SABRINA DAVIS
“I love storytelling and hoped to make an impact within our community in this very unique way.”
Humans of Kangaroo Island started as a distraction for me after going through a disaster in early 2020. During what I call my ‘Zombie state’, I didn’t want to think about the bushfire or being homeless anymore, I just needed a good chat and to hear some positive stories.
After losing everything in the Black Summer fires and having to relocate to a town 100 kilometres away, I felt unsettled and lost. I decided to get to know my new community and neighbours by chatting with them over a cuppa.
A few conversations in, I realised how much this was helping me and how it was becoming a big part of my healing journey after facing adversity. I hoped to bring everyone back together, bring the community a little bit closer, so I decided to put this project online, make it accessible to everyone and call it Humans of Kangaroo Island.
The idea was to re-connect community members after the 2019/20 bushfires, get to know each other on a different level and close the gap COVID-19 created shortly after the fires with the restrictions slowing down our disaster recovery process and stopping community meetings.
Humans of Kangaroo Island has since told many islander stories and is creating a positive impact. Our very first fundraiser in November 2020 organised specifically for the local farm firefighters raised over $65,000. Since then, through a film and literature festival and the release of a storytelling book, we have raised an additional amount of over $10,000 for playgrounds that needed rebuilding on the island.
As our little family recovers as well, I’d love to continue making Humans of Kangaroo Island without thinking about how to pay for it. So if you’re in a good place right now, and the work has enriched your life over the years, you might consider contributing to its creation by buying me a cuppa below. Thank you!