We are heading off to Samboja Lestari this morning which is an orangutan rehabilitation and survival centre north of Balikpapan. We will be there for a week so this will be my last post for a little while! Tonight when we get there they are throwing us a little party with the sun bear keepers, orangutan keepers etc., so I cannot wait to talk with them.
I just wanted to talk a little more about the village we stayed in for a night, Kumpung Baru. Like I said, it's a coastal village and the houses are built on stilts over the water so that the tide can do it's thing. This water is the dirtiest water I have ever seen. It's overflowing with years and years of garbage being deposited straight from the houses into the water. And if that isn't enough, the washroom facilities that each household has consists of a hole in the floor with a view straight to the water below. I could barely bring myself to pee in the morning because I knew that I would walk the 10 feet from the bathroom to outside and see dozens of children swimming without a care in that same water. It's disturbing to me. A lot of the children have nasty scabs all over their bodies which we were told is scabies I think. This is from a lack of hygiene, so not directly from swimming in the water, but I feel that the two have a tight correlation.
I tried to capture the amount of garbage in these pictures and kind of failed. I just feel like action has to be taken.
Over and out internet world. I'll catch ya in a week!
xo
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