I went to a talk with Ruth Magreta in which she went into a little more detail about her work towards environmental sustainability in Malawi. One of the things she talked about that was very interesting was that people in the US have the ability to debate about whether or not global warming is real. In Malawi, because maize is such a large source of income, it is very noticeable that the environment is changing. Whether it be because of global warming or not, it is impossible for those in Malawi to ignore. Meanwhile, people in the United States are not as drastically affected by climate change; we live in an industrialized society in which we produce more than we need. So when droughts occur, we still have enough food to eat.

Ruth was such an inspiring person to talk to. She invests herself in making sure that her home has what it needs; that means taking time away from her family. She shared on story of how her and her two children got stuck in a flood. She had to carry them through rushing water to safety. And although she was terrified, she had to put on a strong face to keep her kids from panicking.