Caring for land, caring for people in the urban environment

In the fifth post of our Laudato Si' Week blog series, written by Advocacy Advisor Martin de Jong, we profile the work of Earth Promise Gardens/Papatūānuku ki Taurangi in Ellerslie, Auckland.

The Sisters of Mercy/Nga Whaea Atawhai o Aotearoa established the Earth Promise Gardens in 2001. They wished to establish a community around a garden, growing healthy soil and vegetables, but also a healthy community around people from diverse backgrounds and abilities. The gardens have featured in Caritas' work on the Oceania State of the Environment report series, and in promoting the Catholic social teaching principle of Stewardship.

For Laudato Si' Week, we caught up with the Sisters again and in this video they share how the garden and community has grown and developed over nearly two decades. As their whakataukī says:

Manaaki whenua, manaaki tangata, haere whakamua

Care for the land, care for the people, go forward