Bold to be bald: Social activist to empower communities via fund-raising

 By Olivia Miwil - November 17, 2020 @ 1:46pm

Tressie Yab botak challenge

KOTA KINABALU: An architect will shave her head bald to raise funds for personal protection equipment (PPE) production, empowering the unemployed and cultivating greens at home.

Founder of recycling movement UPcycled Shack, Tressie Yap, took up the #botakheadchallenge fundraising campaign mooted by another social activist, Amelia Tan, as a response to challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since early this year, Yap had been part of several groups producing PPE such as face shields and reusable fabric masks for the community and healthcare frontliners.

"The new Covid-19 cases in Sabah have been persistently high for more than a month since September. It was partly due to the backlogs of test results.

"On the other hand, I came to learn about many people losing their jobs and having starving families. So many of my friends are raising funds to feed the needy," she said in a statement.

Yap said she was invited by a friend Amelia Tan to pledge to shave her head and raise RM20,000 in funds as an expression of solidarity with those adversely affected by the pandemic.

Upon hitting the fundraising's target Yap planned to form a social enterprise to produce locally made PPE and help ensure a sufficient stream of supply.

"I will be buying sewing machines to empower the unemployed to take up sewing or any other relevant skills to make all sorts of PPE.

"The fund will also be used to educate home cultivation of vegetables and fruits. Most Sabahans live on landed properties or in villages. However, many still do not know how to plant (to grow their food)," she said.

The project would also supply seedlings of vegetables and fruits to the needy and reduce dependence on donations during movement control order periods.

For more information about the fundraising project, visit https://www.100percentproject.org/en/TressieBotak



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