How I’m inspiring people to speak up about the climate

Jason Sheehan, a CAFOD volunteer for the Nottingham Diocese, explains how his CAFOD gap year inspired him to continue volunteering, campaigning and fighting for social justice. His latest project involves encouraging people in his community to speak up about the climate after he attended an inspiring camp in Portugal.  

After my experience on CAFOD’s gap year programme ‘Step Into The Gap’ I left my year enriched with memories from working with thousands of young people in my placement to witnessing and regularly discussing CAFOD’s work with partners in Zimbabwe.

That became my lifestyle for a year, to fully give myself to making some form of impact inspired by the values of CAFOD no matter how big or small. It was after leaving that structured program that I worried about whether this would be something that I would be able to continue, would there be other opportunities that motivated me to act?

There is still time to sign up for the CAFOD gap year.

That was when I became aware of the opportunity to become a Climate Champion. It’s very easy to sit on the sidelines of change, to put your faith in something or someone else to sort things out but if our world as a collective had that mindset then no progress would be made. For me this opportunity to be a Climate Champion encouraged me to act upon that, to take ownership and action on changing our climate.

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CAFOD volunteers see Laudato Si’ brought to life in Portugal

Sandra Iheanacho, a CAFOD volunteer from Westminster diocese, recently travelled to Fatima, Portugal to attend a sustainability camp inspired by Laudato Si’. There she saw Laudato Si’  brought to life and here she talks about her experiences and how every community can get involved. 

The week of the 100th anniversary of our Lady of Fatima had finally arrived. I was on my way to meet up with my fellow ‘Climate Champion’ volunteers from CAFOD to journey to Lisbon, Portugal together. As we all gathered at Gatwick airport, we took the time to discuss over breakfast our expectations, worries, and fears. Our questions ranged from ‘what will the Casa Velha farm be like?’ to ‘why was a swimming costume needed?’

Arriving in Lisbon, we were welcomed by palm trees, clear skies, and heat, but it was not long before we ventured outside, and were hit by harsh wind and rain that quickly reminded us of why we were here; to tackle Laudato Si’.

Find out more about Laudato Si

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