118 / Sawinggrai, Raja Ampat, West Papua
Mr. Jonas came the first time to Raja Ampat in 2015 and worked with an International NGO in Abore island. He fell in love with the nature of Papua and especially Raja Ampat.
After gaining experience in Greenpeace Swiss, he decided to set up his own project.
He met the Head of the village called Sawinggrai and proposed to set up a Learning center for the kids and the villagers. The head of the village and the community were supporting the project and provided a building.
The learning center started to run in November 2016 and since then, it serves the Sawinggrai village and the neighboring village for teaching learn English and environmental education. During the evening, Jonas likes to give a presentation about nature and environment such as mangrove, corals, waste etc. for the kids. He expect the community could take care of the marine resources as the corals are the main attraction for the tourism in this area.
Due to a the fast growth of tourism in Raja Ampat, the village is facing a waste problem. The village has no proper waste management system and the growing tourism makes it even worse. The local community recently build a waste shelter.
The learning center doesn’t have good books about nature and environment in Bahasa Indonesia, so the green books will be appreciated there.
Jonas also plans to have a boat so that he can bring the books to other villages in other islands near there.
This Eco-Education Center is self-funded by Mr. Jonas.