We are water and water is us, so let’s do something about it.
Our bodies are composed of 60% water and about 71 % of the Earth’s surface is water-covered — we can confidently say that water is all around us quite literally and figuratively right?
On a slightly more personal note, I have been fortunate enough to be surrounded by water my whole life. I was born on a little island called Coronado, surrounded by an ocean and vast marine life. I spent my days surfing and studying the species. I remember the day I saw a sand dollar for the first time, and then another one…I was puzzled as to how it is possible for nature to create something so intricate, and replicate it time and time again. I wondered frequently as I was growing up — why do we not respect the marine environment more?
Reading the application of one of our Global Impact Network’s Ambassadors reaffirmed my stance — we can do this if we put our minds to it collectively, we can save the precious seas.
Dusica Milovanovic is a PADI Scuba Diving Instructor and an adventurer, you can see all over her social media feed. But her story is way more fascinating than she leads on.
Both of her parents work for the UN organizations and subsequently she has been exposed to the SDGs and their importance since 2015.
“Over the years I learned more about the SDGs and am naturally drawn to those that represent challenges that matter the most to me and that have affected me and those close to me. I have been a scuba diver since I was 14 years old and became a professional diver at 19 and have seen, first hand, the degradation of the marine and costal ecosystems due to pollution and climate change, therefore life under water and climate action have been my priority since the beginning.”
Responsible consumption and production goal links into the 2009 conference that she organized with her fellow students called “The Food Crisis: A Global Challenge” addressing hunger and malnutrition in the world.
So what’s her story?
In 2009 she was in her senior year of high school. She attended the UN international school in New York, and every year the seniors take on the challenge of organizing the UNIS-UN conference. This conference gives young students an inviting way to research topics of global relevance, encouraging the students to take their own initiatives to combat global challenges. This was for her the first platform she used to express her own opinions.
Dusica says that one of the reasons why she became a professional diver is the fact that the water sports community is fully invested in not only promoting a healthy and active lifestyle but more importantly, this community promotes the clean-ups and protection of the marine life with such positive energy and mindset.
“My most memorable event was being part of the underwater cleanup of World War 2 airplane wrecks in Crete in 2012. This mission started after my first dive as an assistant instructor, I took a group of tourists on a dive alone for the first time and during the briefing before the dive, I explained how important it is to not touch and destroy the marine life. During the dive, one of the divers picked up a round metal box which turned out to be an unexploded bomb. We were very lucky that nothing had happened and right after the dive I spoke to the owner of the club about how dangerous that area was and suggested that we should remove it from our map. He thought that removing the bombs would be even better. He took the initiative and organized the cleanup with the local authorities.”
Dusica, just like us, thinks that the information about the progress we are making is very difficult to find. As more and more people are getting involved in their own way, without even knowing the contribution they are making toward a better world, the importance of the Global Impact Network is evident.
“This platform gives us a way to not only monitor our progress but more importantly to create a community, a constant international gathering where we can exchange ideas, share events that are happening and promote actions and people who are doing a great job but maybe don’t have the knowledge or the capacity to share their stories.”
We believe so too, Dusica, and that is why we are proud to announce you as one of our First 100 Global Impact Network Ambassadors!
You can find more about Dusica on Instagram.
You can also find Global Impact Network on Instagram and join the movement with our fellow change-makers.
Join her and me by creating a positive impact, globally.
For more information contact info@globalimpact.world
