Mother Earth: the Mother of all Mothers

Our mothers, especially those in the rural areas, are the ones who collect the firewood so that our food is cooked, the ones who collect the water so that we can drink and wash ourselves, the ones who work in the gardens so that food is provided for and the ones who take care of our home and care for us the children.

Much like our planet which provides us with clean water which is essential for all of us to survive, trees, wildlife, fresh air, in fact our mother earth provides us with all that we need to survive. Yet how many of us take our mothers for granted? How many of us take Mother Earth for granted?

Mothers are the ones who nurture us and hold us in much the same way as our Mother Earth does. It is unfortunate that we have lost touch with Mother Earth, our home, and it is not only us as individuals who take her for granted but businesses too who use her and abuse her at the same time.

The time has come to respect, understand and say thank you to Mother Earth for all that she provides us with – and to use what she provides us with in a sustainable nurturing manner.

Look at Zimbabwe, our home, our country, abundantly rich in natural resources provided by our Mother Earth. Y, yet what are we doing to our Mother Earth here? Our tobacco farmers are plundering our trees at an alarming rate, yet there is an alternative, coal. Many miners are digging up our wild natural areas without proper Environmental Impact Assessments, and without any closure policies or finance in place to restore and rehabilitate the area after it has been mined.

Fishermen have unscrupulously fished out places such as Lake Chivero, where just three years ago people were catching some record fish and today there is hardly anything left. Our wildlife, which used to be so abundant in Zimbabwe has disappeared and places where rhino, elephant and buffalo use to run free, are empty of wildlife, one is lucky to see an impala.

Our water, the key to all of our survival is being polluted and our earth is being used as a waste tip. How many of you drive your cars, roll down your window and throw out a can, a takeaway box or a sweet paper? So ask yourselves, who is going to pick that up? Where is that item which you have thrown away going to go? Our Mother Earth is the mother of all mothers and therefore it does not have a mother to come after it and pick up our waste, our mess, it is up to us NOT to pollute her in the first place.

So on Mothers Day, lets say thank you to our mothers and appreciate our Mother Earth for all that she has done and continues to do for us. Let us not take her for granted and together let us leave behind a Mother Earth that our children and childrens children will be proud of and one who can take care of them too. No matter who we are in the world we all know that at least we have our Mother Earth.

Environment Africa, a Zimbabwe founded organisation works with and for our Mother Earth so as to ensure that there is a future left for our children and we encourage you to be part of the positive movement that cares for conservation and communities in Africa. We encourage you to take action to protect and conserve our Mother Earth, as she needs your help. Today, Tomorrow and in the Future. http://www.environmentafrica.org . www.environmentafrica.org .