have contributed to the problem by destroying the environment rather than saving it.