NAME: Jamila Janna
AGE: 22
OCCUPATION: Marine Protected Areas Expansion Project Intern
CELL NUMBER: +27 71 610 4710
EMAIL: jamilaj263@gmail.com
Why do you want to take part in Wild Coast hike?
At a job interview 4 months ago, I was asked what my 5-year plan was. I said that “I was born in the Eastern Cape and I would like to go back home, engage with my community and expand conservation efforts.”. Though I was born in Transkei, I have spent most of my life in Durban and in a very conservative environment. I have never experienced the beauty of the land of my birth except for the few weeks I spent with my family during the school holidays. Even then, we never ventured far away from our house. Further, I am currently working on a film idea (N.E.W Pitch with N.E.W.F Congress) called “Wild Coast’s Wallflower” that surrounds me exploring one of wild coast’s marine protected areas – Hluleka. Perhaps, my journey back to my homeland is going to begin with this very hike. This is why I would like to be a part of it. Here is an excerpt from a poem I’ve written called Transkei:
Do not ask me what the Transkei Mountains say to me
For, very often they speak in tongues
Laced with familiarity
Their hushes call me back home
…
“Our happiness,” they keep on saying
“Our happiness comes from the respect we pay to the land we walk on,
The animals we co-exist with The God we owe it all to.” ’
I would like to create an appreciation for the wild coast and show case this through all forms of art, but first I need to truly experience it.
Why are you interested in receiving environmental journalism training? (200 – 300 words)
I am a marine biologist with an honours degree but I spent my last two years of high school preparing myself to do journalism in varsity. Obviously, that was not the path that was chosen for as I was rejected. Afterwards, while doing my honours I looked for short courses in community journalism in institutes such as UNISA but never had the money to cover the tuition costs. I believe in stories and storytelling. I believe in this because it has been something man has done from the very first man who walked this earth. As a person who is actively using social media as a platform to create awareness about marine protected areas and marine threats through a group called Youth For Marine Protected Areas (Y4MPAs), this skill will aid me in effectively relating news surrounding environmental activities and events. I also believe this skill will come in handy in my career as I start further integrating my science with my passion for writing and media. This is also an opportunity for me as a scientist who always had to have a rigid, precise and very factual style of writing, to learn the art of intriguing people through the fluidity yet factual nature of journalism. This opportunity really does combine many things that I am passionate about and not many ever get such an opportunity or even luck.
