The aim for this event is being able to build teamwork and strengthen the relationship between alumni and grantees among universities along with the coastal society and the government

Mangrove Rehabilitation was attended by 63 participants consisting of alumni, VDMS grantees, speakers, and Oesapa coastal residents. The event started with a welcoming speech by Secretary of Lurah Oesapa. That was followed by a previous RR Event report from Noy, the Chairperson of RR Kupang and two seminar sessions by Pak Umbu Dawa and Pak Dody. Also, we had a sharing session at the end of the activity: we discussed the next proposed activities and shared experiences from alumni with grantees, so that our relationship would be tighter.

Mangrove Ecosystem and its Planting Methods

First session of seminar, brought by Pak Umbu Dawa, the PIC of UKAW. In this seminar, he introduced the mangrove, its types and the kind of mangrove that we would plant in this rehabilitation.

“Not all of the mangrove types could be planted in any environment because the durability of the mangrove live maybe negatively affected”, said Pak Umbu Dawa. “From 100% mangrove saplings that have been planted, probably at least 20% will grow into trees.”

This is affected by what kind of mangrove type planted and where this kind of mangrove will be planted, the planting method, the environmental condition and other natural factors.

After introducing the mangrove, he explained the planting methods, for example, using “ajir” (mangrove sapling directly after planting tied to a small bamboo beside it so that the mangrove sapling doesn’t easily go down), using a bamboo sleeve (mangrove sapling planted in a bamboo sleeve first, then this sleeve will be planted in the ground so that the mangrove sapling isn’t easily swept away by sea water). And the last method is to plant the mangrove sapling directly in the ground after making a hole. Every planting method above has advantages and disadvantages.

 

Mangrove Preservation and its Role for Oesapa Coastal Residents

Pak Dody, a lecturer of the Fishery Department of UKAW, explained how to raise mangrove saplings that have been planted, by cleaning the moss caught by mangrove plants because of ocean currents, and then conducting periodic reviews of the mangrove tree, so that they can take precautions to replant mangrove trees in case there are some that have died or been destroyed by wild animals and cleaning up rubbish carelessly disposed of in the environment of the mangrove planting. This is a challenge for us all who after planting mangroves want to do the maintenance. This is due to the importance of mangroves to preserve water-life as well as people living in the coastal area. “If you do not start now, when will you have time?” So, we are very excited and try our best to preserve the mangrove plants that we planted.

We did mangrove planting after lunch. We waited for the low tide so that the mangrove planting could be executed.

Sharing Session between Alumni and VDMS Grantees

After the mangrove planting, we held a discussion session among alumni and VDMS grantees. The things that we discussed in this session were as follows:

1. Describing the activities that have been implemented and the goals that have or haven’t been achieved yet.
2. Challenge was given by speakers to conduct the preservation of mangrove planting.
3. Forming a committee for next activities.

The result of this discussion session was as follows:

1. In this activity (and the two previous activities) VDMS grantees always took an important role in participating, more so than alumni themselves, therefore the chairperson, beside welcoming participants that just attended this event, provided a review of the activities that were carried out previously with or without their presence.

Basically, all of these activities aim to (1) be able to build teamwork and strengthen the relationship between alumni and grantees among universities along with the coastal society and the government, (2) bring out the capabilities and skills of alumni and alumni candidates, in this event especially in planting and taking care of the mangrove ecosystem, (3) strengthen the sense of responsibility, remind to always keep in touch and expand the network among alumni and grantees of VDMS, and (4) remind the principles of the Alumni Association of VDMS: Learn, Share, and Encourage on all components.

1. The participants accepted the challenge from the speakers and agreed to conduct the preservation of the mangrove planting every month. This preservation will be conducted without any further proposal, the RR board plans to use the remaining funds of RR Kupang treasury for this project and to keep providing reports to the alumni committee of VDMS or the central office administrator of VDMS.
2. We succeeded to form a committee for the next event. The activity to be carried out next is “ONE DAY TOEFL COURSE”. The composition of the committee is as follows:

• Chairman : Nofriadi Umbu
• Secretary : Daniel
• Treasurer 
: Jeremi Ade Rischy Asamau
• Consumption
: Dewi Setiyowati Gadi
• PR 
: Karolina Saltini
• Equipment 
: Evenlyando Kamuri

The committee consists of VDMS grantees, considering the results of the discussion. Besides that, they can learn how to be a leader, take responsibility of small things and build a  more intimate relationship between alumni and VDMS grantees.

Alumni Association of VDMS

This overview was composed of an introduction and explanation about what VDMS is, the Alumni Association of VDMS, the mission, goals and activities. People usually recognize what university we represent, but with this short overview, people finally find out that we, as VDMS crew, consist of alumni and students who attended a university with a scholarship of the Van Deventer-Maas Stichting. In this overview, we also explained our goals, such as to socialize with the community and to play an active role in improving the moral of integrity, intellectual capacity and mental strength of alumni VDMS with a focus on building highly competitive of quality human resources, professional, independent and practical politics so that they can take (an active) part in, and contribute towards a democratic, and prosperous nation and state.

Casmira de Araujo (Noy)