Waves of Inspiration, A Comoros Childhood and Its Ocean Legacy – Story

I have learnt as a young girl growing up in a family of “All girls team” from my parent, with conservative cultural heritage from an island where family hierarchy is important, and respect is skewed toward boy’s child. Like in the words of Oprah Winfrey saying “think like a queen, a queen is not afraid to fail, failure is another stepping stone to greatness”, I pride myself as important and focused on achieving what a king can achieve and rode into greatness for my parents who also are educated in both western world education standards. My success will boost my father popularity as a formal footballer in Comoros. 

To follow in the shoes of my parents whose priorities has been my success in a professional career from an Island of Moheli, a small population. I had my formative education through to high level specialised in biology sciences, the background that strengthen my dream of becoming a voice of inspiration to young girls on my Island of Moheli. In advancing my career to the university, where I studied Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Comoros, with this choice, my parent could not see this future, but I did. In the word of Rosa Parks which says, “You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it’s right” and this was what I did. The future my parents are look for was a medical professional, but I was inspired by my passion to diligently committed to this dream living in an oceanic area. 

On this island of Moheli, I had an inspiration to work on helping my locals’ communities in protection and conservation of marine’s ecosystems. As a child which had lived in a land surrounded by ocean, I have seen a drastic changes to these blue homes because of climate challenges and anthropogenic activities. After my degree, I challenged myself, to travel to Tanzania (no man’s land) for a master’s degree in sciences of Climate Change and Sustainable Development (MScs. CC &SD). This was to consolidate my knowledge frontiers higher than the general level of my peers on the island from a foreign country (Tanzania, my no man’s land). This offered me a multi-cultural, multi-linguistic opportunities and to improve on my international relations on this subject of my passion.  Today, I am a role model in my Island, young generation are reaching out to me for career guidance in different fields. 

To follow through the word of Madeleine Albright which says, “it took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent”. I have trod this path of knowledge capacity development to have a voice that is resonate with back-up knowledge through a higher degree and multi-linguistic, I started working with non-governmental organization on my island to cut my experience tooth through which a platform to interact with different stakeholder at the national, regional, continental, and global meetings was created. In my word “an opportunity to try and I am not getting to pay why not as we never know our destinations”. I worked tirelessly within this organization to gain experiences in relation to coastal areas as our land is blue color. I took up different challenge, learned new skills both administrative and project management, and excel in them all with the shorted time that I worked in this organization.  

This created an enabling environment for another opportunity where I joined The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. IUCN has become the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard the nature. This is my dream job – “safeguarding nature in Moheli”. Currently, working with IUCN Project Regenerative Seascape (ReSea) for people, nature, and climate as the NBS Officer in Moheli seascape. This project is one of the GBW initiatives to achieve 30×30 targets in protecting and conservating 30% of marines’ areas.  All these activities are aligned with others regional organizations initiatives in relations to women in marine’s sciences.  

To open more frontiers to serve my island on the big stage, Western Indian Ocean Marines Sciences Association (WIOMSA) through WIMS with her mandate priority create this platform for me. The association covers ten countries in Africa, these countries are Comoros, Mozambique, Kenya, Seychelle, Madagascar, Tanzania, Somalia, South Africa, Reunion, and Mauritius. The regional vision that thrives, sustainable, and equitable, supported by scientific knowledge, effective policies, and strong institutions; all of these are the values of my dream, and this make it perfect fit to my aspiration. I am currently, representing the women in marine sciences in the WIO through WIOMSA from 8th to 9th August 2024. The first steering committee will take place in Dar es salaam to discuss on how better to involve the young women in decision making and blue economy sector.

Introducing the Great Blue Wall Stories Series 

Welcome to the Great Blue Wall Stories, a Series where we share the powerful and personal narratives of those driving change in ocean conservation. This collection highlights the diverse experiences and insights of individuals and communities dedicated to protecting and revitalizing our marine ecosystems. Through these stories, we aim to illuminate the profound impact of the Great Blue Wall initiative’s core pillars of Blue Nature, Blue People, Blue Planet, and Blue Partnerships. We celebrate innovative solutions and inspire a collective effort towards a sustainable ocean future. Join us as we explore the journeys of those who are making waves in the quest for a healthier, more resilient blue planet.