Charity hopes to drive education in flood-hit village

Saturday 05 January 2019

An islander, who founded a charity to help an Indonesian village wiped out by a flood, is aiming to raise enough money to buy a tuk-tuk to transport children from nearby areas to the education centre she set up there.

The Bukit Lawang Trust was established by islander Rebecca Coley after a flood hit the small village of Bukit Lawang in November 2003, killing at least 300 people.

Bukit Lawang is located in the Leuser Ecosystemin the Sumatra region in Indonesia. "It is the last place on earth to find orang-utans, tigers, elephants and rhinos living together in the wild. There are also sun bears, Thomas leaf monkeys, pangolins, rare sumatran song birds and many more amazing species," Rebecca explained.

She originally visited the area as a traveler to see endangered orang-utans in their natural habitat, and fell in love with the "beautiful" zone.

Pictured: Rebecca Coley first traveled to Bukit Lawang to see orang-utans in their natural habitat.

During her visit, Rebecca made friends, who contacted her after the flood asking for help. "It snowballed into a charity. We received funding from the Jersey Overseas Aid and we registered. At first, we were providing immediate aid to help people getting back on their feet."

But it then continued to grow. In 2007, the charity established an education trust for the local community, to whom they provide free lessons in English, maths, sciences, arts and crafts for young people and adults, a library, and a free mother and toddler learning group.

The trust says that education is "the best route out of poverty" and therefore wants to "offer the opportunity for young people to learn English and increase their knowledge of the world and the environment".

Pictured: The charity's Education Centre was established in 2007.

But they also place a big emphasis on conservation, offering classes on the subject and holding an annual Conservation Festival in the village, which aims to bring the local community and NGOs together to promote recycling and ecotourism in the area. 

Rebecca explained: "The area is under constant threat from huge palm oil expansion and threat to wildlife due to farmer conflict because of loss of habitat and poaching due to poverty. We take a holistic approach to conservation working with local communities to educate and support alternative economies like eco farming, eco tourism, guiding and ranger training.

"We offer green classes as people don’t want to poach if they learn to understand and protect the natural environment and have alternative sources of income."

The charity employs seven local staff and also hosts volunteers from Europe and the US, who come to teach and work on the eco farm.

With the support of Bedell Cristin, who recently hosted a quiz and curry evening to raise funds for them, they have been running a young ranger project. "We travel to villages on the border of the national park and teach English and nature classes.

"Bedell Cristin also support our teenage class where we provide transport for them to come to conservation class at the Bukit Lawang Trust Centre." 

Pictured: Every year the charity holds a Conservation Festival in the village, bringing together local communities and NGOs.

This year, Rebecca says the team is hoping to raise £700 to buy a becak (a tuk tuk style vehicle), which will enable teachers pick children up from different villages to bring them to our education centre.

"I don't think I knew what I was getting into at the beginning but classes have been working very well. We have seen some students go to uni after coming through the centre - it's been really good."