For 17-year-old Faysal Adger in Philadelphia, a universal aim like SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being isn’t just an abstract ambition, it’s a longstanding personal dream.  

As a brain cancer survivor, Faysal has been living with the challenges and consequences of the disease since his diagnosis as an infant.  

“All of the surgeries I had to go through and hearing that I might not be able to walk or talk, it was hard when I was growing up,” he recalls. “Sometimes I think, ‘Wow, I’m still here.’ And I’m so grateful for that.”  

“It’s why I try to live every moment to the fullest,” Faysal says. “I don’t want this life to go to waste, and be a fool and do nothing. I want to show how beautiful life can be.”  

As a young artist, Faysal uses paint to capture and express the wonder of life and all of its possibilities. On the exterior of West Philadelphia’s School of the Future, you can find his most prominent mural: An ode to the power of the Global Goals with a uniquely Pennsylvanian spin on SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth.  

Faysal says his piece depicts how people and nature can work together in harmony to grow food in more innovative, sustainable ways. “I thought it was really cool to show how agriculture and technology brought us here.” His mural is part of a project sponsored by the local non-profit Global Philadelphia to create 17 public artworks across the city representing each of the Global Goals.  

“I never thought I would be able to leave my mark on the world, especially at such a young age,” Faysal says of his artwork. “It’s bringing people together in my community, that’s what the mural did.”  

By M.J. Altman, United Nations Foundation