The President, His Sinking Island Paradise, And His Mission To Save It

I passed a wishing well recently, or rather a fountain full of coins tossed in by passers by. I was always told to make a wish in secret as I threw coins into wells or fountains, otherwise the wish might not come true.

Since I don’t believe in old superstitions either of the wishing kind, or the keeping secret kind, I’ll let you in on a wish that I do have and one in which you, dear reader, could help make come true.

The Maldive Islands, scattered over a large expanse of the Indian Ocean are slowly but surely beginning to disappear under the waves. Each year a few more feet are lost and a few more Palm trees topple into the waves on islands that have one thing in common – they are all low lying. The Maldives are falling victim to global warming and sea level rise, despite the fact that this environmental crisis is most definitely not of their making. A Mecca for tourists from rich countries, how many of them are aware that the beaches in front of their hotels are gradually eroding?  How many go back to their own countries and try and spread the word?

My wish is really quite simple let the climate change deniers see for themselves. And rather than expect them to travel to the Maldives to see for themselves, how about letting them in on a film account of one man’s battle to save his homeland from extinction, the President of the Maldives, Mohammed Nasheed?

That opportunity will soon present itself with the release of a new film documenting Nasheed’s tireless efforts to get the rest of the World to appreciate his country’s plight. You can see excerpts from his story here http://theislandpresident.com/

Helping to fulfil the wish is the easy part, for the best that you can do is send this link to others.

Now it may of course be too late for the Maldives and other low lying islands in the longer run. Perhaps President Mohammed Nasheed, known affectionately as ‘Anni’ in his homeland is a modern day King Canute. It would probably be a whole lot easier for him and his progressive Government to keep quiet, do some shabby deals with the big polluters and save the skins of a select few if and when many of the islands become inundated.

But that is not his way. His is a wakeup call from a small island nation to the rest of the World. We should salute him.