She is passionate about her work. For her it’s not just a job but a duty. As an environmental specialist — probably the only Saudi female, or one of the very few, in the field — she takes to heart what she sees of our society’s carelessness and abuse of the environment. The problem for her is not simply keeping our cities clean. She also wants us all to acknowledge the health hazards and environmental disasters caused by pollution and mismanagement of our natural resources. Raising public awareness and informing people of environmental problems is her goal and as she begins, she faces barriers and a lack of interest if not hostility from both the public and private sectors.
Saffanah Barry went to school in London and then at the Independent University of Bangladesh when her father was posted as ambassador in Bangladesh. The university had an environmental studies department and she immediately knew that was what she wanted to study. “It was a thrill to go to the university and learn what is going on in the world.”
Most of her professors were Canadian, American or British and those from Bangladesh had studied abroad. It was thus very beneficial for her to learn from their diverse knowledge and the wide variety of their experiences. “I felt that I wanted to make a difference in the world, that we should try to make it a better place,” said Barry.
For her senior project, she wrote a paper on the effects of the pesticide DDT on the food chain in Bangladesh. She used dried fish and milk, popular food items there, and measured the level of DDT in them. People in Bangladesh sprayed DDT on the grass which cows ate. They dipped their fish in DDT to protect it from insects and then dried it in sun. No one told them that DDT was carcinogenic.
After graduating, she did her internship at the World Bank sanitation program and then returned to Dhaka University for a master’s degree in the Geography and Environment Department where she studied urban planning and infrastructure and their relationship to the environment.
When she came home to Saudi Arabia, full of energy and enthusiasm to do something for her country, she was disappointed. There was no real involvement or concern for the environment and no areas of work for her — either in the public or private sector or even in non-profit organizations. There is no environmental studies department in any women’s university. There are no bodies or agencies that research the impact of pollution and try to get laws passed to prevent the damage it causes. She tried to start some sort of campaign with the help of friends and get private institutions involved, but she failed. “I had so much expectation and excitement but then reality sank in after so many doors were shut.”
Saffanah finally found her way to PERSGA, the Regional Organization for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, an intergovernmental body of countries on the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden which operates from Jeddah. She is part of a team working to enhance public awareness and understanding of marine conservation and sustainable development in the region.
“We have to start with awareness because that’s where you start with anything if you want people to get involved,” she said. “The problem is negligence; people are not interested and they don’t know it’s a necessity to protect the environment.”
She explained, that environmental ethics is a part of Islam. “We should apply Islamic principles to our daily lives; there are so many Qur’anic verses and Hadith relating to cleanliness and taking care of the environment.”
In total astonishment she counts the different ways we blithely continue to destroy our environment. “We have no recycling plants. Most of our industrial facilities are on the sea and pollute both air and water. Our sewage is dumped into the sea which we then drink from and take seafood from. Things go on and on, including our individual contributions such as throwing things in the sea and leaving trash on the beach.”
The starting point for environmental awareness is with children. “It becomes a habit, rooted in their ethics,” said Saffanah, speaking from experience and her own upbringing. She suggested including environmental issues in the curriculum — not just local or regional but also global environmental issues. She says environmental issues need not be taught as a subject by itself but that it should be combined with other subjects such as science, geography and religion. “There is so much unchannelled energy that could be used productively because everybody wants to do something for their country.” To begin with, she suggests beach cleanups so that children can have a sense of responsibility and feel, “This is my sea and this is my beach.”
At PERSGA they have launched some projects for the region, including two annual competitions. One is an adult photography competition and the other is for school children. The children are asked to write a story/essay, draw/paint, or photograph something related to the environment. Details will be announced soon and will include the prizes presented to the winners at a ceremony on Sept. 25, PERSGA’s Annual Environment Day. PERSGA is also approaching schools to establish environment clubs. The Saudi public schools for boys that were approached were eager to participate and their number is growing, which led Saffanah to suggest approaching girls’ schools as well. She intends to give presentations in different schools and try to cooperate with other institutions interested in the environment and produce a series of lectures. “There are so many people who are well-educated and concerned about the environment. We want to motivate them to get involved with our efforts and campaigns,” she said.
Arab News Features 16 January 2003
