Last year on World Environment Day , I was truly humbled and elated to have received the 1^st Prize in Outstanding Student category in Sharjah Environment Awareness Award which is an award by Sharjah's environment and waste management company Bee'ah. Other winners Shreya Gupta and Humaid Habeeb(Tunza Eco Gen Ambassadors ) also won 2^nd and 3rd place respectively. This year's ceremony was held on 4^th June . In end May , I was touched and felt privileged when I got call from Bee'ah that they would like to invite me as key note guest speaker for this year SEAA ceremony to address the gathering with my ideas and views on environment protection.

 

Sharjah Environment Awareness Award(SEAA) is the most impactful initiative of Bee'ah school of Environment (BSOE) . This award aims to promote environmental education, skills & values that lead to behavioral change that supports the school and the environment in a positive way.

This award encourages  participants to  come up with innovative ways to help protect environment not only by themselves but also by telling their peers and others in community.

 

I was very happy that this opportunity came from Bee'ah who itself is an epitome of environment conservation , who has got so so many awards for best facilities management , for best environment management and what not. Although because of my crucial academic year , I am going bit slow on any extra curricular activities but opportunities like these should not be ignored as this gives us a platform to share our views with many others and inspire others to work whole-heartedly towards protecting and supporting environment. Also I can never say "No" to Bee'ah who is doing so much to educate and inculcate environmental values in minds of residents especially youngsters like us .  I accepted their invitation.

On the ceremony day , we got a chance to network with so many parents , teachers and students from many different schools in Sharjah who had gathered for the ceremony to hear the "on the spot" results.

I addressed the gathering , shared with them my opinion why I feel we all should work to save Earth not only by talking but also by acting now now , I appreciated Bee'ah's efforts , UAE's efforts and also shared what I have been doing in terms of campaigns , lectures , events , self initiated projects , my ways of celebrating Environment Day /Earth Day etc . I was glad to hear feedback from audiences (at the end of ceremony) that my speech was  inspiring . That was the whole objective actually that it should inspire others. When Anjum Ma'am told me "Arushi , this is the proudest moment for me and our school to see my  student speaking as guest speaker on such platform on eve of World Environment Day".  I was truly touched and felt humbled. Teachers from 3 different schools approached me to visit their school and meet and inspire their young students-this was again so touching . I am just a small frog in this huge pond of environmentalists but when people come and shower respectful praises , those words prove as strong tools of motivation and encouragement.

Ceremony made the day when it was announced that fellow ambassadors Rohan Kapur & Abhinav Singla won the 1^st and 2^nd prize   in student category and our own , very dear Hidden Eco Hero of 2014 , an eco warrior , source of inspiration to many of us , our Anjum Ma'am won the 1^st prize in Outstanding Teacher category. All winners were truly deserving including 3^rd place winner Aaron Fernandes (our school mate but not yet on Tunza, will advise him to join Tunza soon ) . Our school DPS-Shj won in Environment Solutions category as well  wherein our school had made an i-compost to process food waste .

Thank you so much to this amazing platform  of Tunza Eco Generation for developing our environmental passion , for always encouraging us to work towards environment protection. Honestly speaking I have seen a positive improvement in my inner and outer personality after joining Tunza Eco Gen. I have learnt so much and have got inspired so much from so many great young leaders & eco heroes here like Bindu Di,  Simran ,  Kehkashan  ,  Pratap , Rahul Acharya ,  Udeh...to name a  few.

It was one of the best days for our school Delhi Private School-Shj.

 Happy to read recognition for our school , our projects ,and winners in media , pl read thru below link:

 http://www.dubaiprnetwork.com/pr.asp?pr=99922

http://www.godubai.com/citylife/press_release_page.asp?PR=99922&Sname=Government%2C+Legal+and+Humanity