“From February 26th to March 8th, I participated the Mangkang Camp in Semarang, Indonesia.. It was one of the biggest events of my 21 years! That is because it was the first time that I went overseas alone, volunteered in another country, touched mangroves, and also visited Indonesia, a different culture from Japan’s. Before participating in this program, I had had the reason why I would like to go to Indonesia and plant mangroves. It was a sense of responsibility.”

Akane Kamiyama, volunteer from  Japan,  took part in the Mangkang Workcamp, 26th February – 8th March 2016

“I am an international volunteer from Singapore and this year was the third time that I participated in the Mangkang workcamp. A direct benefit for the local community was the planting of mangrove seedlings. This continued the effort of forming the “green belt” along the coastline to mitigate the impact of coastal erosion. Furthermore, awareness was raised for the importance of mangroves among the young generation through the school visit programme.”

Pae Jun Zhi, volunteer from Singapore: My name is Pae Jun Zhi.

“I feel that I grew a lot through the trip. Without any parents there taking care of us, I needed to do everything myself; from cooking to hand washing clothes. Those are the things that I never do in Singapore. I have learned so much about Indonesian culture too. I did not regret signing up for this trip because I opened my eyes to things that I will not see back home and the experiences that I have been through are not something that everyone will get to experience. Most importantly, I have given back to the environment, even though it is not a lot, but every effort counts regardless of how big or small. Thank you Mangkang for the eventful two weeks.”

Pey Sin Yi, volunteer from Singapore, took part in the Mangkang workcamp

“It was my first time going overseas for such a long period of time, and also my first time contributing to an overseas voluntary project. This project to help Mangkang relieve the effects of coastal erosion and promote effective waste management had been a wild ride especially for me. The 18 days allowed me to grow a lot as a person and also learn many new life lessons through my experience. I was really glad that I was able to contribute to a better future for Mangkang through the planting of 10 thousand mangrove seedlings. These seedlings would hopefully help to bring income to the villagers and make seafood farming possible again in Mangkang.

Our first day of arrival was welcomed by a flood where our vehicle could not enter the village and rubbish could be seen floating on the waters, and lying everywhere on the ground after the waters subsided. There were many villagers whose houses were not elevated and were badly affected by the flood, including the houses of our camp leaders. There is a lack of knowledge amongst many villagers, pertaining to rubbish clogging up their river and hence resulting in floods when rain comes, due to inefficient water flow.

Moreover, the villagers have been living in the village for so long and their most convenient way of waste disposal is into the river, that they may have come to accept the flooding as a part of their everyday life. We, as volunteers, do not belong to the village and hence, the inefficient waste management and the flooding may seem to be larger problems to us, compared to the villagers. We have the responsibility to inform the villagers of the detrimental impacts from their way of waste management and empower the locals to take initiatives and save their homes. It was comforting that we managed to help one of our camp leaders feel for his home and be willing to make a change with his small yet significant efforts. Empowerment can be a long process, however, small changes lead to big differences and I really want to go back to Mangkang again and contribute in whichever small ways I can.”

Theresa Chong Pei Qi, volunteer from Singapore,  took part in the Mangkang Workcamp, 20th May – 5th June 2016

“I volunteered at Mangkang wor camp in May for 18 days, though the period was short but the experience was positive and enriching. A unique feature of the work camp is living with the locals in a local house instead of hostel. This allows us to experience the life and better understand the challenges the villages faced. I would strongly encourage anyone who believe in environmental conservation and the empowerment of local communities to join the Mangkang workcamp.”

Zhi Yuan Soon, volunteer from Singapore, took part in the Mangkang Workcamp, 20 May – 5th June 2016

The Mangkang workcamps are organised each year by IIWC (Indonesian International Work Camp)  of PKBI. If you would like to join a Climate for Peace Workcamp check out our listed of upcoming workcamps on our website.