Tag Archives: Environment

Open Apertures, Open Minds: YSEALI Alum Photographs for Advocacy

Seeing Mount Kinabalu in Borneo as a thirteen-year-old-child was a turning point in Gab Mejia’s life. It was the first mountain he had seen up close and he felt a strange, yet powerful, desire to summit it. Though he was unsuccessful during that first attempt, the experience led to him discover his true calling in life. Gab kept returning to the mountains and volcanoes in Philippines to learn hiking and experience nature. During these many trips, he discovered that, even more than summiting mountains, what he really loved to do was use his camera lens to tell stories and share…

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How My Internship Brings Together Design and Climate Change

When you hear “design,” what images come to mind? Do you think of someone sketching products, drawing illustrations? A beautiful object? In the contemporary era, design means so much more than that. I was introduced to the term “sustainability” in regards to the environment after working on United Nations Development Programme projects in Turkmenistan, my home country. This inspired me to further my studies in not just design, but in design for sustainability. Since receiving a Fulbright Graduate Scholarship to Savannah College of Art and Design and starting my master’s program in Design for Sustainability, my perception of design has completely…

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Sea Lion Saved by International Visitors

“The starving four-month-old pup had several wounds and was much too young to care for himself.” This was the sign we saw about Leo, a sea lion who was abandoned in Ocean Shores, Washington. I never imagined he’d come to mean much more to me and the group with whom I was traveling cross-country. But big and bizarre things happen when you’re traveling with 22 young marine professionals. And sometimes that includes adopting a sea lion.

Why These Young ASEAN Leaders Will Change the World

Sixty-five percent of Southeast Asia’s population is under the age of 35. This makes it crucial to empower the region’s youth to invest in and make changes in their communities. Enter: The Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Seeds For the Future Grants Competition. The 2017 grantees, each receiving grants ranging from $8,300 to $15,000, were selected from a competitive pool of nearly 400 applications. Their projects are as diverse as the Southeast Asian region itself, covering all 10 ASEAN members states and topics ranging from food insecurity to training special education teachers. But they share a common goal: to positively…

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Here Are the Young ASEAN Leaders That Will Inspire You This Earth Day

On Earth Day, it is easy to be overwhelmed by all the difficult environmental problems facing the world. Each day there are new reports of melting icecaps, illegal logging, animal extinction, and rising sea levels. The list goes on. Instead, we challenge you to make a difference by drawing inspiration from some Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) participants that are making a difference.