By: Natalia Trita Agnika

"Indonesia is a comfortable home for me to lay my eggs...," Fajar, a 6th grade student of SD Fajar Hidayah Bekasi read aloud the information about sea turtles on the body of WWF-Indonesia's Panda Mobile truck parked in the lobby of Wibawa Mukti Swatantra Building Bekasi on Friday (02/09). The presence of WWF-Indonesia's educational truck was in order to enliven the Book Party and Bekasi Library Archives Exhibition organized by the Bekasi Regency Archives and Library Agency and IKAPI. Events related to books and libraries are in accordance with the Panda Mobile truck because the back cabin of this six-wheeled truck is a library equipped with various books about the environment.

Not only reading books, visitors to the Panda Mobile truck were also treated to various activities. The first visitors to participate in the activities on the Panda Mobile truck were students from SD Labansari 02 Cikarang. The 5th and 6th graders were introduced to WWF-Indonesia by Kak Ryan and Kak Biyong. They were then invited to watch the movie "Tiger Hunter". "How was the movie, was it fun?" asked Ririn Riyanti, a Panda Mobile volunteer. "It was fun," the children replied in unison. Ririn also explained about the condition of the tiger population in Indonesia. "There used to be Sumatran tigers, Javanese tigers and Bali tigers. But now there are only Sumatran tigers because the Javanese and Balinese tigers are extinct," she explained.

The volunteers also explained the various endangered animals that are the focus of WWF-Indonesia's conservation work. While explaining, 6th grade students from Fajar Hidayah Elementary School joined in. They seemed enthusiastic to hear the explanation that humans have an important role in the conservation of rare animals.

In the afternoon, 38 students from Nida Asyifa Islamic Kindergarten climbed onto the Panda Mobile truck. They were enjoying listening to a story from Kak Ryan and Kak Biyong about an orangutan who was separated from its mother and helped by a tiger to find its mother. In between the stories, Kak Ryan explained about the differences between apes and monkeys. "The monkey has a long tail," explained Kak Ryan. The students nodded their heads to hear this. Through fairy tales, students are invited to love orangutans and other animals.

Student visits to the Panda Mobile truck continued. The students of PAUD Harapan Cipayung, East Cikarang also had the opportunity to listen to a story. This time the story is about plastic waste. "This plastic bag flew in the wind and fell in the middle of the sea," Kak Ryan opened his story. The plastic waste was mistaken for a jellyfish by a sea turtle and entangled it. Not only the students, the mothers who accompanied the children also listened to the story with enthusiasm. They were surprised when told the fact that plastic waste can only be decomposed after decades. They also promised not to litter and recycle plastic waste.

The unique shape of the Panda Mobile truck was able to attract the attention of Book Party visitors, coupled with the various activities carried out on the truck. This made some of the accompanying teachers want to invite Panda Mobile to their schools to convey conservation messages. They feel happy that their students get various information about the environment.