KitaJagaKita

In the last few days, my friends and I have launched #KitaJagaKita: a “one-stop shop” for Malaysian civil society efforts against COVID19.

Context:

Uncertainty can be terrifying. For some of us, COVID19 is an existential threat. There is a sense of powerlessness, of the inevitable.

Uncertainty can also be galvanizing. Throughout the world, civil society has mobilized to fill the void in our governments’ COVID19 response. Many of us want to act; to make meaning, build solidarity, and reclaim our agency.

In Malaysia, where I am from, civil society is resilient and proactive. Newly launched initiatives include donation drives to strengthen our medical system; grocery delivery services to the elderly; childcare services for medical frontliners; and relief efforts for the most vulnerable members of society.

We ride on this wave of goodwill and action.

Gap:

Amidst this civic mobilization, there is a risk that the average Malaysian is lost in the flood of information / initiatives.

Making sense of / navigating between many different initiatives is costly, in terms of time and effort – which may lead to unrealized action from the average well-meaning citizen.

Our project:

KitaJagaKita is a “one-stop shop” / clearinghouse for Malaysian civil society efforts against COVID19.

In Malay, our project means “we take care of each other.”

We compile, categorize, and list civic initiatives in a way that makes it easy for users to filter through and select projects they could contribute to. For example, users who want to donate money / food / volunteer their time are matched with civic initiatives needing such contributions. In a different use case, users who need help can search for civic initiatives who offer support.

Essentially, we aim to match people who want to help with people who need help via various civil society initiatives.

In particular, we target well-meaning Malaysians who want to do something against COVID19 but don't know exactly what to do.

Development:

We launched our website on March 18 – with a scrappy, start-uppy team of volunteers.

In 2 weeks, we’ve had 35,000 users and incredible media coverage (https://kitajagakita.com/pages/media).

In 2 weeks, we’ve seen more and more initiatives launched, amidst an outpouring of support from the public – a testament to the kindness and generosity of the Malaysian people.

In 2 weeks, we've inspired a similar platform in Germany, with groups "scoping" out launch prospects in Miami and NYC! We plan on scaling this up - we think our platform is replicable across communities and countries. (https://www.hilferegister.de/)

Together, we act – for action begets action.

Together, we fight.

Together, we reclaim our power.

What do we want from WeFunder?

What we want from WeFunder is not primarily the $ (although that's nice), but more the publicity. We really think we've hit the right balance for a mutual aid platform. We have not seen one in reality that's as effective, as intuitive, and with as many users. We think the importance of mutual aid is going to be increasingly important, especially in developing countries, where civil society has to rise up to fill the gaps in the government's COVID19 response. And to be honest, the gap is NOT that there are no networks to reach the most vulnerable. There are - these are the hardworking NGOs / community organizations on the ground. We aim to empower and strengthen NGO efforts by helping the general public channel resources to existing NGOs who are doing amazing work.

Publicity allows us to reach interested groups in countries we otherwise can't. They may be searching for a solution - having our model out in on global media may trigger action from them to start one in their countries. In fact, that's how we triggered Germany, NYC, and Miami - the founders heard us talking about our website - and everything just clicked. They immediately saw the value add of an aggregator / clearinghouse - and jumped into action.

We can accelerate the process by developing (1) a startup "playbook"; (2) plug-and-play web templates; (3) advice / coaching / ideation - so founders can hit the ground running. Vulnerable communities depend on mutual aid and civic help - we help enhance this system.