Wani Care Foundation

VIEW FROM A VOLUNTEER IN PPSC

Rossey Gurr:

My name is Rosey Gurr, I am a 38 year old British diplomat. I have just finished a four year posting in Caracas Venezuela. I was put in touch with PPSC by Femke and did a week as a volunteer at Cikananga Refuge and Rescue centre in Western Java, Indonesia.
If you are looking for a relaxing holiday with not much to do, this is not for you. The work is very physical and there is always something that needs to be done. If you don’t like getting dirty, wet or hot, again this is not for you.
If you are looking for something that is truly worthwhile, rewarding and enjoyable – this is for you. It has been such a pleasure working with the dedicated team of Indonesian keepers, with much laughter and good communication despite the language barrier (my Indonesian is non existent!).
I was asked what I wanted to focus on before I started. My principle interest was primates, particularly Orangutans. I spent four days with Usup, the primate keeper. A working day involved thoroughly cleaning each of the enclosures (8), feeding twice a day and enrichment which is aimed to enhance the animals’ lives. I saw (and cleaned up) an impressive array of monkey pooh, listened to the Siamangs singing their unique and very noisy song, got cuddled by Dodo the Orangutan, avoided the nimble fingers of Noni the female Orangutan as she searched my pockets (you learn very early on not to have anything in pockets and not to wear jewelry), listened to the soulful sound of the gibbons and talked to the very gentle leaf monkeys.
My final few days I spent with Alen, the Carnivore keeper. This time, I was helping with Sun bears, Binturong , otters (adorable), an albino porcupine and a black leopard. Again focus is on cleanliness and enrichment, it was a joy to hear Huny the Sun Bear’s almost purr when she got her milk and to watch the bears search their enclosures for their food (hidden as part of enrichment).
Apart from my everyday chores, there was also team work twice a week, which involved everyone, including security and management to help with an allocated project. I managed to get more paint on me than the walls I was meant to be painting, but it was great to see everyone working together to improve another facility at the centre. I also helped prepare the quarantine quarters, swept paths, fed other keeper’s animals when they had the day off and helped with anything else that was needed.
Accommodation was ample, the toilet Indonesian squat style and the shower a bucket and water (it is amazing how quickly you get used to it!). The food, I opted for three meals a day, was ample and delicious. Some nights I would sit with the other volunteers and Willemijn sharing dinner and chatting, other nights I was so tired by all the physical activity of the day, I was snoring in my bed by 730pm!
For most of the animals Cikananga is a transit point, to help them adjust before they are released into the wild or passed to a larger refuge or zoo. Sadly some of the animals will never be able to be released back into the wild, but the dedication of the Cikananga team means that they will see out their days being looked after to the highest standards with care and attention.
I would like to thank Willemijn, Cikananga management, the other volunteers and most of all the keepers for welcoming me so warmly and giving me a week that I will never forget. My one regret is that I only stayed for one week. I go away determined to help raise badly needed funds for the centre so that it can continue it essential work.

Elise Brouwer (22) from the Netherlands:

Together with Kasper, I am traveling around Indonesia and South-East Asia. We wanted to stay somewhere and lend a helping hand to someone who needs it. So we decided to go to Cikananga on Java to help and do whatever is needed to be done. Through someone from the WWF we heard about the center and that they were in need of help and volunteers.
Before we came here we did not have any expectations, we only knew that Cikananga is an animal rescue center.
My first few days in the center were already very learningfull. I did not have experience with working with wildlife and getting up so early… But after a few days helping the carnivore, reptile and primate keepers I was getting familiar with the animal keepers’ work and the noise of the beeper in the morning.
After the first few days working with the animals, like preparing the food, feeding, cleaning the cages and making enrichment, I started to do some other activities as well. Like preparing cages which were not in use at the moment and I was helping Kasper with maintenance and building a sleepingcage for the orangutans and socializationcages for the otters. A very interesting thing was that I witnessed a vasectomy procedure on a macaque (sterilization) and I was helping the vet during the medical examination on a macaque in the quarantine that just arrived in the center.
Next to these activities I had the possibility to make an introduction movie about Cikananga, so I did. When you have a nice idea or plan, in Cikananga you have the freedom to put it in practice. I liked that a lot and they appreciate it as well.
I spent only one month in Cikananga but it feels like I have been here already for half a year. All animal keepers and managers are locals from the nearby villages and they are very welcoming. Most of them do speak English but they love it when you (try to) speak Bahasa Indonesia or the caprioles you make when you try to make something clear. Also thanks to them, my time in Cikananga was unforgettable!
Willemijn is working for over 2 years for the rescue center, she also made me feel very welcome and I enjoyed the relaxing times together, after a satisfying day of hard work. I really admire her passion in the way she is putting all her effort to make Cikananga a beautiful and great running animal rescue center.
Willemijn, Iing, Ono, Rosey, Tina, Pa Robin, Pa Avit, Pa Boudi and all Cikananga’s animal keepers, thank you very much for the unforgettable time in Cikananga rescue center!

Kaper de Weerd (27)The Netherlands, Groningen:

When Elise and I first came to Cikananga we really had no idea what to expect. We had only short contact whit Resit Sozer (the founder of Cikananga). Luckily for us, Willemijn from Holland was also working at Cikananga. Willemijn is the new driving spirit for Cikananga and is a really nice and hard working woman. Elise and I started of by helping the animal keepers from the primates and carnivores. After that we saw that there still was a lot to do in the park like fixing and preparing cages, environments and enclosures. We started off by preparing the turtle ponds. The turtles first live in smaller enclosures because there was not enough time to fix the bigger ponds. After a few weeks the ponds were ready, it was really nice to put the turtles in their new and much bigger homes.
In the same time my new function in the park was maintenance guy. ‘Oh Kasper can you fix the grass mower’ and this and that etc… By the help of Wanicare, the park could buy a new welding machine and so my list of jobs-to-do grew by the day. And so the keepers where not allowing Elise and me to go home after a month, but maybe in a year or two. So I had to teach a few keepers and Willemijn how to weld so they could continue the work. And we could continue our journey.
After a few days we were asked to give a helping hand in seducing two macaques who just came in the center and needed to be checked for their health. I never did something like this it was really special. We also witnessed autopsies from animals how past away. Luckily it turned out that they died of natural cause. These are also things you experience in the Wildlifecenter.
One of my main projects was to make THE orangutan box. The orangutan box (sleeping house) was broken a year ago by Dodo the male. He really likes to break everything he can because he is in his puberty. And I had to make a new box for him and Noni. After the box was finished it was so heavy that we needed al the keepers to hang it up, but it is STRONG. So Dodo bring it on!
If I look back at the last month I can only say that it was GREAT! Hard work, but satisfying work. And that time flies when you are working in such a great place with great people.
And I haven’t even mentioned the landscape where Cikananga is located. It is beautiful.