Young Activists - portrait of Mazoun Almellehan

In the next 3 days I’d like to show you some illustrations I did this past year for a children's book project about inspiring young activists from around the world. Sadly, the project was unfinished, but it was to feature the stories of the activists along with their portraits and a spot illustration. I'm bummed the project didn't come to fruition, but I think the work is worth sharing. I hope you’ll be inspired by it!

This first portrait is of Mazoun Almellehan. She is a Syrian refugee who worked hard to make sure girls in Jordan's refugee camps got an education. For two years she went going door to door in the camps, waging a one-girl campaign to convince parents to keep their daughters in school instead of pressuring them into wedlock.

"Education is very important because it's the shield we can use to protect ourselves in life. It's our method to solve our problems," she says. "If we don't have education, we can't defend ourselves."

More to come tomorrow…