TIC Educational Outreach Program

One of the most important components of conservation organizations is the educational outreach.  For small conservation nonprofits like TIC, one of the best ways of continuing to grow and improve is with the support of the local community,  This past week I was fortunate enough to be involved in my very first educational outreach when the TIC team traveled to the harborport town of Mersing to visit a local school.


TIC is part of the collaboration organization known as PEDAS, which is an environmental and conservation collection of various NGOs and government agencies that strive to raise awareness and educate local schools and communities about the natural and marine environment.


Together, we were all invited to be guests at a local school in Mersing where we talked to 40 students about marine debris and the impacts associated with non-biodegradable materials such as single use plastics.  After the presentations, the students broke up into teams with 4-5 students per volunteer and were provided with a common non-biodegradable item commonly observed in marine debris.  My group was given a plastic water bottle, and as a team we created a poster that identified the various impacts of the single use plastic item as well as possible solutions on how to reduce consumption and usage of the product.

After the program, we were given a tour of the school and then were provided a typical Malaysian lunch where we were able to sit down and talk to many of the teachers and staff. Overall it was an amazing experience and I look forward to the other schools we will be attending in the next two months!

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