Aurora
I am studying forest conservation and ecotourism. Currently, I am doing some research on volunteering programs to get my undergraduate degree. In Indonesia, we do not have a lot of these kinds of programs, especially linked to animals and forest conservation. But for the past five years, it is changing. I find it is an interesting phenomenon that people from abroad come a thousand miles away to help us to do something with our environment. They probably have a lot of things to do as volunteers in their own countries, what are their motivations to come here.
“Why are you here? Is it really to help us or are you here to relieve your guilt? Or maybe just wanting to have fun?” I feel like Indonesians themselves didn’t realize how lucky we are to live in our own country. Maybe we are too used to seeing nature every day, so we didn’t realize we must conserve it. Foreigners can appreciate this more than us, as they do not have the same diversity. But more developed countries are in the end the ones making more damages to our mother Earth. I want to protect Indonesia ecosystem better.
My dream is to find a job that will allow my future grandchildren to see what I see today, to be able to hear what I hear today and be able to do what I do today. I do not want them to ask me what an orangutan was.
