Conservation works in many ways. As pointed out by our Research Coordinator Robert O’Hagan in a previous blog, it is a precarious balance of research, education, and outreach. These past few weeks, for me as Public Relations Coordinator, have been all about outreach within our local community.
A few weeks ago the idea surfaced to organise an event at the school run by LFP project manager Dendi Rustandi. In the spirit of our annual Pride Days, we decided upon a Festival untuk menyayangi kukang – a festival for loris love. Three weeks of intense planning, shopping, ordering, painting, cutting, colouring, organising, laughing, stressing, budgeting, and celebrating followed. As we were setting up all our newly made decorations on Saturday, I was filled with anticipation. I just wanted it to be a success.
As my alarm went off at 04:30, I looked outside and saw the faint orange tinge on the horizon, knowing the day was about to kick off. Myself, Katie, and Peter got dressed, grabbed our stuff, and headed over to the school building. As we put the finishing touches on the place, children and their families started trickling in. Next thing I knew, Katie was giving face-paint to immensely impatient children, Peter was hosting a can pyramid where the kids fanatically threw tennis balls at unsuspecting coke cans, and I was running around frantically looking for things to do. Point was, I was working with amazing people and there was nothing left for me to organise or stress about. Everyone knew what to do – Dendi was being the amazing host he is, Adin was busy preparing the Panjat Pinang, and Rizky was taking a register for the cooking competition. Finally, I started to feel myself relax into the swing of things and grabbed my camera to document the day.
There were a bunch of events happening throughout the day. As the crowd gathered, Panjat Pinang kicked off, two poles of bamboo with prizes in the top. The aim: climb the pole, grab the prize. The catch: the pole is covered in a mixture of oil, grease, and soap. Soon the playground was filled with laughter as both boys and men clambered over each other to try and get to the top.
More laughter followed as the spoon-race and sack-race started. Competitive but friendly spirits made for a neck and neck race, both between the children and the adults. In the meantime, people were voting for the best drawing for the drawing competition. Thirty-five children that attend Nature Club put their hearts and souls into these drawings. As I was
feeling overwhelmed by what was going on, I turned around and saw a familiar face dismount from a motorbike: previous intern Rifqi had come to give a helping hand. He was soon followed by current intern Helmi, carrying ever more stuff over from our house that I had forgotten in my pre-event slumber.
Rifqi and Helmi quickly took over my photography duties as I reported for mine: food tasting. It was time to judge the cooking competition, and we struggled tremendously choosing between all the deliciously made gehu and pisang goreng. As we announced the top three, Ibu Siti, Gina, and Heni prepared for the final stage of the competition: nasi goreng. This decision was even tougher, as all three women put in so much effort into their dishes. It’s tough job, but someone’s got to do it…
The afternoon was filled with an inspiring speech by Imam Nana Sumpena from Garut, who talked to the crowd about conservation and Islam. The day finished with an award ceremony, giving out prices to the winners of the numerous competitions as LFP mascots Tereh and Bunga watched. As the crowds later trickled out, we crashed down on the floor to have some food with the team. I can’t say a warm enough thank you to everyone who helped make the day possible – from our loyal friends to the locals attending – and hope we will have many more days like this to come.
– Faye Vogely
