Inspiration:Meet Aanya Soni, the 13-Year-Old Indian Chosen for an Antarctica Expedition!

Meet Aanya Soni.All of 13, she has become the youngest Indian to be selected for the Antarctica 2018 Expedition set to take place between 27th Feb-12th March 2018, fueled by the 2041 foundation.

The 2041 foundation was founded by polar explorer, environmental leader and public speaker Robert Swan who the first person in history to walk to both the North and South Pole.

What is the Antarctica Expedition 2018 all about?

Antarctica is a protected, pristine and untouched zone. A 50-year treaty that was signed to prohibit any research, drilling or exploitation of Antarctica ends in 2041. Sir Robert Swan started the foundation to protect Antarctica and spread awareness about climate change.Every year for the past 14 years, Sir Robert Swan’s 2041 foundation has been selecting 80 people from across the world for this expedition, to build leaders who will embrace a sustainable life and impact change in their families, communities and on a corporate level.

Aanya’s journey

While she hails from Ahmedabad, Aanya is currently a student of Class 8, at the Sahyadri School in Pune. Aanya remembers watching Al Gore’s documentary on Climate Change, An Inconvenient truth and being moved by it. It reminded her of the Ted Talk by Sir Robert that she watched earlier this year.Later, she also had the opportunity to meet another Indian, Tanisha Arora, who was chosen for the expedition in 2017 and informed Aanya and her mother, Pratibha, that applications were open and Aanya could also apply for it.Since Aanya is a minor, she needed a guardian. So, she will be joined by Pratibha on her journey to ‘the last wilderness left on earth’ as she calls it.

While Pratibha is a homemaker, Aanya’s father works at Ecolibrium Energy, which helps big and medium-size industries optimise their energy in a sustainable and an ecologically-balanced manner.Aanya might just be 13, but her lifestyle is a lot more sustainable than most adults. As part of the Kids4aCause core team, founded in 2015, Aanya and her friends have been recycling materials and creating functional and useful products for sales, every year during Diwali.......