At present, I am a water engineer in Mott MacDonald and with the guidance of Sharla McGavock and Graigan Panosot, I am working on flood prevention that benefits the most vulnerable. I am incredibly grateful to Naida Suprapto, Richard Wood and Jon Tong for giving the opportunity to do work that fills me with purpose, a necessary impetus for drive and motivation in order to extend myself above and beyond. These are some of the people who have facilitated me in finding my purpose in the water sector.

Consistency

Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence and thus I hope that this crowd funding for refugees and the poor may be done consistently so that our small efforts may bear fruits for the poor and vulnerable to benefit. It will be done every year in the month of Ramadan where Muslims fast from water, where we experience the thirst of the needy. We are given the reminder that there is so much more to be grateful for.

Author:

Ismail Weiliang is a climate resilience consultant with over half a decade of experience and specialises in flood risk advisory for Asia. His work involves advising governments and development banks on strategies to transform climate risks into resilience. He also founded “The Climatebender” a non-profit organisation that provides humanitarian relief to communities vulnerable to the climate crisis.