Djibouti
The subject for my portrait for Djibouti is Amina Idan Paul, an engineer with a specialist interest in sustainable development. Amina is a climate change activist founder of Ecolo a Djibouti
Geography
Djibouti is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. Djibouti has very little arable soil, with 89% of the country being desert, 10% being pasture, and 1% being forested.
Source Wikipedia
Environmental issues
Djibouti is prone to natural disasters such as droughts, flash floods, earthquakes, and fires. The country is considered highly vulnerable to climate change and is expected to experience adverse impacts from increased temperatures, increased aridity, reduced precipitation, and rising sea levels. This is exacerbated by a rapid poorly controlled loss of traditional landscapes and pollution.
About Amina
Growing up in Djibouti Amina observed all the problems caused by droughts, lack of energy and the effect of climate change in general
Amina says "When the time came for me to choose my own profession it was therefore natural for me to become an engineer, specialising in energy and sustainable development. It is a job that has opened my eyes to many subjects such as sustainable development or renewable energies, and above all has reinforced my interest in ecology.
Her own sense of environmental repsonsibility, which was enhanced when she started her own family led to her setting up Ecolo a Djibouti, initially as a blog which has now developed in to a movement. The idea behind the blog was to reach the general public in a clear and simple way, and raise the awareness of one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century: how do we encourage respect for the environment.
Having started addressing understanding , Amina then sought to change behaviour. Amina states that we cannot wait for action on the environment to come from outside.
More of Amina’s story and the full painting process timelapse can be found by clicking on the link below