COVID-19 Appeal - North Sumatra

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 Outbreak in February 2020. Rural communities along the border of the severely endangered Leuser Ecosystem in North Sumatra, Indonesia experienced a rapid and substantial loss of business and revenue as a result of the international ban on travel and tourism.

The community of Bukit Lawang and its surrounding villages were once a Hub of culture and diversity, international tourism, environmental conservation and lets not forget world famous for its Jungle Trekking, soon became the victim of unemployment, hunger, increased crime and reduced quality of life.

28 different charities, businesses, individuals and activists have teamed up to achieve something that has never been done before. We are going to provide aid parcels to every single family in the communities of Bukit Lawang, Gotong Royong, Perumahan, Batu Takak, Batu Kapal and Batu Ronring.

With your generous support we will be providing Aid parcels to around 1,500 families in rural North Sumatra during these unprecedented times, to alleviate the strain the pandemic has put on these communities. But more than that, we will be supporting the local economy and many of its small scale micro enterprises by purchasing every item for our aid packages from local businesses. providing a much needed source of revenue for many local business owners and their families.

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Objectives

1. To support local businesses and entrepreneurs who have lost income as a result of the pandemic, by purchasing every single item within these aid parcels from local community members.

2. To raise awareness of the COVID-19 pandemic and basic safety measures to be employed in order to reduce transmission and infectivity of the virus. By including information leaflets on COVID-19 Safety and a hand made face mask in every parcel.

3. To raise awareness of the harms of chemical soaps to the flora and fauna living within the Bohorok river and local waterways, and in the long term, reduce the use of chemical soaps. By introducing natural organically sourced soaps and providing information on the potential harms of chemical soaps in the water ways.

4. To reduce single use plastics by providing one reusable carrier (bamboo basket) for shopping per family in each target community, and providing information on the damaging effect of single use plastics on the environment.

5. To provide short term relief for local people from the economic cost of food and feeding their families.

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Team Members

The Bukit Lawang Trust

Sumatran Orangutan Explore

Sumatran Ranger Project

Partners for Protection

Project Wings

Bukit Lawang Jungle Trekking

PPLH Bohorok (Ecological Farm)

Erna's Ecological Farm

Darwin Animal Doctors

Project Harapan

Batu Kapal Conservation

Care Sumatra

Bukit Lawang Care

Seed of Change Expeditions

and our amazing individual fund raisers: Louise Moore, Jade Rogers, Cameron McFarlane, Fa Wong, Tony D'Amico and Hannah Bragman working alongside a team of social activists.

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Support us!

Just 10 pounds will feed an entire family in rural North Sumatra for a whole month so its easy to see how far your donation can go. With your help we will jump start the local economy, provide food and support to fifteen hundred families across 6 rural communities & provide important Information to a huge audience in a short period of time on COVID-19 safety, environmental conservation and a range of key topics.

1. Donate all that you can to our Just giving page here and help us make a real lasting difference for people who, through no fault of their own, have simply been less fortunate than us during these unprecedented and challenging times.

2. Share this Just Giving page with as many people as you can! In fact, for all those social media savvy people out there! anyone who shares our Just Giving page to 25 or more people will get VIP access to the Sumatran Conservation Festival in August 2021!!!

3. JOIN THE TEAM! If you've got a passion for helping people and the time and freedom to do it, why not join our amazing team of fundraisers as an organization or an individual and help us to achieve our goal by setting up your own digital event or fund raiser.