Tamanna Arthy Syed

Women Who Inspire: How My Environmental Justice and Civil Rights Activist Sister, Joanne Groom, Motivated Me

While studying abroad for college in South Africa, I had the intentions of studying public health and learning about a post apartheid society. Little did I know that I would be meeting astounding women and would soon be among them--swept up in politics and boldly making differences in my own locality of Boston. Despite being away from my mother and sister for months (which is the nature of studying abroad), I found other mother-like and sister-like figures; which I feel immensely grateful for. These included the local health workers in rural Nzinga, the nurses in Pietermaritzburg Hospital, the housing and infrastructure activists at Wentworth, and the land reformist professors of University of Kwazulu Natal. But one incredibly supportive, passionate, and kind-hearted soul who really stuck out to me was Joanne Groom. While I lived in the neighborhood of Wentworth, Durban, South Africa, I met Joanne who was the media and communications officer of South Durban Community Environmental Alliance: SDCEA--an environmental justice NGO which invests in helping Durban reduce air pollution. 50% of the children in Durban have asthma as a result of pollution; and that is only one effect of it. While many only think about the long term effects of air pollution (global warming), there are people now suffering from the short term.