Sumatran Orangutan Society

Hello all,

I am volunteering for the next month with the Sumatran Orangutan Society. Their office is here in Ubud. This is a great organization and I'll get to help with admin/media/education programs etc. I'm very excited. This is a little different from most of the volunteer work I've done in the past and I'm thrilled to have a chance to do something to help animals and the environment.

SOS is hosting their first Orangutan Caring Week here in Ubud on the last week of February. We'll also be putting together materials to take into the international schools. They have a lot of material but need someone to help organize the actual class time and projects in English. They already have Bahasa material (Bahasa is the Indonesian language).

I'm very impressed with much of what this organization and its fellow organizations have done. They focus not only on the orangutans and their plight but also promote legislation to decrease deforestation. Deforestation in addition to killing numerous plants and animals and destroying ecosystems also increases carbon emissions. By clear cutting forests much of the bogs and wetland areas become dry and give off carbon, creating more carbon emissions than those created by transportation. WOW... I didn't know that - not sure how many of you did either. Interesting and important. I have much to learn and will be working with some fun people at SOS. Here's their website. Enjoy!

http://www.orangutans-sos.org/

And of course... if you have any questions - please ask and I'd be happy to help!