Helena Christensen “belongs” in Peru

Supermodel Helena Christensen was born in Denmark and calls Copenhagen home, but still feels a strong connection to her Peruvian heritage. The 40-year-old beauty is now using her fame to raise awareness of the effects of climate change in the South American nation.

“I'm half Peruvian,” she said. “My mother was born in Lima and sailed to Denmark with her Danish stepfather when she was 18. During the five years they stayed, my mother met my father and when the rest of the family returned home, she stayed.

“Throughout my childhood we made trips to Peru, but it wasn't until I returned about three years ago that I felt a sense of belonging. So now I’ve started taking photographs of what I see. I have the opportunity to raise a tiny bit of awareness about what is happening there.”

Helena is horrified by the “horrible effects” of global warming, and describes Peru as a “hidden side of a worldwide crisis”.

“People all over the world are being deeply affected by something that many of us don't really consider in our day-to-day lives,” she wrote in Britain’s Independent newspaper. “In Peru, whole families of farmers depend on the water running off glaciers and into rivers. But because of the changes in temperature caused by global carbon emissions, the glaciers are retreating and the rivers are running dry. This is something that is going to affect the rest of us very quickly. We need to do something now.”