I illustrated Manal Shad, a passionate and brilliant, 14 year old climate activist from Dir, Pakistan for @sojogram, for the spotlight section in their upcoming December issue ✨ It was quite inspiring and refreshing to learn about the young, vivacious Manal, who first came into the global spotlight after getting featured in Oxford Uni alum, Sarah Jehaan Khan’s short documentary titled ‘Passoon’ (پاسون) which means ‘to rise up for a cause’ in Pashto. “Passoon” won first prize at the Girls Impact the World Film Festival in 2020 — the film highlights the work of Manal Shad, a then 12-year-old climate activist speaking about deforestation in a rural, mountainous area of Pakistan. Watching a clip of Manal on social media one is struck with her presence and concern about the environment in her community. “It isn't uncommon for girls to be that vocal in cities like Lahore or Islamabad, but it is relatively rare to see a girl speaking at public forums in areas like Dir where Manal lives and where audiences are almost entirely men.” Manal began speaking out when she noticed that forests in her community were disappearing — loggers were cutting down trees and not replanting. She became concerned that deforestation of surrounding mountains was leading to flooding in towns like hers. “There used to be trees on these mountains, so the soil would absorb most of the water,” Manal says in “Passoon.” “Now they are only absorbing 10% of water. People have always lived in these areas, the issue is with our bad management of resources!” What Manal witnessed in her community is happening across Pakistan. With the highest annual deforestation rate in the world, experts fear that all forest areas in the country could be gone within the next five years. @sojogram - Sojourners is an independent, award-winning print and online magazine of faith, culture and politics, based in the US. Thank you to AD @dontcallme_candy for this great learning opportunity! Watch Passoon here: https://www.facebook.com/mohrpak/videos/230755864864137/ #manalshad #climateactivist #climateaction #climatechange #dir #pakistan #illustration #digitalillustration #digitalart #procreate #sojourners #sojogram (at Dir) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck-jpAUra-9/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
