The Global Interfaith WASH Alliance and Ganga Action Parivar signed an MOU with WWF-India to join hands together in our mission to protect and preserve the sacred river Ganga, conserve water, wildlife and all of Mother Nature’s life-giving and life-sustaining natural habitat at the WWF-India headquarters in Delhi recently.
Ravi Singh, Secretary General & CEO, WWF-India welcomed HH Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji – Muniji, Founder GIWA India, Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswatiji, Secretary General, GIWA, Swamini Adityananda Saraswati, Director of Programmes, Policy and Partnerships, GIWA, and Nandini Tripathi, Director of Programme Implementation, GIWA, to their Delhi offices. Secretary General Singh shared his excitement on partnering together in bringing faith and people together for protecting and preserving not only natural habitats but also sacred pilgrimage sites, which are often situated in natural habitats. He emphasized the importance particularly of this work during times of religious fairs and festivals when they are the most vulnerable. He shared that GIWA, GAP and WWF have many similar objectives and aims and that by working together he believes they much good can be brought in the world.
During the ceremony, Pujya Swamiji gave a riveting and inspiring speech, sharing, “To me, each and everyone of you working tirelessly, under the able leadership of Raviji, to provide a voice to the voiceless, to protect our natural habitat, our jungles and forests, are the true heroes of our planet. The work you do is crucial to ensuring not only our future but protecting the essence and beauty of our present world. You are to me green heroes because protecting the natural world is crucial for our health and happiness.”
Sadhvi Bhagawatiji beautifully added, “I am so glad to see our work blossoming into a partnership which I am sure can truly make such a big difference to so many. Together we can inspire, encourage and motivate people to understand that each one of us has the opportunity to positively impact the world we live in. Simply by what we choose to eat, vegetarian vs meat, not for any other reason but purely from a perspective of environmental conservation, we have the opportunity to impact the entire planet and protect our natural resources.”
Swamini Adityanandaji urged,”The water crisis is real, it impacts each one us right here and right now. Hence, the time to act is now and you each have the power in your hands to be the change. In your actions to protect our planet, is faith in action.”
The MOU signing ceremony brought together the WWF- India team. It began with a green tree plantation of a sacred Rudraksha sapling outside of the WWF Delhi office. It concluded with a group water blessing ceremony to reaffirm how water was truly the underlining factor in these vital efforts.