Real estate tycoon turned philanthropist-cum-adventure seeker Morgan Parker arrives in Vietnam, where his nominated charitable cause is AnimalsAsia to support their drive to end the farming of bears in that Southeast Asian country.
“When we were seeking an organization to support in Vietnam, as in each country, we started by identifying an issue that has a wide-reaching impact as well as a personal appeal to myself and the Wheel2Wheel team,” Morgan says.
“Then we searched for organizations effectively tackling those issues at a grass-roots level, built around the work of inspiring individuals.
For Vietnam, fellow Wheel2Wheel team member Nathan King recommended the campaign against animal cruelty being led by Jill Robinson at AnimalsAsia.
As we did our homework and learned more about their work, the quality of the organization, and Jill’s passion for ending the torture and mistreatment of moon bears – our choice was clear.”
Thousands of bears across Asia are tortured on bear farms so that their bile can be extracted and used in traditional medicines to cure ailments ranging from headaches to hemorrhoids.
Tapped for Their Bile
Unlike in China, where bears are “tapped” for their bile, bears in Vietnam are subjected to a variety of other cruel procedures. They are put in cages and subjected to crude surgical procedures to extract bile from their gallbladders every three months.
The bears suffer in agony as their wounds become infected. This often leads to death after three or four such procedures.
When Morgan arrived at the Animals Asia Moon Bear Sanctuary in Tam Dao, Vietnam, he witnessed the efforts that are being taken to rehabilitate the hapless bears as well as the steps that are being taken to end bear farming in the Southeast Asian country.
Raising Awareness
“Importantly, we also want to raise public awareness of the work of Animals Asia through our online campaigns and television broadcast which should reach millions of homes throughout the region,” Morgan says.
Wheel2Wheel is an innovative independent non-profit organization created to raise awareness and provide financial assistance to brilliant yet under-recognized charitable organizations throughout Australasia.
Wheel2Wheel is a self-funded expedition. All funds raised go to the 10 nominated charitable organizations.