Toothbrush Distribution 1: Selpele Village

A few months ago we embarked on a mission to get toothbrushes for every school student in Selpele and Salio village - 2 of the villages we work with in Raja Ampat.  Because there is no sustainable waste management systems in place in these villages we decided it was important to purchase bamboo rather than plastic toothbrushes.  We also needed cups for each child so we could teach them how to rinse their mouths and wash their toothbrushes in the absence of running water.  We chose bamboo cups in case the donation became mismanaged or the cups were lost - a bamboo cup would be less damaging to the environment if it found its way to the sea or the jungle.

We collaborated with Zero Waste Bali for the purchase of toothbrushes.  They kindly offered us a discount on the purchase price to make all your donated funds go further.  Zero Waste Bali also advertised the campaign in their stores inviting customers to purchase a toothbrush to donate to the project, and they donated one brush themselves for every two burshes bought for the village in their stores!  Bamboo cups were donated by Little Pandanus to distribute with the toothbrushes.

Today we visited Selpele Village for the first distribution.  The distribution was coordinated by Atlas Pearls staff who delivered an educational component including a demonstration of tooth brushing technique as part of the program.  After receiving their cups and toothbrushes the students were given toothpaste and practiced brushing under the guidance of their teachers.

We have coordinated closely with the teachers at the school to ensure the students will be offered ongoing support to make tooth brushing routine.  The students will keep their toothbrushes and cups at the school and teachers will practice brushing with their classes to reinforce the daily habit.

This program has been so well received by the students and their teachers.  They were all very appreciative of the toothbruses and very impressed that the brushes and the cups are bamboo.

Thank you all, so much, for making this happen.  I look forward to being able to share more updates.

xxx

NEW PROJECT: 200 TOOTHBRUSHES

People living in isolated island communities often don’t have access to many of the things we take for granted – infrastructure for sanitation and waste management, clean running water, electricity, health care and education.  After visiting one such community in remote West Papua in 2015 I launched the 100BooksProject in answer to a teachers’ request. 

“What do you need?” I asked, “How can I help you?”

“Books”.  The answer was so simple.  “It’s very difficult to teach the children to read and write without books”.

At that time there were no stories for the children to read, no resources for the teachers to work from.  Most of the children used chalk to practice writing on top of their wooden desks instead of notebooks and pencils.  It was such a humble request and seemed very easy to achieve, so I set to work, and I asked you all to help me.

I wanted to collect 100 books for that school.

Since that initial call for help I have received donations from all over the world.  Together we have distributed almost 4000 teaching resources, children’s books, activity books and notebooks to 8 different schools, education programs and learning centers in remote Indonesia. 

During this time I have had the opportunity to spend time with the teachers in these communities and I continue to ask the question – what do you need, how can I best help you?  The answers are invariably the same – wall charts, boards + markers, activity books.   The students need socks, underwear, shoelaces…

… and toothbrushes.

There is limited public health education in these isolated communities and as a result not much weight is given to hygiene, nutrition and preventative health measures.  Often the teachers are inspired to drive change but it’s not unusual for one teacher to be responsible for 90 students raging from grades 1-6 for weeks at a time.  Driving any kind of change is hard with those numbers.  But with support, change is possible.

We are so excited to launch our new fundraising effort, the #200ToothbrushesProject.

Our goal is to collect enough toothbrushes for all the students in Selpele + Salio village schools.  That’s 200 toothbrushes.  We intend to work very closely with the teachers in these schools to ensure the toothbrushes are cared for and used properly.  With the teachers ongoing support tooth brushing will become a routine part of the school day and the children will develop this important daily habit.

It is important for us to offer the students bamboo rather than plastic toothbrushes as a more sustainable option.  Both villages lack the infrastructure for waste management and there is no collection service to these remote islands.  Toothbrushes are a common item found on beach cleans ups around the world  and we would like to avoid contributing to this if possible. Bamboo is a fast growing renewable resource, and at the end of the toothbrushes life we will be able to compost it or use it in the garden. 

We have teamed up with Zero Waste Bali, a wonderful new store in Bali stocking lots of package free foods and sustainable grocery options.  Zero Waste Bali have very generously offered to donate a toothbrush for every 2 toothbrushes bought in their stores for this project.  You can purchase a toothbrush from any of their four locations – Kerobokan, Ubud, Canggu and Uluwatu.  At the time of purchase just let the team know that you want to support the 200 Toothbrushes Project and they will keep your donated toothbrush aside for us.

If you’re not in Bali and would like to purchase a toothbrush for a student in one of the villages out here you can make your donation to our Go Fund Me page and we will make the purchase for you.  Toothbrushes are AUD$4 each and you can make your donation HERE.

We are so excited to get this new initiative off the ground and hope to be able to deliver toothbrushes to the local children early next year.  

Will you help us?