By: Natalia T. Agnika

"Wow, the truck is nice!" exclaimed the children when they saw the arrival of Panda Mobile in the yard of Petra Alpha National Plus School Joglo, West Jakarta on Tuesday (12/05). The colorful truck owned by WWF-Indonesia stole the attention because it could be transformed into a place to gather, play, and learn about the environment. That morning, WWF-Indonesia's Panda Mobile team visited to provide various "Waste" themed activities to around 200 students at Petra Alpha's KB, TK and SD.

The elementary school children had to wait patiently for their turn because the volunteers first invited the kindergarten and playgroup students to play and do activities. Entering each class, the Panda Mobile team started by introducing themselves and WWF-Indonesia to the students. In turn, they participated in a series of events consisting of playing engklek to get to know orangutans better, making photo frames from used cardboard, and listening to storytelling presented by Kak Ryan.

After the activities with Kindergarten and KB students, the Panda Mobile team moved to the elementary school area. The first session of activities followed by elementary school students in grades 1 and 2 was watching the movie "Elephant Hunters" on the Panda Mobile truck, grades 3 and 4 doing 3R activities (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) making brooches from old newspapers, and observing the water infiltration process for grades 5 and 6. Each group took turns doing a series of activities with enthusiasm and enthusiasm.

After participating in all the activities, all elementary school students listened to storytelling in the school hall. The story about plastic waste entering the forest and endangering orangutans made the students understand the impact of plastic waste on the environment. Moreover, the story was told by Mr. Ryan in an interesting way so that all students were very entertained. A 3rd grade student, Kim, shared that she once littered at home. But after listening to the fairy tale about the impact of plastic waste, she promised not to litter anymore.

Not only the students who enthusiastically followed the various activities carried out by the Panda Mobile team, the teachers also asked questions several times. Some wanted to know more about WWF-Indonesia, while others asked about the conservation programs conducted by WWF. Miss Duma, one of the teachers at SD Petra, appreciated the activity that day. "This activity is very good. Moreover, the storytelling is very funny, interesting, and in accordance with the children's language so that the message is conveyed well. It would be better if visits like this take place regularly so that children will be more aware of the environment," she said.