Susan Somali

Meet Susan Somali, who runs the Pejaten Animal Shelter in Jakarta. It's home to over 1,400 animals, which Susan and her team rescue from the streets and butcher shops. They have a policy of never turning an animal away - no matter how stretched their resources are they'll always take on new arrivals. At the same time, the 55-year-old mother of two is on the frontline battling COVID-19 as a clinical pathologist. She works in a laboratory that tests samples for the coronavirus and other illnesses.

Susan started the shelter in an upscale Jakarta neighbourhood more than a decade ago. “Whenever I saw an animal in distress I always took them home with me. As a child, I would do that during my commute from school. As a young woman, I would do that during my way home from university and now on my way back from work”.