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This episode is brought to you in collaboration with Clean the World Asia – a charity helping to recycle Hotel soaps and giving as good as new soaps together with hygiene education to low-income communities.
You might be surprised to find out that every day, up to 7 million bars of soap are discarded into landfills yet nearly 6,000 children die each day due to hygiene-related illnesses.
In our eyes that is just crazy! Clean the World Founder Shawn Seipler was thinking exactly the same.
We had the incredible pleasure to share his story with our listeners in #impact Podcast Episode 10, where Shawn gave us an intimate insight into how he started out, how he had a moment of revelation in his hotel room while he was travelling 4 nights out of a week as an IT Sales Executive.
“Back in 2009, actually pre Clean the World, I was a Vice President for a Global Technology Company. I ran a global sales team and I was in hotel room 4 nights a week and realised that every time I travel I wasn’t taking the soap with me and it was being thrown away. And at the same time back then there were 9000 children that were dying every day to pneumonia and diarrheal disease and of course we could save their lives. So this really impacted me. It was just a profound revelation that I had when I determined that I could take the soap, recycle it and get it in the hands of children.” Shawn Seipler, Founder, Clean the World
Hygiene Ambassadors in the Philippines demonstrating how to sneeze properly. Photo Credit: Tracy Wong
“We come at it from a social entrepreneurial perspective, a company that is in the business of helping others, and that approach has been very innovative here [in Asia], but it also led to I think a lot of quick adoption of our programme because that’s in my opinion where the world is going. It’s going to a time where people value impact, they value sustainability and green initiatives, they value social impact and helping others. So the more they value that the more that social enterprises and social entrepreneurship can bud, which is really key I believe for the future of our world.” Shawn Seipler, Founder, Clean the World
If you are based in Hong Kong, you can meet the Clean the World Asia Team at the upcoming Fun Festival and Endless Possibilities Photography Exhibition and we know that this project means incredibly much to Clean the World Asia’s Managing Director Gyneth Tan-Murphy. So we asked her to share with our listeners, why she would love to see you there and why this means so much to her.
“Clean the World Asia’s Fun Festival celebrates our first photo exhibition in partnership with the talented photographerTracy Wong. This exhibition shares the images and stories of the children who benefit from our soap and hygiene program. This is super close to my heart because I have met and spoken to the children and their mums. The mums really treasure the soaps because they shared that their children fall sick less so their school attendance improve, helping them to reach their full potential.”Gyneth Tan-Murphy, Managing Director, Clean the World Asia
This is what is happening at the FUN FESTIVAL
- See a breathtakingly beautiful Photography Exhibition by the talented local photographer Tracy Wong who uses a collection of journalistic photographs, portraiture, and video to illustrate the Endless Possibilities of Clean the World’s hygiene revolution.
- Assemble hygiene kits that will be donated to the Homeless in Hong Kong.
- Join a parent and child photography workshop with Tracy Wong, learn all about lighting, composition and so much more that will help to improve your kids’ and your own photography skills.
- Get creative at the art stations.
- Sample products at eco stores and pop-ups.
- There will be food, drinks and in general just wonderfully good vibes with incredible people.
All proceeds of the event go to soap & hygiene education for low-income communities in Hong Kong.
If you have questions and want to find out more about this amazing event, please do reach out to the Clean the World Asia team at marketingasia@cleantheworld.org .You can also find more information about the ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES charity event on Facebook.
This featured episode is brought to you in collaboration with Clean the World Asia.
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