As a final-year medical student, I did my placement in the Maldives to get to know my family better. I worked in the hospital by day, and by night I learnt of my family's and others' aspirations for a democratic Maldives. In 2008, Anni became the Maldives first democratically elected president. In this role, he campaigned relentlessly to protect his low-lying islands from climate change. Speaking at the Oxford Union on climate change, he recalled his time as a political prisoner. 