Esther Sinda

2019 Intern

Meet Esther Sinda.

She has a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Management and Education from the University of Zambia. She also studied short course in Project Management and Environmental Journalism. She joined WWF in 2019 as an Intern under the SIDA leading the change, project.

We asked Esther to tell us a little more about herself, what inspires her, why she joined WWF and her hope for the future, see her responses below.

Who inspires you?

My mum inspires me. She is strong and courageous woman. She raised me and my siblings – and did a great job. I can go on and on about her.

I am also inspired by Oprah Winfrey. She is a black women that has had influence in a place that is male dominated. I am inspired by her humanitarian actions, when I see her work, I think I should do that too!

What motivated you to join WWF?

When I was pursuing my University degree, most of the books we used for reference were written by WWF, so I started to follow WWF. This gave me a broader knowledge of WWF does and I wanted to be part of it. I wanted to be part of a community based organization.
An environmental issue cannot be solved through a top-down approach. I wanted to work in an organization with a bottom up approach with the community at the center. WWF works with community resource boards, village action groups and sensitizes communities through different approaches such as road shows. It offers a solution that I wanted to be a part of. I also wanted to learn more and develop new skills, and get involved in practical work.

What environmental issue would you like to be part of addressing?

Only one? There are many – combating wildlife crime, saving engendered species, mitigating climate change and promoting sustainable agriculture use and the conservation of freshwater.

What excites you the most about this Internship?

The bottom-up approach that the SIDA project uses. Apart from this, I am being mentored. My supervisor challenges me to think outside the box, and take the lead in things I thought I could not do. He has taught me a lot.

Finally, the Panda family are so supportive, everyone is always willing to help.

What role can your generation play in making the world a better place?

The first things is attitude change, it all starts with this. We need to stop thinking about ourselves and start thinking about others, and generations yet to come. This will make the world a better place.

We need to learn some things from the old generation. They cared of about people and things that did not necessarily concern them. We need to take a leaf from that and make it better it for ourselves. For instance orphans in the street then would be taken by relatives but now they are left alone, resulting in increased crime.

Finally we need to be our own leaders. Let’s not wait for people to do something for the environment, let’s do it ourselves!