Lissandra Morales returned to Costa Rica from Mexico City with an empty suitcase. But it wasn’t anything to be bummed about.
Just a few days earlier, on Nov. 23, the 15-year-old’s luggage was packed to the brim with letters – more than 5,000 of them – from her classmates in the town of Cóbano near the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula and surrounding communities.
The letters from elementary and high school students were addressed to heads of state of eight different countries and were filled with pleas to care for the planet.
“I asked the ambassadors to please take concrete actions as soon as they can against climate change,” said the freshman from the Colegio Técnico Profesional de Cóbano. “Later will be too late.”
Lissandra was chosen to be the international ambassador for Cartas x Cambio (Letters for Change), a grassroots initiative that inspired tens of thousands of elementary and high school students across Costa Rica to write to world leaders, asking them to take action against climate change.
Making the first airplane flight of her life, she delivered the message to ambassadors from countries such as Turkey, Indonesia and Australia as well as to Mexico’s secretary of foreign affairs, all
of whom promised to deliver the letters to their bosses.
“It was an unforgettable experience, really unforgettable,” she said.
More than 60,000 letters were delivered to diplomats and leaders from more than 60 countries as part of the program.
–Mike McDonald
