This essay was written by Diana Monserrat Vicezar Torres, from Paraguay in response to the 2020 Global Voices essay contest in Latin America and the Caribbean. Diana was awarded third place for this entry.

Environmental sustainability has been an important part of my life since my seventh birthday when my parents gave me my first book, Cuidemos la Tierra, which means Let's Take Care of the Earth. Since that day, toys were no longer important because that book became my new treasure. I remember that I used to read it every day, and I was fascinated by how amazing all species of animals and plants are and the important role they play in our world. At that time, I lived with my parents in the countryside, which allowed me to have a deep connection with the forests. I cannot describe the emotion I felt every time I found a tree, plant or animal that I had read about in my book.

When I moved to the capital city, Asunción, my passion for the environment was challenged. After living in a green and clean place in the countryside, I was now living in an urban city full of pollution. I do not remember a day when I did not see my neighborhood covered in trash or hungry dogs in the streets. This situation made me get even more interested in these topics, and I began my in-depth research on environmental issues. In 2016, I discovered that approximately 150,000 dogs were abandoned in my city and that 1,000 tons of waste was generated per day. I did not want more people, not only in my city, but in Paraguay, to have the same experience of living in a place where the environment and animals were not respected. That’s why during the last three years of my life I have been dedicated to promoting environmental sustainability through education.

In September 2017, being a 16-year-old high school student, I created a community project called Mymba Rayhu. After almost three years of hard work, it has become an international youth-led non-profit organization. Mymba Rayhu seeks to raise awareness about the situation of stray dogs and the consequences of plastic pollution in eight countries around the world: Paraguay, Peru, Costa Rica, Brazil, Nigeria, Romania, Vietnam, and the Philippines. To achieve our goal, we focus on three main activities: the construction of animal shelters made from fully recycled materials such as plastic bottles and milk containers, awareness campaigns and environmental education for children. Since Mymba Rayhu started in 2017, we have organized more than 100 activities, impacted more than 1000 people and reached citizens across South America through media outlets, and this is just the beginning. We are certain that we are helping start a revolution in combating local pollution and protecting stray animals that do not always get the attention they deserve.

Mymba Rayhu is a unique organization for the combination of goals we have and the way we seek to fulfill them. We are the first organization that pursues the welfare of abandoned dogs and also the elimination of plastic waste through such a creative and ecological solution. At Mymba Rayhu, we seek to improve the world for two large groups, humans and their most loyal friends, dogs. We are giving a roof to these animals so that people can realize the importance of adoption and give them a real home. We want everyone to understand that a dog is not an object, but a living being that requires love, care and implies a great responsibility. Through the shelters we build, we are also raising awareness about the importance of recycling. During our environmental education activities, we teach children how to recycle, reuse and reduce the amount of waste in their communities. We focus on allowing children to become change makers beginning in their early years.

All the meetings with company representatives to ask for donations and the late night organizing activities are worth it every time I see dogs in the shelters we build and children eager to learn how to become environmental activists in their communities. The experience of helping abandoned dogs and our environment is a wonderful action that gives me the feeling of being useful in society and is what helps me improve every day as a human being.

I truly believe that if we want to generate a real impact on environmental sustainability, we must start with education. Mymba Rayhu’s main goal for the coming years is to create more chapters in other countries and make partnerships with other organizations. We also want to create a curriculum for schools on the importance of animals in our communities. Young people are willing to learn and help their communities. However, in small countries like mine, it is difficult to access environmental education resources since schools do not provide them. Last year, a young girl told me, "Thanks to Mymba Rayhu I can recycle to help stray dogs, and that makes me feel useful in the world." I am sure that if we incorporate this curriculum into schools, hundreds of children will get appropriate environmental education and, through them, their families will also become part of the improvement of their communities. I dream of a world where young people are actively educating others and showing that everyone can do their part to help the environment. I will continue working hard to reconnect people with nature and give them the motivation to take care of our environment and create global awareness. I am poised to make this dream come true.