LOVE of Mother Earth – a blog by Godi Godar

I am blessed to have grown up in the heart of the Congo Basin Rainforest my whole childhood, nurtured by Mama Earth. The Rainforest is our mother. She provides us with all that we need: climate, shelter, medicine, water, food, the air we breathe and so much more. The resilience of her lungs are vital for our survival.

Growing up with this rainforest mother taught me how to relate to and respect all living creatures. She gave me survival skills and taught me that forests are a sacred place. Not only a place to connect, learn and communicate but a truly divine place if you really tune in. My ancestors who have become one with the forest, continue to teach us through her wisdom and knowledge that all tribes and family members pass on to the next generations.

The gifts of the forest are abundant:

– traditional ceremonies
– honoring a women when she gives birth for the first time.
-the funeral tradition (Matanga) when someone passes and again becomes one with the forest
– the tribe’s Medicine Women and Men
– the sacred sites
– the stories and proverbs
-how to communicate with animals and birds
– the Pygmy wisdom (the aboriginal forest people)

These tribal and cultural experiences I learned from Mother Earth are the best education. I would never have learned all of this wisdom and or carry my inner sense of peace in any school or university. I am always grateful and thankful for the knowledge that Mother Earth has gifted me.

Mother Nature is a healer. She provides sanctuary where you can always go to calm down and find peace. I was born in a place were the forest took care of us and the tribe took care of each other in same way. We understood that when we killed any animals or plants to nourish ourselves we gave thanks and praise for the animal’s and plant’s sacrifice. We never took for granted, but gave blessings to all because we all are related and we feed one another.

Unfortunately, many humans today are disconnected and self destructive. We must go into the forest again to regain our consciousness. To be conscious is to sense, see, feel, hear, touch, smell and taste. We can change, we can remember where we all come from, we can reconnect with Mother Nature. We are all one! As the animals and plants of the forest sacrifice themselves to nourish us, I too am nourished by serving others and protecting this forest mother.

Knowing Mother Nature means knowing yourself – being disconnected from Nature means you are disconnected from yourself. Whatever you do, be thankful and grateful for all. Be humble and Mother Nature will always be on your side, even when it seems like it’s taking forever… but always have hope…

The Bantomba people (my tribe) believes in the legend of the Turtle Iyanzanguba who represents Mother Earth. She gives birth to all living creatures and carries them on her back to protect them, just like many creatures give birth and care for their children. One world = “One Love.” The legends and beliefs of my tribe are portrayed in the logo of the non-profit that I started, Go Conscious Earth, to protect my mother, my rainforest and my tribe. There is a song, sung by my dear friend Meredith. Would you share this song with me?

“There is a turtle under my feet…
She is swimming through universe..
She is my mother, source of my birth…
She is my lover, my beautiful Earth…”

Give thanks and much love every time! Keep on smiling!

About the Author

Godi Godar Moteke Molanga, grew up in the Bantomba tribe on Lac Tumba in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), then called Zaire. From age 9 to 11, he had vivid dreams of leaving his tribe, traveling to an unknown, and returning home to support and protect his people. In 1982, a Habitat for Humanity carpenter came to work in Godar’s village. Although he was next in line to become village chief, he believed going to the U.S. would eventually help support his tribe. Once here, he took English language courses, received an auto mechanic degree from Durham Technical College, and learned carpentry.

30 years later, just before her death, Godar’s mother, Nsaba Koko, called him home and revealed the dire situation of his people. There were logging companies in the rainforest around Lake Tumba. She told him he must end the rainforest destruction devastating their lives, killing endangered animals, and ruining the air of our planet. He knew from the conflict in the eastern part of the DRC that logging would cause great devastation. Koko asked him, “How do we protect our ancestral land rights?” At that moment, Godar realized that his dream was coming true. His purpose in leaving his tribe had become clear. He started

Go Conscious Earth and the process of saving one million acres of rainforest.

Godar’s mother passed away in 2012. Her final words to her son were, “God will bless you in this project.”