The two structures meant something special to the team as well since the Pink House is where we have fondly called home for the past few days and the hatchery hut has been the scene of much joy and emotion (it's where we collect the newborns from and where we send the recovered eggs to). As such, we all made as much effort as possible to ensure that both structures were properly repainted.
I must say though, all the hard work is worth it as long as it made the locals happy. On that, the team agrees whole-heartedly. On that note, we can only hope that the nice womenfolk of PEWANIS and Abang Azam are pleased with what we've done. As the saying goes, always save the best for last and we sincerely hope that our best work was indeed done on these last two houses.
Apart from painting the last two houses, half of the team (Calvin, Si Jie, Yong Liang, Ka Jun and myself) also visited the Kuala Baru (KBS) hatchery. The ride into the facility was certainly a one-of-a-kind experience. Thanks to the skillful driving of Kak Nurol, we all made it through the rough terrain with nary a scratch. Undoubtedly, she's a very, very good driver indeed and we all feel safe in her hands.
The Kuala Baru hatchery is where the Painted Terrapin eggs are nested. It's isolated and situated near the estuary of Setiu River. Due to the location, those beaches are normally visited by female Painted Terrapins to lay their eggs. Not only is the location scenic, it's also hard to reach and relatively safe from outside disturbance. Sadly, it's not THAT hard to reach so the hatchery is still vulnerable to potential poachers seeking terrapin eggs. While that issue can be solved by having a ranger permanently stationed there, that solution is hampered by various constraints such as manpower and budget. Hopefully, turtle/terrapin conservation work gains enough of the spotlight in the future to warrant more salience from the general public and from the relevant authorities.
As usual, at night we had our usual night lessons. This time round, we taught the kids how to make hearts using drinking straws. Through that hands-on lesson, we also managed to teach them words such as 'scissors' or 'fold'. While such things may seem trivial to many people we know, it literally is a case of every english word counts over here.
Apart from all that, there were the standard nest excavations and egg pick-ups that we had to go for. Honestly, I never get bored of doing it and I hope I never will. In fact, I've managed to learn something from every single excavation I've attended and hopefully, I'll have the chance to keep on learning.
Now that we've finished painting the last few houses, the team feels somewhat emotional about it all. While we're all glad that all the back-breaking work is done, we realized that we genuinely enjoyed painting the houses. Not only did we have fun doing it, the team also managed to bond through the sweat and occasional tears. More importantly, the team managed to really interact with the villagers through all the labour. While some may not have found the experience to be fun or enriching, I can assure you with much certainty that the overwhelming sentiment amongst the team is that we loved the painting. So much so that I'm sure we'll all miss painting houses tomorrow.
Luckily, we have a kite-making session to keep us occupied! Now, that, is something we are all very looking forward to.
And the malay word for today is:
Merepek = talking nonsense
Till tomorrow!
Chow Wee
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