From the age of eight she started planting trees in her neighbourhood to do her bit to counter the deforestation she saw as a key contributor to the raised temperatures and extremes of weather that threaten these natural environments and the local communities that depend on them.
Sharon became the youngest ever person to be appointed a Trade and Tourism Ambassador for the East African Community and was later to also become Tourism Ambassador for Africa under African Tourism Board and Tourism Ambassador for Tanzania under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism. The tree-planting schoolgirl was taken aback by her new platform of influence. "I was not very much aware of being activist, I just planted trees to protect our one and only Mother Earth with an ambition to plant one billion trees in my lifetime," she says. In ambassadorial appointments, Sharon's parents decided, as she puts it, "Formalize and structure my activities." The result was the formation of the Sharon Ringo light of her Foundation (SRF), which aims to engage more school-age children within and beyond Tanzania's borders in climate activism, environmental justice and sustainable tourism. It also allowed a committed ramping up of Sharon's tree- planting scheme. "I have a project of planting two million trees annually under my foundation," Sharon says. "So far, I planted over 39,768 trees."
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Sharon's proud father shared her efforts through engaging social media posts, television, radio. Last year word reached the Tanzanian government and its President. The appointment of the country’s first ever woman leader meant a lot to an ambitious schoolgirl such as Sharon. "It marks how far we have come as a country and especially Africa in empowering girls and women to participate in big decision making. She has proven to the world and especially Africa that women can do great things as well." The admiration was mutual with President Hassan taken by Sharon's tree- planting efforts and her championing of Tanzania's natural attractions. They chimed with her mission to revive the tourism sector in her country in the wake of the Covid pandemic.
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