Sharing, learning and networking at the Family Meetings

“Gained new knowledge.”
“Sharing insight and ideas.”
“We know that we are not alone!”

That was just some of the feedback from our recent series of “Trash Hero Family Meetings” held in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia this autumn 2018.

These twice-yearly events bring together our local chapter leaders from each country with the Trash Hero World team, external speakers and like minded local NGOs, for three days of workshops, education sessions, informal networking and above all boosting our energy as a movement.

Although each country’s agenda is different, certain elements are the same: we have a “leaders’ academy” for new chapters to learn the ropes of weekly cleanups, the bottle program and so on, with our in-country mentor teams; advanced sessions on particular aspects of our work, for example quality standards or public speaking; and an education day where we meet others doing similar work, to network and learn from their experience.

Logistics for the events are entirely covered by our donations, so no volunteers need be out of pocket for accommodation, food or travel; we pay expenses for actual costs, rather than per diem. Of course, all the work of organising the meetings is done for free, by more of our volunteers (special thanks to Nan, Ulli, Rima and Fancy!); and no speakers are paid.

In Thailand, we stayed at Ban Sabai Hostel in Bangkok from 19 – 21 October; in Malaysia at Langkawi Dormitorio from 27 – 29 October; and in Indonesia at Michi Retreat, Kememai Hostel and Lagas Hostel in Ubud, Bali from 2 – 4 November: our thanks to them, our venue hosts Frangipani Resort (Langkawi) and Museum of Marketing (Bali), and our other sponsors for their support. A full report, with accounting, will follow in the New Year.

For the first time since we started the Family Meetings in 2016, we sent out a multilingual online feedback survey to follow up on participants’ experience of the event.

From the 44% of attendees who replied, we had an overwhelming endorsement for the meetings, with on average 98.4% of respondents saying they were satisfied or very satisfied with the outcomes.

There were also some helpful comments and great ideas about how to improve for next time, including moving the venues to different areas for chapters to “host”; more outdoor activities, such as joint “model” cleanups; and earlier communication of the agenda.

As technology is always a barrier to participation in Southeast Asia, we will also ensure there is an offline version of the survey available at the next meetings in April – May 2019, to enable higher participation.

Let’s round up with some of the comments from the survey.

“I am very happy, I get many new friends, new information. Later the information that I got, I will practice.”
“The information on WtE [Waste to Energy] and how other chapters run was very valuable. We know that we are not alone to solve problems.”
“It is really nice to meet all of the people who are working on this together. It makes you feel like you are not alone in this battle.”

See you next time!