Each year, United Planet Day is celebrated during the Fall Equinox, the only time of year when the middle of the sun is positioned above and below the horizon—shining on every location on Earth for an equal amount of time. This once a year occurrence represents United Planet’s mission of fostering mutual understanding, improving the quality of life for everyone, and creating harmony among the people of the world.
This year we celebrated United Planet Day in several ways. The United Planet staff volunteered at Cradles to Crayons, helping children with the basic essentials needed at home, school, and play. United Planet also hosted several contests and we would like to take this opportunity to share with you the winners of our United Planet Day Photo, Video, and Writing Contest, and United Planet Distinguished Alumni Awards.
United Planet Day Photo, Video, and Writing Contest
We hold this contest every year to seek written and visual submissions that exemplify our mission from community members and friends around the world. Entries should illustrate the ideas of cross-cultural understanding, friendship, and supporting one another in their own community or abroad.
Congratulations to our Grand Prize winner Sophia Robele! Sophia captured a perfect snapshot of her experience exploring Madagascar with her homestay family. The cross-cultural friendship between the children in the photo and the photographer exemplifies our mission at United Planet.
Red Sands and Rolling Hills. This photo was taken during my time studying abroad in Madagascar. I spent 6 days of my time there living with a homestay family in a rural village. Here, I was following behind my host siblings as they were showing me around their village. The scene here in particular shows a glimpse into some of the most awe-inspiring scenery I’ve witnessed in my life (which was difficult to fully capture on film). I could barely communicate with my host siblings, who only spoke Malagasy, but I felt so welcomed by them and their eagerness to show me their village and community. As I walked beside them here, I was in a wonderful state of disbelief at the beauty and uniqueness of my surroundings throughout the whole experience. -Sophia Robele
Congratulations to our runner-up, Alyssa Wolf! Alyssa’s heart-tugging written piece about a young girl and her mom finding help from strangers during a time of struggle will bring tears to your eyes. Her piece begins:
The day is young, but it is already a nasty one. It is 10 a.m. and I can feel the sun pounding down on my back. If I did not already have a healthy tan, I would be burned in minutes. I hate these days. I am always thirsty, but Mama still makes me walk. She says if we stop walking, we die. I say if we keep walking, we die. She laughs and sighs at the same time and pulls me close for a hug. She smells funny and her skin is sticky, but I don’t care. I love Mama’s hugs. They make the hot days more okay even though they make me hotter. Mama gives me one last squeeze and her bones poke mine. It hurts me, but I don’t tell her. She hates hurting me.
Read Alyssa’s full story!
Jonathan Foley has been awarded an Honorable Mention for his black-and-white photograph of a man he exchanged a few hours with in Thailand, building a cross-cultural bond through a common interest.
Portrait: Manit Sriwanichpoom. On my first day in Thailand I found a small photo gallery in the southwest corner of the city, and was privileged to meet Manit Sriwanichpoom. He is a prominent Thai photographer and social activist (as well as being as funny and kind as he is talented). During my time in the shop we discussed his work that mainly deals with political and social criticism through photography. I found it very refreshing to be able to share a conversation, exchange ideas and learn more about Thai culture from such a creative and inspiring figure. Before I left I asked him if I could snap his picture. -Jonathan Foley
United Planet Distinguished Alumni Awards
This award is given each year to an outstanding United Planet Alumnus, who has demonstrated incredible accomplishment and contribution to his or her communities through service and/or leadership in community engagement.
Nesha Usmani received our Distinguished Alumni Award. She worked at the M.I. Keji School for six months with the supervision of ICYE Indonesia. Through her time given to her project, she demonstrated a dedication to her host community in several different ways. By reaching out to her home community and raising money, Nesha pushed her host and home cultures into better understanding and supporting one another. The money raised and the library built for the students she volunteered with will improve the education and cross-culture understanding of the community she lived in for six months.
This year, we also awarded Katrina Gomez with an Honorable Mention due to her great service with United Planet. Katrina has volunteered several times with United Planet. She has raised funds to improve conditions for girls at the Remar Orphanage and continues to educate friends and family in New York about the life of children at the orphanage.
Congratulations to all our winners and to everyone who participated in our United Planet Day events! We look forward to next year’s celebrations!
ABOUT UNITED PLANET
United Planet is a non-profit organization with a mission to create a global community, one relationship at a time. Established in 2001, United Planet offers volunteer abroad, virtual internships, internships abroad, gap year volunteering, and global virtual exchange in more than 40 countries.
