In honor of Earth Day, Girl Rising’s Student Ambassadors from across the world channeled the power of art to bring the world’s attention to the importance of prioritizing the earth. The moving art work ranged from digital art that shows the startling options of what our futures could look like if we don’t act quickly to poetry about humanity’s strength in battling the climate crisis when we all come together. The pieces tackled complex issues like climate change-related cyclones in Malawi that killed hundreds of people to corporate greed effortlessly and beautifully through art. Take in these remarkable pieces below.
Student Ambassador Joy Kalu from Nigeria depicts how everyone must care about our planet to heal it. From using energy generated from solar panels to planting flowers and trees, it all plays a part in protecting our planet.
"Our Earth needs urgent attention," Joy says, "This is the only planet that has all humans need to continue living. Therefore we need to give if a priority by making it sustainable."
In this powerful poem, Student Ambassador Simeon Kalua calls on us to pause and listen to the cries of nature as it urges us to stop causing harm. Simeon has grown up seeing the dire impacts of climate change in his community in Malawi including the recent devastating loss of 300+ lives due to Cyclone Freddy. Simeone believes that when we all put our resources together and hold large corporations accountable for their actions, we can make true, meaningful change.
“Prioritizing climate change means we can breathe freely,” exclaims Student Ambassador Maria Bendo. Maria, a 4th-year law student in Albania created this digital artwork in honor of Earth Month to illustrate that our everyday choices like supporting big industries that cause air and water pollution, using single-use plastic, and other practices that are increasing global emissions are trapping us in so much trouble that will not have a solution later if we do not act right now.
In the image, Maria depicts the two potential futures that are possible based on our choices. In the top half, we see a world where a girl is breathing freely and living in harmony with nature but in the bottom half you see a girl trapped by the corporate choices that harmed her world.
"The environmental crisis is really a crisis of conscience," she says, "We cannot trash the planet, destroy its biodiversity, alter the climate, and continue living off the wealth of future generations."
In this moving poem, Student Ambassador Priyanka Malla talks about the one-sided relationship that humanity has with the Earth. Despite the abundance the Earth gives humanity, we continue to exhaust its natural resources and impact its well-being from future generations. Priyanka, who is currently working on her Masters in Public Health in India urges the world to take these steps to protect the earth:
✅ Reduce our carbon footprint: Opt for clean energy sources.
✅Conserve natural resources: Reduce waste, recycle, and use eco-friendly products.
✅Protect biodiversity: We should protect natural habitats, conserve endangered species, and promote sustainable land use to maintain biodiversity.
✅Foster a culture of sustainability by means of accessible, available, and affordable sustainability practices.
✅Support and follow policies for conservation of natural resources.
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