Freedom for Jubaedah and Jubaedi!
A nonprofit fundraiser supporting
Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) FoundationPlease help support the pair of wild orangutan mother and son to go back to their habitat!
$1,800
raised by 5 people
$2,000 goal
Support for Jubaedah and Jubaedi
Last Saturday, I took the opportunity to open a booth in support of BOS Foundation in the New England Indonesian Festival, held by Permias Massachusetts at Copley Square, Boston. By spreading awareness about the role that orangutans have in our lives, the orangutan conservation efforts, and the challenges that come with it as well as our fight against the forest fires that were threatening orangutans lives, we were able to fundraise up to $1,580 from selling orangutan t-shirts and receiving generous donations. The funds that we raise will be used for supporting the release process of Jubaedah and Jubaedi. Thank you so much for everyone who have participated in this campaign!
As an Indonesian student studying abroad in the United States for university, the last thing I wanted to do is to leave behind my activism towards the conservation of Bornean orangutans at home. Bringing the awareness of the BOS Foundation’s efforts and the plight of these endangered primates to the people here is a noble responsibility that I carry with wherever I go.
I have witnessed, first-hand, over 500 orangutans that are currently under BOS Foundation’s care and support, both at their East and Central Kalimantan Rehabilitation site. These orangutans have previously been displaced from their natural habitats due to disruptive human activities, some even domesticated as house pets, and many of them orphaned. Now, the orangutans are undergoing rehabilitation programs to prepare them with the necessary skills before their reintroduction and release into the forest.
When I met eye to eye with one of the orphaned orangutans in Forest School at BOS Foundation’s East Kalimantan Rehabilitation Center in Samboja Lestari, I could see an emotional depth in her eyes – an eagerness to play, to run, climb, but what I saw the most was her will to survive. I shivered at the realization of this. This orangutan wants to survive as much as all of us living on earth want to. We are the same.
In January 2019, I was very fortunate to be able to not only visit BOS Foundation’s Central Kalimantan rehabilitation center at Nyaru Menteng but to also take part in the release of four orangutans to the Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park. From Nyaru Menteng, I joined the release team’s 10-12 hour journey over land and river to the prearranged points in the National Park. It was an incredible moment, both for the team and the orangutans, when we opened up their transport cages in the forest. After residing in a rehabilitation center, these orangutans can finally reintegrate into their habitat, their home, which was previously taken away from them.
This year, I received news that the BOS Foundation rescued a pair of wild orangutans, mother, and son, in May 2019, from a desperate condition near a village, later named Jubaedah and Jubaedi. The mother, Jubaedah, had wounds from bullets, sharp object trauma on her head, and she was also missing one part of her right finger due to human conflict. The team waste no time to rehabilitate the pair and bring them to Samboja Lestari Rehabilitation Centre, where they receive the best care and gradually healed from all of the wounds. Thanks to the hard work of the people at the BOS Foundation, Jubaedah and Jubaedi are now being prepared to go back to their home in the wild,
Humans drove them away from their home, but humans can bring them back where they belong. As releasing orangutans to the wild of Kalimantan is not an easy task, they need support from all of us. Not only the government of Indonesia and the BOS Foundation that can contribute to help these gentle beings, but we can also help them. Join me in supporting the journey of Jubaedah and Jubaedi back to their rightful home in the wild!