NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTs |
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SEE/OUR Education Initiative, 2461 Santa Monica Blvd. #828, Santa Monica, CA 90404, USA-info@OrangUtanRepublik.org OUR Education Initiative is not affiliated with the Orangutan Foundation International nor its co-founder. OUR Education Initiative is a project of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE) a registered 501(c)(3) public charity © 2006 Orang Utan Republik Education Initiative |
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OUR Education Initiative is not a political organization and does not endorse or sponsor activities that attack or condemn individuals, organizations or governments. OUR Educational Initiative will work together with individuals, governments and nongovernmental organizations that are committed to saving orangutans and their rain forest habitat. |
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New and Announcement Archives |
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Past Newsletters— Suara Orang Utan— Voice of the Orangutan
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Dr. Maya Rumantir Hutasoit Appointed Honorary Advisor for OUREI |
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June 16, 2006- Los Angeles, CA. During a formal presentation and press conference held at the Consulate General Republik of Indonesia in Los Angeles, Dr. Maya Rumantir Hutasoit, celebrity pop singer and peace activist from Indonesia was appointed Honorary Advisor to the Orangutan Republik Education Initiative (OUREI). OUREI Founders Dr. Gary & Inggriani Shapiro announced the appointment in a ceremony following an illustrated presentation by Dr. Shapiro about orangutans, their threats and the work of OUREI. Dr. Rumantir plans to work with OUREI in Indonesia to further the mission of saving the orangutan through song and programs that touch and inspire Indonesian people to care about and to stop the exploitation and killing that contribute to the species rapid decline.
Dr. Rumantir has had a distinguished career as a top model and popular singer. She is also recognized for her achievements in education, humanity and peace. Dr. Rumantir is president director of the Maya Gita Human Resources Development Institute which is operated under the Maya Bhakti Pertiwi Foundation that she founded in 1989. Through her celebrity and her spiritual message of peace, she has brought people from various ethnic and religious groups in Indonesia together to celebrate the diversity of the world’s largest archipelagos. For her efforts and achievements in mediating peace between religious factions, she was received by Pope John Paul II on three occasions and once by Mother Teresa. In 2003, she organized and hosted an “International Day of Peace” in Indonesia’s Bung Karno Stadium attended by 50,000 people. Dr. Rumantir joins OUREI Honorary Advisors Ed Begley Jr. (actor and environmentalist), and Mr. Handriyo Kusumo Priyo (former Consul General) and his wife, Nani. Together with OUREI Ambassador, Ms. Angelina Sondakh*, (Miss Indonesia 2001 and current member of Parliament), Dr. Maya Rumantir will make an effective team in Indonesia to enlighten and inspire the Indonesian people to appreciate and save wild orangutans from extinction.
During the evening, Dr. Robert Kounang, President of American Indonesian United (Amerindo United) presented Dr. Rumantir with a certificate of appreciation for her education and humanity work at the Maya Gita Human Resources Development Institute. Consul Bambang Susanto and Nieke Gaston of the Indonesian consulate received certificates of appreciation from OUREI and Dr. Rumantir. The event was attended by nearly 70 people including supporters of OUREI and Amerindo United.
Dr. Rumantir accepted the honors and showed slides of her work throughout Indonesia. She enchanted the audience by singing three songs including “Healing for All Nations”, a song she wrote and sang for the 2003 “International Day of Peace”. She announced she plans to organize a similar event in Southern California next year. |
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LP Jenkins Memorial Fellowship 2006 Awarded to Gail Angela Campbell-Smith |
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June 1, 2006—Santa Monica, CA. Following a review of the submitted proposals, the Orang Utan Republik Education Initiative (OUREI) awarded the 2006 LP Jenkins Memorial Fellowship to Gail Angela Campbell-Smith for her entry entitled, “Bittersweet knowledge: Can people and orangutans live in harmony?”
The objective of her study, scheduled to begin in the Fall, is to produce the first detailed analysis of human-orangutan conflict and behavioral data of isolated orangutans in three different agricultural-forest zones within North Sumatra, Indonesia. The LP Jenkins Fellowship will provide an award of US$1,000 to defray the cost of her two-year study.
Gail will be conducting this research as part of her doctoral program at the University of Kent, England. Her study design was highly rated by the proposal evaluation committee who also felt the output of the study would be supportive of the current focus of OUREI.
The LPJenkins Fellowship was named in honor of Lorraine Phyllis Jenkins, mother of Dr. Gary Shapiro, and is a competitive award open to all graduate and undergraduate students planning to conduct field research on orangutans, related rainforest or conservation education in Indonesia.
For more information, visit the LP Jenkins page
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Above: Dr. Maya Rumantir Hutasoit addresses audience and press; Below: She sings one of three songs. Images © OUREI & S. Bimmerle |
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Above: Dr. Gary Shapiro (2nd from left) served as event moderator. Image © OUREI |