New Volunteer

How should I say?

I started working just today with the Habitat for Humanity in KK. I was first introduced with this organization by Joanna who happens to be the president of the committee. I am working as a volunteer to help supervise other volunteers coming from Dubai to build a house in Tambunan. And also as the person who up-dates this blog.

How did I come to know Joanna. I have been working in Sukau for the past 4 years and I know how it is to live without a roof on your head. A proper one I mean. I was there to do research on orangutans. I started there also as a volunteer and then the project director of the Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Project proposed that I should do a Master’s programme with them which I accepted.

I have been working as a volunteer for other initiatives including the World Wide Fund for nature. And my experience in Sukau as a volunteer for a month had exposed me to a cultural display of affection by the communities in desolated places that had brought them to care for these animals.

I anticipated to work for the Habitat for Humanity as the word Habitat strikes me. We have been trying to connect forests together to create a corridor so that animals may have a habitat worth living. And that KOCP has also been working with communities so that they get to value more about their nature and make sustainable living. Being in the kampong made me appreciate their culture and encourages me to do something.

I stayed at the field centre and sometimes I have guests visiting me when I’m not observing orangutans. I attend meetings which could prove their livelihood as directed by these directors. And I listen to their laments about their livelihoods. But another thing which I did as someone who happens to be here is teach these kids. When I’m in the forest, I was so happy to see my room decorated by flowers. They put some flowers on my wardrobe, on my table. I was touched. And knowing that one of my lecturers was studying snails, they collected shells from the garden and asked me to pass them to him. But of course he was studying limestone snails, but then, he took those shells anyway.

And the saddest part, was a friend of mine who is a single mom. She was a friend who accompanies me when I am alone in the station. And of course deep inside, I knew about her worries on the future of her children. Those kids that put flowers on my writing table. So I discussed with the director to take her in for a job, and he did!

I went around visiting homes during festivities and they were very welcoming. I saw a picture of Joanna in one of their photos. And there, I saw someone looking very happy and smiling with the community enjoying the food that they served. She was here to carry out a home-stay programme for these people. It’s a project that repairs houses for people that would be interested in joining the programme to have visitors staying in their house. Of course, these people would be paid for their hospitality and they would have to cook dishes for them during their stay. It was a programme run by the Ministry of Tourism to find a sustainable livelihood for these people.

One day, I added her in my Facebook and she accepted it. She probably recognise me from my supervisors. And then she proposed that I should be a volunteer for the Habitat for Humanity. And this is where I am now. It’s a very humble deed. And I am proud to be a part of it.

Soon, my friend from Sukau would like me to work there and I am considering. But at the mean time, I would be available to supervise volunteers coming from Dubai. Keep check for my other up-dates!

Sheena James