Bukit Lawang Trust

This is a short video I made for the Bukit Lawang Trust, to showcase what the school gets up to and to help raise money to fix the damaged roof.

I have volunteered at the Trust for almost 4 weeks now. Everyday I teach 2 English classes with children from the nearby villages, and I help out with the nursery class too. Within the English classes, the kids learn basic vocabulary and sentences on different topics. I mostly taught about animal, nature and science topics. I have been trying to add in conservation messages where ever I can.

For example, there is plastic rubbish absolutely everywhere out here. There is no awareness of why it is bad for the environment. So, I have been trying to show the children pictures of plastic in the ocean, in particular that plastic bags look like jellyfish and turtles eat them. We made posters saying “Save the turtle!”.

I also ran ‘Natural History Museum – Investigate’ workshops with the kids. I collected specimens from the National Park and encouraged them to look closely using microscopes and record their observations. I was hoping this might get the kids to look at nature in a slightly different way. I think it was a success although there is such a large language barrier!

Another venture I tried out was tour guide training. I wanted to see if I could help the local tour guides to understand the mindset of European tourists a little more. I think I was able to get across some pretty important ideas.

I also helped create Jungle Quizes for the local bar. This was pretty good fun, allowing me to use my bank of useless animal facts and presenting skills all in one.

The village and the Trust have been so welcoming to me, and made me feel like part of the family from day one. It is my last day here today and I will be sad to leave but so greatful for the amazing, rewarding experience.