Jakarta Globe, Bishka Zareen Chand, May 12, 2013
Many people think that kids and teens are not able to make a difference to the world. But our group, Students for Animal Voices and Ethics, proves them wrong.
Animal rights group Students for Animal Voices and Ethics volunteers with the Jakarta Animal Aid Network to help socialize rescued dogs. (Photo courtesy of SAVE) |
Many people think that kids and teens are not able to make a difference to the world. But our group, Students for Animal Voices and Ethics, proves them wrong.
SAVE is a
group of middle-school and high-school students who are serious about animal
rights. It was started in 2009 and has since continued to grow, gaining
momentum and new members each year.
SAVE was
the very first service project at Sinarmas World Academy in Tangerang focused
on spreading awareness on animal rights issues.
Our goal is
to help people understand animal rights and how animals deserve to be treated.
We believe that you can make a difference at any age, as long as you have the
passion and dedication to do so.
“SAVE was
started as a response to the horrors of animal cruelty I’ve witnessed in
Indonesia,” says SAVE president and group founder Adellea Greenbury.
“I hated
the idea of all of this going on while I couldn’t do anything about it.
Abandoned pets, enslaved monkeys, tortured animals. All these pushed down on my
conscience until I simply had to do something.
“As I am
still young, I decided to start small with an in-school community. My hope is
that SAVE can continue to grow and develop, and that one day we will make a
real difference in the larger community of Indonesia.”
Each month,
SAVE joins the Jakarta Animal Aid Network to help maintain a garden we
co-created, while volunteering to take care of the rescued dogs under their
care.
We are
currently also organizing a cat sterilization drive at Sinarmas World Academy,
to help control the number of stray cats strolling around campus.
Starting
and maintaining our different projects requires a lot of time and effort, but
SAVE is an enjoyable group to be in is because working with the animals at JAAN
and organizing events with the other SAVE members is just so much fun!
Our
partnership with JAAN is really growing and we continue to be involved with
their projects and work collaboratively as much as we can.
At JAAN,
the people are very easy to work with and are serious about working together on
different projects with us, even though we are just a bunch of teenagers.
“JAAN welcomes
volunteers at our new center in Cijantung, East Jakarta, to help with yard
work, poop scooping, dog socialization [finding new homes], cage cleaning,
fund-raising, event organization, campaigning and promoting awareness,” says
JAAN cofounder Natalie Stewart.
“The dogs
at our center aren’t confined and they’re allowed to roam around freely to
interact with each other and with the staff and volunteers. Volunteers are
advised to wear old clothes as the dogs sometimes jump up and can be muddy.”
JAAN headquarters
in Kemang, South Jakarta, is also filled with a lot of friendly rescued dogs
running around the yard.
If you are
serious about getting a new pet, JAAN is definitely the right place to go.
This year,
SAVE is planning to create more projects, and make a bigger difference for
animal rights in Jakarta.
However,
the students cannot do this alone. SAVE welcomes volunteers of all ages in
Jakarta who are dedicated and also interested in working with animals.
Together,
we can create a network of people who are passionate about animal rights,
striving to make a change.
Bishka
Zareen Chand, a ninth-grader in Sinarmas World Academy, is the public relations
officer for SAVE. She joined SAVE in 2012 and plans to attend Columbia
University and major in psychology. This is her first published article.
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