Pereira, an astronomy and physics student at the University of Toronto, travelled to New York with U of T’s Newman chaplaincy to attend the annual United Nations study session hosted by the International Movement of Catholic Students (IMCS).
The Newman students joined academics, professionals and American students to learn about this year’s theme: discussing solutions to improve access to clean, drinkable and usable water in the midst of shortages.
Before the session, Pereira felt everyone had a different social injustice that they cared about the most, such as his interest in the pro-life movement. His perspective on the global water crisis changed after one person challenged his way of looking at the injustice and developing nations.
“Why do we have to teach others how to be like us? Why can’t we learn from them instead?” a fellow participant asked him. “Yes, we may have the resources to help them, but they also have a water-conserving lifestyle that we could learn from,” she said, referring to the prudent use of water in these nations.
The March 20-22 session focused on how youth could respond to water issues with Catholic social teachings. On the first day, the participants attended workshops to learn about water treatment and increasing the availability of water supply and sanitation. They also participated in focus groups on issues related to clean water access including gender, food, hygiene and urbanization.
The next day, they spoke with representatives from Catholic non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at the UN. They visited the UN headquarters and ended off with a reflection at nearby Holy Family Church, also known as “the UN parish.”
On the last day, which coincided with the UN’s World Water Day, the group visited America Magazine’s headquarters and learned about how youth-created policy is implemented at the UN.
Pereira was inspired after seeing how people from different walks of life can be united by a common goal to end social injustice.
“It gives me hope for all those social movements that are working on a solution for the water crisis and the other injustices that we’re facing globally today,” he said.
The session ended with three commitments. The first was to revitalize the IMCS’s branch and increase its influence in North America as a movement through the U.S.-based National Catholic Student Coalition. The IMCS draws its relationship to the UN through Pax Romana, an international federation of lay Catholic university students and graduates.
The second commitment included the need to engage people on social media about social justice issues like access to clean water.
The third was to communicate information effectively to curb “slacktivism” whereby people take a limited approach to learning about issues. Instead the participants learned that when more people learn about the issues and are inspired to take action, then effective results can be achieved. They each made action plans to connect with each other to continue advocacy for the water shortage.
While Pereira says that he is called to address different social injustices, he can still use the commitments from the session to spread awareness and economize his use of water.
(Chen, 21, is a third-year journalism student at Ryerson University in Toronto. He is currently studying at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.)