AnnMary Vikatoria Raduva
“I carry
Soil from my grandmother’s grave
In a coconut shell
And stories, memories, names and songs of my village boundary
A carved wooden totem of Tangaroa, the shark god
And Pele, the goddess and keeper of fire
I carry
Traditional remedies
To heal the scars of proxy wars of modernization
And Christianity
Simultaneously
I carry
Islanders
People
Living in the tundra
Carnage of droughts and king tides
Between hope and fear
Death kisses replicates
And sinking islands
Victims of a sea water rising crisis
No one leaves home
No one abandons home
No one does that
Here
Unless
Home is sinking
Unless
Home is chasing you to the shore
Unless
Home is but a coral strip
And water
Is measured from feet to knees
Knees to chest
And eventually
Chest to chin
No one leaves home
Unless
Home speaks to you
Where coconut trees
Disappear with the sinking shoreline
And frigate birds have stopped
Returning home to nest
And our ancestral remains
Are no longer safe to rest
No one leaves home
Unless
Home won’t let you stay for another night
Because there is no more hope
And the ocean is, but safer
Than land”
AnnMary Vikatoria Raduva was inspired by her Rotuman Great Grandfather who knew the oceans, lagoons and reefs around Rotuma like no-one else. His knowledge and stories fuelled her passion to preserve the ocean and lands and to become active in this space.
Her ability to weave her stories has put her at centre stage as a youth climate activist internationally including the United Nations Climate Summit in New York in 2019.
She has also rallied people around her through founding The Youth Eco Champions Network in Fiji - a collective of youth under 18 who have planted more than 13,000 mangrove seedlings, significantly delivering against the governments 4 million trees in 4 years campaign.
Her work on the Say No to Balloon Releasing campaign put her in the firing line with many adults belittling her work - calling her the balloon girl or saying that someone of her age had no place in adult business. Her campaign was focused on reducing plastic waste, a huge problem in the islands. Of the way she was treated she said “I raise my head higher knowing that the message is clear and people are talking about balloons.”