Hi! I’m Dahlia Abdulle, a Liberal Arts student here at Roehampton. Although I’m a born and bred Londoner, I hail from a beautiful country 4000 miles away in the Horn of Africa. Somalia is home to beautiful wildlife and animals as well as the longest coastline on mainland Africa. My ancestors were nomads with many intricate pastoral traditions and genuine love and respect for the land they lived on. I’m proud to say that the same love and respect for nature and our environment was instilled in me growing up too. But why am I sharing this with you?

Like nearly every other twenty-something, discussions regarding climate change tend to fill me with a sense of dread and immobilising fear that our planet may soon be past the point of return from managing this crisis. As 30 years of civil war have wreaked havoc on Somalia, mass deforestation and desertification grew, only to then be exacerbated by drought and little rain these past few years. Yet, I still have hope. Environmental awareness is growing back home as well as access to technology that helps alleviate some symptoms of drought such as hydroponic farming and water management. We are in a time and era where salty seawater can be desalinated with so many different renewable resources that are endlessly available.

 What helps me revert away from environmental anxiety and eventual apathy is acknowledging that while we may not have the power to stop big corporations’ deplorable carbon footprints yet, we can still work towards raising awareness and incorporating sustainability and environment-friendly initiatives. Contributing towards fundraisers for climate refugees or simply promoting a sustainability/eco-friendly lifestyle that is accessible to others can go a long way and help create a cultural shift to treat the climate crisis as the priority it is. I pledge to promote current initiatives as well as Growhampton and encourage more with student feedback. Monitoring and guaranteeing RSU’s services are sustainable and have little to no effect on the environment and our campus grounds is another priority. To encourage student engagement with this cause, I want to first set up a feedback suggestion box and see what type of initiatives are working with our students and any recommendations. 

“There is no act too small, no act too bold. The history of social change is the history of millions of actions, small and large, coming together at critical points to create a power that governments cannot suppress.”

- Howard Zinn, historian, philosopher, playwright                                                    

With our collaboration, we can create the very change we wish to see just by starting on our campus. Let's plant the seeds of change together, vote for Dahlia!