Keep East Kalimantan's Stories Alive

This summer, I will be traveling to East Kalimantan, Indonesia to distribute an original children’s book and facilitate a complementary educational curriculum highlighting bioculturally important species in the villages of Pemaluan and Mentawir.

Since Spring 2024, I have had the amazing opportunity to collaborate with community partners from the villages to create this unique book. Pemaluan and Mentawir are located within the administrative boundaries of Indonesia’s new capital, Nusantara, which is under construction. As a result, the current residents, many of whom are Indigenous, face the imminent threat of relocation from their ancestral land. The potential severance of their ties to the land has also increased residents’ concerns about the loss of their traditional, local knowledge on East Kalimantan’s ecologically and culturally significant species within the region’s soundscape. As a result, the community members from the villages expressed how the creation of a children’s book is a priority as a means to preserve and share traditional knowledge or Indigenous science with their children, as their access and connection to nature's sounds have eroded. Together, we have been working tirelessly to bring their stories, knowledge, and histories to life, and I’m so excited for the books to finally be shared with them.

Currently, we have funding to cover the cost of printing 50 books. However, with 300+ students in the schools we’ll be visiting, we would love to be able to give them more. What’s more, our children’s book illustrator, Shu Han (Julie) Gan, has been generously working pro bono on the book since November 2024. With $1,000, we will be able to purchase 100 more copies of the children’s book for Pemaluan and Mentawir and give a $500 honorarium to our children’s book illustrator. We hope you will support us along this journey and we look forward to sharing this book with everyone!