This week we welcomed Kelvin Munsongo, Head of Programmes for the Zambia Anglican Council to Bath and Well. Kelvin is in the UK to attend USPGs annual conference, which this year focused on the theme of justice – for climate, gender and race. Kelvin met up with Martin Canning, who is the Bishop’s Nominee for Bath and Wells on the USPG council at the conference.
Hearing that Kelvin had a few free days in the UK, Martin arranged for Kelvin to come to Bath and Wells and meet with Sara Emmett, diocesan Climate Justice & Environment Adviser and Bishop Michael to talk about how we can better understand our respective situations on climate change.
Kelvin says, “The main reason to come to Bath and Wells was to meet Sara and discuss and see what commonalities we have and to see how we can work together on issues of climate justice. Climate change is the biggest threat to Africa and to the people that we help, and we would like to work together to restore the environment and to help the people become aware of climate change.”
Kelvin’s project, the Provincial Climate Change project, is funded by USPG and he was attending the conference to run a workshop on climate justice. The project operates across three provinces, Central Africa, Tanzania and Indian Ocean, reaching out to five million people across 2,000 churches and 47 dioceses. It encompasses education, outreach and explores what local communities can do to support our environment.
As the project manager for Zambia, Kelvin enlists the support of members of the Mother’s Union, Men’s Union, the Boys Brigade and church congregations. The key focus of the project is bringing waste management under control by 2027, but they are also involved in tree planting, giving the responsibility of planting and caring for two trees to each member of the Boys Brigade.