www.awnw.com.au
Issue #205 – Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Albury Wodonga’s largest circulating newspaper
Great start for refugee kids GREAT Start Group has started again – a playgroup for local refugee children aimed at making the transition from home to school smoother for both children and parents. FOR DETAILS TURN TO PAGE 6
Jungle mission By KRYSTEN MANUEL AFTER a local event in August that raised nearly $4000 to save the orangutans, Casey Murtagh has returned from her gruelling 25-day trek, and what a story she has to tell. Having battled exhaustion, severe humidity and a leech that delivered a mysterious water-borne infection to her femoral artery, Casey is already looking to fund-raise in Albury again thanks to her previous success. “It was a real tribute to small towns - a credit to the community,” Casey had said. “I grew up in a small town as well but there’s nowhere near the sense of community there is in Albury Wodonga - I was completely impressed!” Her upcoming fund-raising plans could even involve flying Leo Biddle, head of conservation for several rescue centres in Borneo, to Albury for a guest speaking event. “You might change someone’s life and the direction they’re going to take - that’s the exciting part,” she said. “Someone might come to a lecture and decide to volunteer for two weeks - that’s an extra $5000 that would not have come in if you hadn’t organised that lecture.” Casey personally delivered the money from the first fund-raiser as part of her participation in the Trans Borneo Challenge that started on 15 August. The program required $6000 of her own money, not to mention training, fund-raising and 900km of trekking through hot, dense forest filled with dengue fever and malaria carrying bugs and mosquitoes - all to save the orangutans. “It was more of an emotional
challenge, although it was definitely physically challenging,” she said. “The emotions of being in a developing country, the logistics - it was extremely difficult to get from A to B, the challenges that were faced in the jungle - being constantly damp, carrying a heavy, wet bag, leeches, bee-stings, wasps, fire ants and then surviving on micro-sleep. “The exposure you feel within that environment was very challenging for me. The largest predator in Borneo is the Bornean leopard, but it’s not the big predators you’re worried about, more the smaller things that are really going to give you a nasty bite. “I ended up getting some mystery water-borne parasite that infected my femoral artery in my left leg from a leech. The lymph glands in my groin were huge and it caused a severe amount of pain. The femoral artery almost looked like it had burst down my left leg, so I had to head to hospital with a course of antibiotics and a few other concoctions, but I seem to have fixed that all up. “Everyone was quite lucky not to get seriously injured or sick because it would have been incredibly hard to get access to medical facilities for a large chunk of the trip.” The group started the trek at the International Animal Rescue Centre in West Kalimantan, where Orangutan Odysseys gave the majority of funds raised to the orangutan project. “It was great to physically see the centre which is still in its building stages,” Casey said. “It’s good to know where our money is being spent and how important it is for the continuation of fund-raising for orangutan conservation.” Continued on page 6
There are only between 5000 and 7000 Sumatran orangutans left.
Sam - an orangutan keeper at Samboja Lestari rescue and rehabilitation centre, East Kalimantan, and Casey. This centre cares for over 330 orangutans and 48 sun bears.
Conditions on the Trans Borneo Challenge.
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