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Lucy Wisdom: Orangutan Crusader
One part of Lucy Wisdom’s life is connected to another part in a way which no one could’ve possibly imagined. In the 1980s Lucy Wisdom was training as a flying trapeze artist in Paris. Seven years later she found herself swinging off forest vines in Sumatra, teaching captive orangutans how to adapt back to the jungle. continue
The two professions are dramatically different, aren’t they?
I have an eclectic background and explored many unusual opportunities. At one point I was tour-managing bands in Europe and US while partnering in the then-infamous Batcave nightclub in London. Then I spent 5 months at sea sailing between England and the Caribbean, where I settled for 18 months. I put my degree in Archaeology and Geology to use there and started the Barbados Archaeological Society. Then another complete U-turn to learn circus skills.
How did you become an acrobatic performance artist?
I gave my brother a lift to an audition for clown school and did the audition myself. We were both accepted. Soon I took to the road with the Mutoid Waste Company, a traveling performance sculptural group well known in London and Europe during the 80s and 90s. The style was Mad Max, but before the film version was out. We made outrageous welded sculptures from recycled materials and created performances around these. It was my life for over 10 years. I loved being a Mutoid.
When did you leave that kind of work?
A diagnosis of breast cancer changed the direction of my life in 1994. The same year I came to the magic island of Bali for the first time.
How did you get into saving orangutans?
I was a volunteer at the orangutan rehabilitation center in north Sumatra for 3 weeks initially, and returned many times before establishing the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) in 1997. I had moved from the Metal world to the Animal world. This bought out a compassionate side of me.
What’s so special about orangutans?
On a very human level, what first captivated me was how you could descend into their eyes and experience a very deep connection. In Indonesian orangutan means ‘Person of the Forest’. They are our cousins, part of our evolutionary tree and in some ways part of us. I’m grateful to the orangutans and the link they provided me to nature. Working in the forest with them, I felt as if my cancer had gone.
What's a typical day in Orangutan Forest School?
I would take orangutans into the forest for their forest training to learn how to survive for their eventual release back into the wild. I’d teach them how to make nests in the trees or how to search out fruit and particular leaves. They would watch me intently, and every time I saw they’d learnt, I’d celebrate their newfound independence. It was a great experience to help them fulfill their destiny as ‘people of the forest’. I have seen many individuals grow up over the years.
What are some of the threats that Sumatran orangutans face?
Loss of their forest home, which is happening at an alarming rate. Especially in the last 25 years. The animal trade also takes its toll; mothers are killed and their babies taken to be kept as pets.
What's your role in saving Sumatran orangutans from extinction?
I founded the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) to highlight their plight as one of the most endangered animals in the world. SOS is a registered charity in 4 countries. Having a passion has definitely helped me survive. I travel and give papers at international primate conferences, waving the Sumatran flag, and maintain a little hands-on forest work. I have never been paid for my SOS work. I decided at the beginning of December to let go of SOS as I could feel my cancer was again active. Then the tsunami happened.
How has the tsunami affected SOS’ work?
The Sumatran orangutan only lives in the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra, the worst hit area of the 26 December earthquake and tsunami. Presently all SOS resources and offices are concentrated on humanitarian aid. Our Medan office was among the first to deliver emergency aid to Banda Aceh beginning December 28th. However this Tsunami relief effort took its toll on my health and I have now pulled back personally although SOS continues to deliver aid to survivors. We will return to orangutan work when the larger charities are effective. In the long term the tsunami will affect the orangutans. As people move inland, roads are constructed, poaching will increase and it is the nearest forest to collect materials for rebuilding.
How can people help?
Disseminate the information about the orangutan’s plight. Most people understand they are threatened but do not realize that extinction is probable within 10 years!
SOS runs adoption programmes, welcomes memberships and donations on-line: www.orangutan-sos.org.
orangutans@yahoo.com
Robin Lim, soprannominata l' ostetrica guerrigliera, di base a Bali-Indonesia- ma anche nelle zone dello tsunami in Aceh e del terremoto in Haiti, è " CNN Hero of the Year 2011" Grazie alle tante persone che l'hanno votata, con una serrata campagna a Ubud-Bali dove le strade erano tappezzate di poster con "Vote Ibu Lim as Cnn Hero of the Year" e una vasta campagna via web, Ibu Lim ce l'ha fatta e con i soldi del premio 30.000 dollari potrà ampliare la clinica Bumi Sehat. Robin Lim, cittadina americana di origini filippine, vive a Ubud, Bali dal 1994 e vi risiede come ostetrica. Qui ha fondato la clinica Bumi Sehat in seguito alle numerose richieste di aiuto che le pervenivano dalle donne incinte dell'isola, dove la mortalità per complicanze era molto diffusa. Grazie al suo impegno, a quello delle persone che lavorano con lei, donne indonesiane, e delle donatrici che le sostengono, si è creata una rete estesa di ostetriche adde
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