Last week, Goa’s State Youth Award winner Malaika Vaz was presented with the prestigious National Youth Award. She received the award from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports at the National Youth Festival held in Delhi.
A mile-long list of achievements for Malaika Vaz
The oldest daughter of well-known local businessman, Mac Vaz and his wife, Marusha, it’s no surprise that Malaika Vaz has achieved so much at such a young age. Entrepreneurship clearly runs strong in this family’s bloodline if all the below achievements are anything to go by.
At the ripe young age of 20, Malaika Vaz is a National Geographic Explorer, adventure sports athlete, social entrepreneur and a wildlife filmmaker and presenter. She has worked hard to tell meaningful and hard-hitting stories about the complex relationship between humans and the natural world.
She shot a short documentary recently, along with cinematographer Nitye Sood titled ‘Waghoba: Provider, Destroyer, Deity’. It focuses on Tiger conflict in central India and was screened at wildlife film festivals in the United States, Canada and New Zealand. She is currently working on a feature-length investigative documentary on oceanic protection.
It doesn’t end there. Malaika Vaz has truly managed to pack in a load of activities in her young life and has excelled at all of them.
The list of achievements continues
She is also the Director for the Indo-Pak Climate Peace conference and the Project Lead for the Manta Trust in India and a founder and Director of Untamed Planet Films – production house creating innovative and compelling natural history content.
Malaika Vaz is also a PADI Divemaster, an endurance horse rider, sailor, a certified pilot and a national level windsurfer. Her expeditions and adventures have taken her across all 7 continents. She is also a Limca Book record holder for being the youngest person to participate in research expeditions to Antarctica and the Arctic. With her organization ‘Kriya: Empowerment through Action’, she has worked to empower women, victims of violence, disadvantaged youth and children from criminally labelled tribal communities through adventure sport and outdoor education.
It’s clear this girl is going places. With her life in front of her, there is much more she will probably achieve in the years to come. We wish her all the very best for a bright future. It’s always a pleasure to hear about young Goans reaching for the stars and actually grabbing them with both hands.
Information credit – Navhind Times
ItsGoa/JAN/KDGP
