Abdulla Hameed, Education and Outreach Assistant

Abdulla Hameed, Education and Outreach Assistant
Abdulla (Swift) Hameed,
Education and Outreach Assistant

Abdulla (Swift) Hameed was born and raised in one of the northern-most atolls of the Maldives – Shaviyani Atoll.

As a little boy, Swift could be found by the water, trudging along with sandy toes. Despite having lived on an island where one could observe climate change taking its toll, Swift had little knowledge about the world of environment and conservation. Growing up, he never had anyone who was working in conservation to look up to. So he did his best by taking part in beach clean-ups, but that was it. Little did he know that opportunity was going to come knocking for him!

He joined the Olive Ridley Project in 2022 as a rescue center intern in Baa Atoll, and from then, there was no looking back for Swift. After spending three months at the Rescue Centre, he went on to work as a sea turtle biologist intern at Soneva Jani in Noonu Atoll.

During this time Swift’s passion and knowledge of sea turtle conservation grew. After almost a year in the making, in October 2023, Swift joined the ORP team as a full-time member in the role of an Education and Outreach Assistant. His responsibilities include creating educational content and providing assistance in planning and organising ORP’s outreach and awareness activities.