This year’s IFMA World Muaythai Championship, held in Langkawi, Malaysia at the Mahsuri International Exhibition Centre, was an immense success, with a total of 102 different countries participating in the event. While their focus has been promoting Muaythai, IFMA has also been very active behind the scenes in helping out the local communities where events are held.
With an emphasis on sustainability this year, IFMA partnered with the Consumer Association Penang, several different local hotels, foundations, gardeners, schools, the Charity Club of Langkawi, and the Rotary Club in Langkawi, in order to leave a small footprint, if you will, at the location of the event. Two demos were conducted to make fish amino as well as how to do container and heap composting methods prior to the event which involved other local Langkawi partners.
Once the event was underway, steps were made to make sure that everything from the composted kitchen waste to the tarps used for decorations were upcycled and re-used by the local community. A total of 1,150kgs worth of composted kitchen waste was collected from the hotels, resorts, and guest houses that hosted the different guests from the 102 countries. They were encouraged to use the composted kitchen waste to make fertilizers after the games for their landscaping and gardens.
A large amount of money was also donated to the Charity Club and the Rotary Club of Langkawi, which will be used to support the medical expenses of local families and cover monthly food runs, as well as provide educational books and repair funds for schools in Tuba Island. The blue carpets were upcycled for various uses from badminton and futsal courts to renovating condo units. Even the tarps were re-purposed to cover construction materials, as well as supply a local foundation to help single mothers make handcrafted tote bags.
Nothing from the event went to waste, and IFMA should take pride in the fact that they were able to conduct such an event as the World Muaythai Championships while simultaneously helping and giving back to the local communities.
