Another busy few months ahead for us Shark Guardians!
Kicking off this Thursday, the 4th of April, Liz will be at Harrow International School in Bangkok opening their expo which is all about everyone signing a pledge to go fin free. Since our visit there at the end of February the children have been going shark mad! They created and sent out a survey for all parents to find out the consumption of shark fin soup among them and the understanding of parents on why they should not be eating it. Along with the Fin Free Thailand crew Liz will be signing the pledge, selling tshirts and answering questions.
The Harrow fin free expo kicks off on April 4th
Just confirmed, 2 International Schools in Brunei would like Shark Guardian to present at their schools as part of their earth week celebrations. On the 17th and 18th April Liz will be there representing Shark Guardian since Brendon is off to East Timor!! Liz will present at Jerudong and the International School Brunei with some action packed schedules. Brendon visited the International School Brunei 2 years ago and the children went crazy so we hope Liz get just as good a reception!
Back in Bangkok and Liz will be at the International School Bangkok for their earth week celebrations from 22nd to 25th of April. Shark Guardian will have a stall at the NGO fair to promote our work and answer questions. More presentations and classroom sessions are planned also – a busy week with lots of scope to target hundreds of children, very exciting!
Brendon will be in East Timor doing an Instructor Development course for most of April and May and plans to do the Shark Guardian presentation several times in his stay of just under a month. Liz will join him for the latter part and they will work together to establish the need for education in this part of Asia. Luke Hessler, manager at Dive Timor Lorasae is a big supporter of Shark Guardian and we look forward to starting a long term collaboration with him and his dive centre, to spread our message to this little known part of the world.
From East Timor we will make our way to Hong kong where we once more visit a new country for Shark Guardian. A new place for Liz and a vaguely familiar place for Brendon whose family originates from Hong Kong, but has only visited once as a very small boy. We will be in Hong Kong from the 18th of May until the 5th of June and have so far:
Monday 20th may – Kellet International School
Wednesday 22nd May – Sha Tin College
Thursday 23rd May – Bradbury International School
Tuesday 4th June – Creative Secondary School
Other schools are waiting to confirm their dates so we hope to visit 2 or 3 more and possibly have follow up sessions with those we already have confirmed, given how successful this has been with the Bangkok schools.
Fins drying on a roof top in Hong Kong – this caught global media attention and shows the challenge of Shark Guardian visiting this country
Very exciting times and a real challenge for Shark Guardian given that Hong Kong controls around 50% of the shark finning Industry.
Then it’s back to Bangkok mid June for some more follow up sessions with schools. We cannot wait to see the full out come of Regents, Pattaya, with their Shark Cadet Club being held each lunch time at the moment with Emily Kay, a Year 3 teacher.
Songs, tshirts, videos….it’s all happening there at the moment ready for entering our competition. It’s going to be extremely hard choosing a winner from this school alone, let alone ALL the Thailand schools we visited last month. Such a great way for children to express themselves and be a part of conservation efforts. Up to 30 children each day are in the classroom creating pictures, songs and dances and sharing their ideas and inspiration for shark protection. Our Shark Guardian logo is being plastered all over the place and the children are even planning on doing some video recording at their homes over the coming holidays.
Shark Guardian Cadets at regents, Pattaya
Children from years 3 to 6 are attending the sessions, some children attend every day whilst others drop in and out as they like. Emily says they are even coming in to read the books on sharks to find out more facts and information – no guidance, they are doing it for their own passion! We cannot wait to see our cadets in a few months, the ‘Shark Rap’ particularly has caught our attention!
Our logo is appearing on on scrap paper, school books, classroom boards….
Emily says ‘I’m so proud of them all and they are keeping me exceptionally busy!’. We’re not sure if she gets any free time at the moment, but to see this passion and commitment at such a young age must be so rewarding. This is why we are committing to Shark Guardian, the younger generation really CAN make a difference.
Over the next few weeks and in June and July we are also spending some time in Phuket, Khao Lak and Koh Lanta to discuss some shark research and promote campaigns. We look forward to being involved with the ‘Get Sharks off the Hook’ campaign with SeeandSea, GVI and Hidden Depths Diving.
We return to St Stephens School on June 21st for their International Day celebrations. We will be doing some try dive sessions in the pool and answering question to parents and students about sharks and diving with them. We once again look forward to seeing the children we presented to in March and more of the competition entries which we’ve been receiving via email.
Finally a tour of Jakarta finally seems to be making progress!! Dates to be confirmed but we think some time in September or October, Shark Guardian will be on the road in such an important Indonesian hub. Indonesia is the worlds top shark finning nation so it is really important we educate as many people as possible about sharks and their massive decline. We hope this tour can link up with some gains being made by our friends at The Jakarta Animal Aid and the Bali Shark project, around Bali and in Indonesia.
Watch this space for more information and if you have any contacts in Hong Kong or Jakarta, please let us know as soon as possible. Thanks again for following us!
