BIO
Hi, I’m Ameenah Aljabry, I’m currently a junior at FIU. I’m an English major and have a love for animals and nature. After graduating from FIU, I plan on going to vet school and furthering my knowledge of animals as well as nature. And hopefully, in the future, I plan on combining my love for journalism, photography, and veterinary medicine to help continuously teach the world how we can be more aware of preserving the environment and helping the animals that are suffering due to our negligence.
CLEANING UP THE MANGROVES
During our last class and adventure, we all went together to help out the environment and clean the mangroves. I might have fallen in the water a few times and lost my balance but it was completely worth it. My service project was cleaning up the mangroves as well as truly learning what our environment provides for us and the animals around us. When first arriving at Deering Estate, we all witnessed a manatee coming close to where we all were. I’ve never been that close to a manatee before so it was an experience I would not ever forget. When approaching the mangroves, we were able to see the vastness of the body of water we were in and I could just imagine how many animals call this place their home. The fact that we would be helping these animals even just a little bit made the experience even greater.
My canoe partner and I filled our canoe fully and were even asking others if they had more empty bags we could fill. We were on a mission to take back with us as much trash as we could. At the end of the trip when we all got back seeing how much trash we collected was honestly impressive. I was so happy that we all worked together to help the environment. It was a great experience that I want to do again. I was even thinking of creating a group of individuals who weekly go out and help clean up areas that have a lot of trash like these mangroves. But instead, we go to different areas every time. I would speak to the coordinators of each location and create a schedule and allow kids to volunteer as well. And while volunteering I would also teach them about the environment and sustainability.
Miami in Miami 