Written by Petricia A. Hutasoit
Anak Sebangau from Education Programme recently carried out an event namely Culture Exchange Box in March 2018. It was the second time the program done by Anak Sebangau. The participating Australian school in event was Esperance Primary School. The aim of the program is to establish the network, to improve the children’s writing skill, and to exchange the culture through some activities that could represent each culture.
What do we have in Anak Sebangau’s box?
We placed some objects inside the box; the introduction letter for explaining the education program, letters written by Anak Sebangau, map of Kalimantan, photos of Anak Sebangau, locally hand-made Orangutan key rings, the iconic BNF’s book titled Gibbon who Lost His Song Book, and Getah Nyatu craft made of the latex of Nyatu tree (Palaquium sp).
Each of this object we used as a medium to exchange the culture of Anak Sebangau. The letters of Anak Sebangau informed the Esperance school students about the life and the place where Anak Sebangau children live. By sharing the photos, expectedly the school students could have a picture on their mind how Anak Sebangau spend most of their times. The map was simply used to show where central Kalimantan is located.
In addition, the locally hand-made key rings of Orangutan were a creative art form of Kereng Bangkirai Village. The local people made the key rings from the coconut shelf. These key rings depicted the iconic ape of central Kalimantan, Orangutan. From these key rings, the participants were expected to always remember the habitat of Orangutans that depend on their lives in Sebangau National Park protected forest housing the iconic Indonesian largest great apes population.
The book, The Gibbon Who Lost His Song Book, is written and published by BNF staff to depict the effect of the forest fires towards the gibbons that lost “house” in the forest. The book is bilingual having its English and Indonesian versions. Getah Nyatu Craft made of the latex of Nyatu trees (Palaquium sp) was used to create a small boat shape called Jukung that represents the mode of the river transportation used amongst Dayak people in the past.
Through this positive activity, we hope that Esperance Primary School from Australia could enjoy their time by the activities that were carried out by Anak Sebangau. The box and the objects inside were expected to give a better understanding of the culture to which Anak Sebangau live by. The Esperance School is also expected to send the reply to the letter written by Anak Sebangau in the near future.
Are you curious about the box from Australian school for Anak Sebangau? We will soon find out so that we can also learn about the Australian culture.
Keep your eyes on our blog!
