#1- No question is a bad question.
When I first joined Action for Conservation (AFC) I knew absolutely nothing about conservation. I hardly even knew what climate change was! From the very beginning, AFC has encouraged me to ask questions, even when I didn't think they were good ones! It's a wonderful thing to be able to spend time in a group where you don't feel silly for not knowing something, plus it's helped me develop my environmental knowledge the best way possible!
#2- You are not alone in wanting change.
Sometimes it can feel like you're the only person in the world who cares about big environmental problems - I know I've felt like that! It can be frustrating when change doesn't seem to be happening fast enough, or at all. It can be even more frustrating when the people around you don't seem to care. Being an Ambassador has helped me see all the people out there who want change. There are many more than you think and pretty much all of them are ready to take action!
#3- Making connections.
Connecting with other people is so important. As an Ambassador, I have worked with all kinds of people from AFC staff, farmers and ecologists to university students and Ambassadors. It is so inspiring and helps gives you connections to the world of conservation. Each person will bring their own knowledge and talking is a great way to learn new things and look for good opportunities. When I've had questions about conservation, AFC has helped connect me with the experts who can answer them best!
#4- Learning about problems and how to solve them.
When learning about conservation issues, the solutions can seem large-scale and impossible for a young person to accomplish. These issues can also be really difficult to understand. AFC uses easy and fun methods to teach young people about these problems, so that anyone, with any knowledge level can participate in activities. My favourite way that AFC does this is group research. The team splits into small groups, each researching a different subject that we don't know much about. We watch videos and then have time to discuss ideas and debate our given subject. We then prepare presentations and do a group share so that everyone can see what we've learnt! Working as a team makes it easier to collect more information in shorter amounts of time and find large-scale solutions to problems!
#5- Nothing can stop AFC.
I became an Ambassador in 2019 a few months before the pandemic started. I expected everything to stop, to my surprise, AFC found a way to keep the Ambassador Programme going and brought us WildWEB, a series of online webinars about different conservation issues. I learnt almost all of what I know about conservation there and I am so glad they put in that effort to continue working with young people even though everything else had stopped. I think that this shows genuine dedication to what they do, they know how important their work is and they will let nothing stop them from doing it!
I hope you enjoyed reading my top 5 favourite things about being an Ambassador. It is such a big part of my life and is really important to me. AFC creates wonderful opportunities that all young people should have the chance to be a part of. To help fund their work, AFC is running the Big Give Green Match Fund Fundraiser! By donating, you're helping them continue their amazing work, giving young people, like me, a voice and helping us make a real difference in the world!
Thanks for reading!
Angélica :)
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