Working with wildlife has always been a dream of mine since I was a child. Growing up in a rural area in the north part of Bandung where there was still a lot of forest nearby, I had a lot of experience running around in the nature with my childhood friends. I especially love going up the hill behind my house in the morning and listening to the sound of the bird and see squirrel jumping around from tree to tree.
I moved to the city area later on, and I found it hard to adapt to the busy and bustling life of the urban. I did have a nice life growing up even then, but I always miss the beautiful nature where I lived before. By the time I get to go to university, I end up choosing forest resources conservation as my major because of this.
After that, it was like I found my calling in life. I joined a nature enthusiast organization in university where I got to do some study on Indonesian wildlife, doing some outdoor activities like hiking, rock climbing, and caving. After graduation I was really blessed to be able to have nature related works. I did work with orangutan in Borneo where I got to follow them around to see their behavior in their natural habitat post release after they were being rehabilitated in the orangutan rehabilitation center in East Borneo. I was also working for an animal rescue center in Sukabumi called Cikananga Wildlife Center where I help them caring for the rescued animals and working so they hopefully can get released back to the wild where they belong.
I came to know Little Fire Face Project back in 2018 when a friend of mine was working here. It piqued my interest since I never heard of LFP before and it is not even that far from my home. And I really like what I heard from my friend and what I saw in the website and social media of what LFP is doing. Not only working for the conservation of wildlife, especially the Javan Slow Loris, LFP also trying to help the local livelihood and working for the betterment of their project area.
LFP turns out to not disappoint my earlier impression in the slightest. I came to know many people who is passionate not only about conservation, but also of learning and improving both themselves and the environment around them. It is really delightful to be surrounded by likeminded people with positive energy. The conversation here is certainly not boring, and I even get to be in a get-together trip to the sea in southern of Garut on my first week here. How lucky of me!
For me, even though I did have some experiences before this, there are so many new things I can learn about and experience. Doing observation on nocturnal animal like slow loris is definitely not an easy thing. Struggling to stay awake while fighting the cold air of the night while also trying to see what a small bundle of fur are doing up high on the trees covered in leaves? Not what I would state as a fun way to spend my time before, but surprisingly, IT IS fun!
The biggest bonus of being a volunteer here for me is the coffee! I am a coffee lover, and it really is a nice surprise when I learn of the really tasty, good quality, wildlife friendly coffee which will be really hard to find anywhere else. I didn’t even know of this before I came here, and it certainly didn’t disappoint me. Being here also make me feel like I really contribute to something. I can really feel that what the LFP is doing here are affecting the life of the people around here in a very good way. They do education program, trash management, raising awareness against hunting, and how to farm more sustainably and eco-friendly.
This has only been the first week for me and I am so looking forward on what I would be able to do in my volunteering time here with LFP. Let’s see what other fun things I get to do while I’m here. Cheers!
