Orang week in Jakarta

Dear Orang Utan Republik Education Initiative Supporters and Friends:

It has now been a little over a week since my return from Jakarta. I am getting over the jet lag and a bit of the flu I picked up (not the avian variety) but wanted to give you a quick rundown of the successful week in Indonesia’s capital city which helped launch the Orang Utan Republik Education Initiative’s (OUREI) first major event: Pekan Peduli Orang Utan (PPOU) or Orangutan Caring Week.

We first discussed doing this event back in July when we visited the office of Ms. Angelina Sondakh, a member of the Indonesian Parliament (DPR) and someone who has been passionate about wildlife and environmental issues for many years.  Inggriani and I asked her to be our “Ambassador” to help put a face on our organization in Indonesia. As a former Miss Indonesia, we knew her charisma would catch the attention of the media and the citizenry. She agreed, and we began making plans for various activities to educate Indonesians about orangutans and orangutan issues though the media. We also presented Angelina with a list of names of people who had been signing our petition to have the Indonesian government officially declare Orangutan Awareness Week in Indonesia in November. Unsure of the process of getting an official declaration, we asked that her office explore the options while we collected more signatures. Angelina agreed and assigned her staff to work with us to coordinate.

As summer rolled into fall, I found myself in touch with Angelina’s staff and others in an effort to choose the best week possible. We did not want to hold it during the end of Ramadan during the holiday of Idul-Fitri. We also didn’t want to hold it during the Thanksgiving holiday week. We settled for 13-19 November. In what seemed daily emails to her office and staff, we worked out the details, sent draft documents of all sorts, including press releases, letters to Ministers, proposals, graphics, etc.

November finally arrived. I flew to Jakarta from LA on Friday (10 Nov), arrived on Sunday (13 Nov) and went to Angelina’s office on Monday where I worked with staff to prepare for the week. (Thanks to Inggriani’s family, I had a car, driver, and  cell phone).  We used Angelina’s Parliament office as our base of operations. We planned to have the press conference on Wednesday morning with the Minister of Environment in attendance but he was unavailable. Also, protocol dictated we have the official declaration made by the Minister of Forestry as orangutans were under his purview.

On Tuesday, we held two meetings at the OUREI Jakarta office:  the first a meeting to discuss the organization in Indonesia and our future. The second meeting in the afternoon, was held a conference planning meeting for the US Fish and Wildlife Grant to hold a workshop and summit in Sumatra. As we received the funds for this grant, we needed to use the opportunity to form a committee and go over the planning aspects. Of note was the decision to postpone the workshop/summit until November 2006 to allow for better planning and fundraising opportunities. Ian Singleton of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program, and a co-advisor on the grant, attended the meeting along with representatives from a local professional conference organizer as well as other invited guests.

On Wednesday, we held the press conference and began the 3-day Fair. Below is the press release featured on the OUREI website:

November 16, 2005– Jakarta, Indonesia.  While a group of reporters from the television and print media listened among a throng of orangutan and primate support groups, Minister of Forestry, MS Kaban read a declaration officially recognizing “Pekan Peduli Orang Utan” or Orangutan Caring Week, 13-19 November 2005. The declaration, presented at a press conference announcing the special week, was the culmination of an effort among supporters of the Orang Utan Republik Education Initiative (OUREI) to have International Orangutan Awareness Week given government recognition during the month of November. Thousands of signatures were collected throughout year and those signatures were presented to OUREI Ambassador Angelina Sondakh last July and this November.  Efforts by her office to gain ministerial support were ultimately successful.  Pekan Peduli Orang Utan (PPOU) was chosen as the Indonesian equivalent for Orangutan Awareness Week which occurred the week before (Nov 6-12).

During the press conference that was held in the Operations Room of the Indonesian Parliament Building, OUREI Chairman, Dr. Gary Shapiro, publicly presented a certificate of appointment to Angelina Sondakh as OUREI Ambassador and a certificate of appreciation to Minister Kaban for making the official declaration. Brief presentations about orangutans and PPOU were made by Ambassador Sondakh while Dr. Ian Singleton (Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme) and Togu Simorangkir (Yayasan Orangutan Indonesia) gave illustrated briefings on the status of orangutans in Sumatra and an education initiative in Kalimantan, respectively. Writer and conservationist Fachruddin “Rudi” Mangunjaya also used the opportunity to launch his new children’s book, “Orangutan Pesta Buah Durian” or “Orangutan Durian Party”

The declaration of PPOU led to increased interest about the plight of orangutans by the media. Numerous newspaper articles about orangutans appeared during the week, and Ambassador Sondakh and Chairman Shapiro appeared on several radio and television programs to discuss PPOU and orangutan issues.  OUREI facilitated a 3-day fair in the lobby of the Parliament Building featuring a dozen primate and conservation organizations (NGOs) that were invited to participate. Indeed, the mission of OUREI is to enroll the combined efforts of government, NGOs, media, and the people of Indonesia to save the orangutan. In that regard, PPOU was a successful inaugural event for OUREI in Indonesia and one that will be expanded in the coming years.

……..End press release…..

This official declaration by the Ministry of Forestry was a significant event by the government of Indonesia. It raised the profile of the orangutan as a symbol of Indonesian wildlife to a national level. It allowed orangutans and orangutan issues to be seen and heard by legislators at the Parliament and citizens across the archipelago during much of the week. It gave the written and electronic media an opportunity to cover orangutan issues. It provided a venue for other nongovernmental organizations to participate and promote their own missions which complement our own. Finally, we can look forward to a much larger and more involved event in more cities partnering with more primate and conservation organizations in November 2006.

Of further significance, OUREI now has a spokesperson at the Parliament who will take our message to other venues and influential people in Indonesia thereby providing a voice for a species that is in decline.

Both Angelina and I used the media of television and radio on Thursday, Friday and Saturday to get the message heard by hundreds of thousands of Indonesians. When I boarded the plane on Sunday (20 Nov) to return to Los Angeles, I kept thinking how impressed I was by what Angelina was saying on the radio. She does understand the issues at stake. Now that I have left Jakarta, she will continue to articulate the mission of OUREI and the need to save the orangutan and its habitat through education and outreach.

All of us should realize that for a new and small organization, OUREI has done quite a bit in a short period of time. We need to continue to build on our achievements and support the efforts of our Ambassador in the coming months and years. Please continue to support our efforts in whatever way you feel comfort. Please email me and let me know what you think of our efforts and what we can do to be more effective.

With regards,

Gary Shapiro

Chairman and Co-Founder

OUREI