Over spring break, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse College students traveled to Senegal as part of the HBCU Green Fund Fellows Program, an initiative designed to shape the next generation of Black climate leaders.
While in Senegal, Spelman students and HBCU Green Fund Fellows Ashley Felix, C’2027, and Monsurat Amoo, C’2025, helped cleaned beaches, planted trees and toured the Ecological Monitoring Centre where they learned to use plants for medicine and fertilizer.
“They have to be sustainable, their infrastructure can’t sustain as much as ours can,” said Felix, C’2027, an environmental science major. “If they can do it, then we can do it,”
The program is a yearlong commitment where students can improve the sustainability on their own campuses, lead climate justice advocacy and get real world experience in leading a green economy post graduation.
“Sustainability is a way of life. It’s an innovative aspect of their lifestyle,” said Amoo, C’2025, a comparative women’s studies major. “They are more into a circular economy and using the resources that they have.”
The students said their main takeaway from the experience is that traveling the world is not a prerequisite to implementing sustainable changes and practicing climate justice advocacy.