KIS Wild Bunch Bags
Yesterday my day was tremendously brightened and my spirits lifted by the good news that our batch of 300 absolutely awesome looking Wild Bunch Bags have finally arrived in Kota Kinabalu, after a long delay due to the Covid-19 nationwide lockdown in Malaysia. On March 18, businesses and manufacturers closed down temporarily, including the factory producing the Wild Bunch Bags, as the Malaysian government put in place a nationwide Movement Control Order (MCO) in the fight against the spread of the Covid-19 Corona virus.
As we faced the MCO phase 5, and businesses and manufacturers slowly reopened, the production of our bags restarted and finally, yesterday morning, our long awaited bags arrived safely in Kota Kinabalu.
Although this is a very small project on the scale of things, it is one very close to my heart and it is a tremendous relief that it did not completely fall apart despite the challenges the Covid-19 crises has caused. It means the fundraising campaign will go ahead and it means we are able raise money for the benefit of the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC), Scuba Junkie S.E.A.S (SEAS) and Regrow Borneo (via Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC). With the lockdown and travel restrictions these organisation have missed out on an important, if not crucial source of income that they under normal circumstances earn from visitors/tourists. An income that goes to keeping their conservation work going and protecting Sabah’s wildlife.
The bags are created in collaboration with a group of very talented and creative students and their inspiring and supportive teachers at Kinabalu International School (KIS), with the purpose of raising awareness and funds for wildlife conservation in Borneo. Click here to read more about the campaign. Wild Kids Ink facilitates the campaign in collaboration with KIS and the abovementioned organisations as well as Scubazoo.tv.
The campaign saw three of Sabah’s own Wildlife Action Heroes give talks to the students at KIS earlier in the year about the wildlife they work to protect, the conservation work they carry out and the students learned facts about the animals and why it is so very important we protect it. Click to read more about the talks by Dr. Wong Siew Te of BSBCC here, David McCann of S.E.A.S. here and Simon Enderby of Scubazoo.tv here.
The fundraising campaign was supposed to launch at the KIS Summer Fair in March with the students taking an active role in the selling of the bags, communicating the important environmental messages of the campaign and the fundraising. However, with the school closure we have no choice but to change with the times and make it a virtual fundraiser.
I hope that the community, more than ever, will support the project and help us make sure that the much needed funds, which the sale of these 100% not-for-profit bags raise, will reach the BSBCC, S.E.A.S. and Regrow-Borneo and help support the continued efforts of these key players in the conservation of some of Sabah’s iconic species. Likewise, to show the students at KIS, who created the beautiful drawings of Sabah wildlife, that their efforts will in fact make a difference to Sabah’s wildlife.
If you would like to support the campaign and buy a Wild Bunch Bag, please stay tuned on Wild Kids Ink Facebook and Instagram pages or contact me directly here for news on the Wild Bunch Bags fundraising sale.
Thank you and stay safe everyone!
