Restoration programme of OIC has been changing my life. I’m no longer the same person before I was before starting this job”
Bardok is what people often call him. It is a unique name indeed, however, it is not his real name. His real name is Edy, quite common and not as special as Bardok, his nickname. He is one of the local people who live in Halaban, a small village near our Halaban restoration site.
Bardok, now can conduct any survey related to trees
By 2008, OIC came to Halaban village at the first time. At the time, OIC was conducting socializing for restoration programme to the local people. “Working in an NGO is not something new for me. Years before I joined OIC, I worked in OXFAM in Aceh for Tsunami relief programme. Suffice to say, restoration programme was something that unknown to me. What I knew was merely planting trees” he said.
Bardok then became curious to know about restoration programme. Lucky him, it was announced as well that OIC was recruiting the staff for this restoration programme and KETAPEL, the association of farmers that he was joining chose him to get the position. From there, his long haul was begun.
Curiosity leads him falling in love into trees
Bardok answered his curiosity about the programme by learning very hard to understand about the project. He was amazed how OIC had been working so hard to reclaim the land from the companies and planning to conduct the reforestation of the damaged forest. He was a bit unsure but his curiosity to learn won the doubt. Slowly but sure, he absorbed all of the information given by the restoration coordinator fastly. The more he learned, the more the curiosity changes deeply into love towards the programme.
“Restoration programme of OIC has changed my life. I learned so much about a tree and I never knew that tree is not only a tree, they play in the different role to empower the ecosystem and create balance. I used to think like the common village people, adoring the oil palm trees. Once I know about oil palm fact, it changes my opinion towards it completely” he said.
Bardok is not the same man he was before the restoration
Now Bardok is a different man. He becomes the local champion who has deep knowledge about trees and fondness toward trees and wildlife. “I hope that I could be able to keep working in the restoration programme forever,” he said with smiling. We are lucky indeed to find Bardok to support our project and become an important person in our big family. And yes, we are going to find more Bardok in other restoration sites we are currently managing. 1 Bardok is not enough. Thus with your support, we will find more and more Bardok. Don’t stop supporting us!