Background:

 Sevidzem Ernestine Leikeki was born in the year of 1985 on 2nd August. She is from Cameroon and is now married with four children. She was living in such a place where it is believed that women are supposed to be in the kitchen. The community where she lives is located in the forest area which is the supply of firewood and there she saw a lot of poverty present. There is the availability of natural forest which gives them water, food, firewood, and animals but still there exists poverty.

She has also studied law at University. She was supposed to do domestic work in order to pay for high school needs. In the year 2011, she got a bachelor’s degree in common law from the University of Yaounde II. Being a woman, she has reached the higher Heights from her community and was truly an inspirational example for all other girls in her community.

Social Impact:

Today she is a well-known climate as well as a gender activist. In order to spread awareness, she was involved in activities such as planting trees, educating about beeswax extraction, making detergent lotions from it she believes honey equals income equals jobs equals gender equality equals conservation. She works for enabling sustainable development. Till now she has planted over 86000 trees.

Using her counseling skills, she has given Environmental education to more than 35000 women and also to 800 farmers has given training for Agroforestry techniques. More than 15000 indigenous streets over 1700 women are trained for entrepreneurship and business skills. The initiative and responsibility taken by her are really inspiring and courageous. She believes it is important to put an end to climate crisis properties, the biggest issue faced by the rural community but these people can fight it with the help of resources they have.

Accolades:

In the year 2021 was awarded as BBC hundred women for women who create lasting change and come from the northwest region of Cameroon. She is the founder of Cambrian Gender and environment. She also has taken initiative to stop child trafficking. In the same year, she attended the United Nations Council of parties climate change event India 2010. She has given a Ted Talk on the topic of “forest generation living in harmony with nature”. She was involved in media for the initiative of environmental and climate change work. She was appointed as a speaker in the Global landscapes forum. For the years 2019 and  2021, she was the winner of gender-just climate solutions.

Coming from a forest area, she has created a significant impact. She is a true inspiration for all of us. She has broken the stereotype of people who believe the people in the forest cannot be modern, educated, and supportive towards a women’s education.

Written By-

Pranali Mahindrakar, Student of BSc. CS, Pune.

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