While the School Sisters of Notre Dame formally committed to becoming a Laudato Si’ congregation in 2021, the sisters have been dedicated to caring for creation for much longer. As we celebrate Laudato Si’ Week, let’s look back at two SSND environmental initiatives that predated Pope Francis’ groundbreaking encyclical.
Mobilization Against Desertification (MAD)
In 1984, at the age of 67 and following more than four decades as an educator, Sister Dolores Rauch fulfilled a lifelong dream and moved to Kenya. Because of her background in geography, she was asked to help address the widespread drought and famine in the diocese of Kisii, an undertaking that eventually led to the creation of the Mobilizing Against Desertification (MAD) project. Sister Dolores served as coordinator on the project, which combined education with practical implementation of sustainable farming techniques and the development of meaningful partnerships with local farmers. The program was a success, and although Sister Dolores left Kenya in 1996, her legacy continued through the program’s successor, the non-governmental organization Community Mobilization Against Desertification (C-MAD).
SUNSEED Eco-Education Center
Established in 2008 on the campus of the SSND convent Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Mount Calvary, Wisconsin, the SUNSEED Eco-Education Center transformed the SSND’s existing activities in gardening and farming into a formal educational program for ecological awareness. Sisters Mary Ann Srnka, Suzanne Moynihan, and Mary Beck used the beautiful property in Mount Calvary—which included a restored prairie, organic gardens, chickens and pigs, and bees from a local beekeeper—as a natural focal point of their programming. With an emphasis on both physical and spiritual concerns, the center offered workshops, classes, presentations, study groups, reflection days, and hands-on experiences on topics ranging from composting and food preservation to nature crafts and stargazing. While the closure of the Mount Carmel convent in 2012 ended SUNSEED programming at the site, its principles of sustainability are continually reflected in other SSND communities.