By: Faradiba Engelen (Panda Mobile Volunteer) and Pratama Aditya Haryanto (Panda Mobile Coordinator)

For the first time, Panda Mobile visited SDK 11 Penabur Kedoya, West Jakarta last Thursday (02/11). The activity, which involved 140 3rd grade elementary school students, took the theme "Green Day". The Panda Mobile team introduced a green lifestyle to the students through various interesting activities.

One of the activities carried out was to invite students to use their own shopping bags instead of using plastic bags. The shopping bags in question are self-made shopping bags by utilizing used t-shirts. Armed with used t-shirts from home, the participants followed the instructions given by the WWF-Indonesia Mobile Panda volunteers. The hope is that the students can spread the use of recycled bags when shopping or other activities without having to use plastic bags in their daily lives.

The recycling activity made the students more aware and sensitive to the surrounding environment. Moreover, the location of their school is a flood-prone area when the rainy season arrives. They also saw that the flooding was caused by plastic waste that had accumulated in the residential ditch where their school was located.

In addition to the practice of making shopping bags from used T-shirts, they also got a message about the environment through storytelling presented by Kak Ryan. In the storytelling, Kak Ryan told a story about trees and animals who lost their friends and home, the forest. With his distinctive puppet and changing voice, the students of SDK 11 Penabur were 'enchanted' by the story told by Kak Ryan. They seemed to really appreciate the story and then agreed that they must also take care of the animals and their homes.

Other activities that were also carried out by the students with the Panda Mobile team were watching movies, testing water quality in the water laboratory, and educational games. When testing water quality using the Panda Mobile water laboratory facility, the students looked stunned. The water samples they took from the neighborhood around the school showed many microbes when viewed with a microscope. They also took turns trying to use the microscope.

The teachers welcomed the arrival of the Panda Mobile team. "Regarding the activity of recycle used sweatshirts into bags, we will continue and try to auction the children's work in December. Later we will also conduct counseling again to parents related to environmental conservation, especially around this school," said Tuti, one of the teachers at SDK 11 Penabur Kedoya.