Hello and welcome to The Conversation,
the programme that brings together remarkable women from different countries who have something in common.
I'm Ella Alshamahi and today we talk to two women whose faith has guided their studies and careers in environmentalism.
Dr Najmah Ahmed grew up in Apartheid, South Africa.
Now living in the UK,
she's head of nature-based solutions at the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre at Cambridge.
She's Muslim.
Meryn Worre is in Kenya.
She works at Green Faith, a multi-faith climate and environmental organisation.
Meryn is a Seventh Day Adventist Christian.
Ladies, welcome to you both.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Najma, growing up near Cape Town, what was your interest in the environment?
I mean, I grew up at the...
South-western tip of Africa and it's really nice to speak to Marine who's from Africa as well and I grew up in just you know a naturally very beautiful place a town out you know 42 kilometers outside of Cape Town and I grew up with this majestic mountains you know 10 minutes I'd be walking to the beach but in your introduction
as you said I grew up in a part of South Africa so when I would reach there would be a set of barriers and I had to stay on one side you know in the unjust and oppressive laws racist and apartheid laws in my country and the other side of the beach you know was reserved for another race I couldn't access the nature that I loved and wanted to access I was always secretly very happy on the windy days and the sand didn't respect those boundaries and I'd say like well you know one day they're going to be gone and thankfully they are gone.
And Maren what was your connection to nature when you were growing up?
Listening to nudge mice like she was in my community in my village, you know,
because the little things that you admire when you're young,