Feelin' a little sluggish...




I guess the delays with the Kalabia (Education Vessel) arriving, the uninspiring city of Sorong, and the fact that my 'counterpart' seems to be constantly 'ill' and never at the office has got me down.

The Kalabia has been experiencing technical difficulties, and is well over a month late arriving in Sorong. Although I still have plenty of work and planning to do, there are certain things that are being held up by this late arrival! However, it would be nice if I didn't feel like I were doing them alone. During this trying time of 'waiting', I am also finding it extremely frustrating that CI would hire a "Marine Environmental Education Specialist" who knows nothing about Conservation, Ecology OR Education. I understand the idea of mentoring, but usually the person being mentored takes an active interest in the task at hand, no?, or at least has some basic level of skills, knowledge, interest or motivation to build upon!? I am finding the current hiring process for our assistants to be all the more exasperating, because I am in on it, and am feeling more and more hopeless... no one else is taking the selection seriously... well, what did i expect, when they hire a 'big boss' who is, for lack of a better word, such a dud!?

I am even more frustrated when I go into the field with a CI team... why? Let's just say that very very few people who work in conservation in Indonesia are actually CONSERVATIONISTS! They don't think about the LOADS of garbage they themselves are needlessly producing, and then leaving in the pristine areas that they are supposed to be conserving. They are just as bad as every other Indonesian, who spares no thought whatsoever, when buying water for instance, as to the best way to reduce the amount of waste... they buy individual plastic bottles that they don't reuse... they could refill their 1 gallon jugs, but now that wouldn't be quite as convenient would it!? grrr....

It's not hard to see how this situation has come about... In Canada (or the 'Western world'), in general working for a Conservation NGO is not big money... people who work in Conservation are not doing it to get rich, they are truly concerned with the welfare of the planet and are trying to do something about it. They have chosen a career that may not make them wealthy monetarily, however satisfies in them something more important. This is NOT the case in Indonesia (I don't want to generalize to say the 'Developing World', although this is probably the case). In my experience so far in Indonesia, I have worked with people in a small local NGO as well as a big international one, and the basic vibe is the same... although they're working for the 'big picture of conservation', on a small scale, they aren't truly conservationists at all and are working for the sustainability of their pocketbooks. Working with an NGO in Indonesia represents a sizeable salary, and benefits, for little amount of actual work, compared to many other options available. Not very inspiring.

Sorry for ranting. Glad THAT'S out of my system!