Samsudin, Fables to Protect Rare Animals

Budi Suwarna

· 7 minutes read

For the last three years, Samsudin, 47, has cycled or walked from city to city to spread his environmentally themed fables. He has surprising experiences in almost every city he visits.

One hot Friday afternoon (7/7/2019), Samsudin walked around Jakarta’s South Palmerah area. He wore a black pangsi (traditional short jacket and trousers) with a brown batik headband and a pair of flip-flops. He carried a large cardboard box with "Fables on Saving Indonesia’s Rare Animals " written on it. Without the box, people might think he was a drug dealer.

Cheerfully, he told the several reporters he met in Palmerah that he wanted to tell stories. Once he was encouraged to do so, he opened the box and took out cardboard puppets of rare animals. He began to tell the story of a two-horned rhinoceros that was threatened by poaching. Then, he took out several puppets of children who tried to save the rhino from a poacher’s trap.

At the end of the tale, he concluded, “All animals play a role in preserving our environment. If there are no bees, there is no pollination, and people might run out of food.”

Samsudin has regularly told his stories on environmental preservation for the past three years, as he traveled to cities across Indonesia. Every time he spots a group children gathering together, he stops by to tell his stories about the country’s rare and endemic animals. He also visits schools and asks whether he can tell his stories to students.

He travels around the archipelago by cycling or walking. He flies from one island to another and continues with his environmental storytelling. He says he is used to cycling from sunrise to 10 a.m. After that, he holds a storytelling session and then gets back on his bicycle to travel to other cities from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.”When I explore a city, I walk," he said.

In several cities, he cycled alongside a small group of animal protection volunteers or NGO activists. However, he must sometimes ride alone along quiet roads in some areas that are prone to crime.”When I traveled from Jambi to Medan, I cycled alone because there was no local team that could come along with me."

On his travels, he received the assistance of many activists from the Alert NGO, volunteers, journalists and philanthropists. Sometimes, help came unexpectedly. When he ran out of money in Yogyakarta and could not get to Malang, East Java, he suddenly received a donation of Rp 750,000 that appeared in his bank account.”After that, I could continue to Malang to tell stories."

Teacher

Before becoming an animal protection advocate, Samsudin was a non-permanent teacher at a school in Indramayu, West Java. When he was assigned to teach an Indonesian Language class, he used his natural storytelling skills so that his students would not get bored.

He worked as a teacher from only 2012 to 2016. After that, he decided to become an activist and joined a literacy campaign with several friends at the Bumi Pertiwi reading center. In 2016, he joined a movement to protect animals.

It all started when he met a friend who worked at an animal protection NGO in Jakarta, who then introduced Samsudin to Marcellus Adi, a veterinarian and a rhinoceros researcher who was an active member of LSM Alert. The two met during a trip in Jambi and Marcellus spoke about protecting endangered species, which piqued Samsudin’s interest.

Samsudin then proposed to start up a social campaign to address communities directly, which he believed would be more effective.”Because I had a bicycle, I proposed a cycling campaign from city to city. To make it attractive, the campaign materials were packaged as fables."

Five months later in April 2016, the campaign started. Using Earth Day as a launchpad, Samsudin chose the Environment and Forestry Ministry as the starting point of his mobile campaign. He cycled to Banten, then to the southern section of the Bukit Barisan National Park in Lampung, and ended his first trip in Jambi. His journey took 1.5 months.

“If it lasted more than 1.5 months, my wife and child would complain,” he laughed.

His next campaign started from Jambi, and traveled to Pekanbaru and Medan. Samsudin then continued his trip to Aceh by car, because his health had weakened. After Sumatra, he hopped over to East Kalimantan and then to Java, where he traveled through South Tangerang, Bekasi, Purwakarta, Cirebon, Kebumen and Yogyakarta, to finally end his journey in Malang.

Samsudin usually stopped by a school in every city he visited to tell his fables about animals using puppets made of cardboard. He introduced the rare animal species and the importance of protecting them, using language that was easy for the children to understand. He also incorporated messages of tolerance and harmony.

"At times, I stopped on the road when I saw a group of children and told them the stories. I was pleased when the children wanted to interact, lining up for autographs, and some even asked me to write a message for their mother."

However, he was even more pleased when the children made their own puppets from cardboard and joined him in telling stories about animal protection. “This meant that they remembered my campaign and they spread it to others."

Mistaken for a kidnapper

Samsudin has gained much experience from every journey. “I saw how Indonesia really is with my own eyes. Indonesia is beautiful and rich, and the people are helpful. I share knowledge, but also gained a lot of knowledge," he said.

But he did not only have pleasant experiences. He had some unpleasant experiences in several areas, and even one terrible experience. While campaigning through Ujungkulon in Banten, he encouraged some children to look for natural materials to make collages. “That’s when a woman shouted, \'Where are the children being taken? Do you want to kidnap them?\' For me, her [accusation] was dangerous. Fortunately, it was resolved immediately,” he said.

In several other cities, security officers shooed him away because he was dressed modestly and looked shabby. “I told them, I had an appointment to tell a story at the institution, but they laughed at me. I was also kicked out because [they] thought I was selling the puppets at the school," he recalled, laughing.

These experiences were an important lesson for Samsudin. First, he should not become irritated if he was driven away or misunderstood. When he was angry, he became emotional so that he became unable to speak about goodness. He also reminded himself that many parties supported his social campaign.

"The support of the media is very important to me. When I appear in the media, people will know who I am and they become aware of what I\'m doing," he said.

Samsudin is now planning his next trip. He does not know where he is going next. He does not have enough money to buy airplane tickets or to buy supplies for journeying by bicycle or by foot. But he is calm. Asked how he provided for his family while he was on the road, campaigning for animal protection, he just smiled.

“As long as my intentions are good, the universe will provide support. Mestakung!" he said.

SamsudinBorn: Indramayu, 8 Sept. 1971

Wife: Uswatun Hasanah

Child: Sofia Amelia Suryani

Education:

- Business management, Wisnu Wardhana University (1996-1999)

- Darul Ulum University, Jombang (1994-1996)

- SMA I Indramayu

- SMP I Lohbener

- SD I Lohbener

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