Inspired by Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ and responding to its summons to action, Holy Cross Lake View Senior Secondary School Wanyange and St. Joseph's Hill Secondary School Kyembogo have formed Laudato Youth Initiative Clubs. Both schools belong to the Congregation of Holy Cross’s Province of East Africa.

The goal of the Laudato Youth Initiative Clubs is to help form well-rounded students by involving them in hands-on activities and service opportunities that form their consciences on issues related to justice, peace, and creation and help them develop their leadership and advocacy skills.

The students learn that they are part of the processes that have to be offered and transformed. There is no room for an exploitative mentality that assumes the created world is all about us today; there is a future for others, too. In this way, they are empowered to advocate for the environment and care for the less privileged.

Watch a YouTube video of the St. Joseph's Hill students in the Laudato Youth Initiative Club

Most recently, the clubs have been participating in Laudato Youth Initiative’s drive to plant one million trees through large-scale tree-planting events and community clean-up efforts. Teachers and administrators from the schools joined the students in these activities, creating a unity inaction that exemplifies how spirituality can bind us together in the work of caring for our common home and promoting justice. 

In the words of Blessed Basil Moreau, "Our zeal is always guided by charity. Everything is done with strength and gentleness." The students are nurtured with a sense of belonging and a spirit of mutual care through Laudato activities that are rooted in faith values. 

Learn more about Holy Cross Lake View Senior Secondary School Wanyange

Other formative activities have included different community service opportunities, debates on environmental issues, and engagement with the wider community on advocacy on issues related to climate change and the environment.

All this work was inspired by the words of Pope Francis: “A true ecological approach must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”