On Sunday the 10th of March 2019, the day we arrived at Tioman and at Juara Turtle Project, we (students from UWCSEA Dover, Singapore) helped to complete JTP’s turtle hatchery on the beach. We put up bamboo on the two parallel (longest) sides of the house and also posts along the middle of the hatchery, using ropes to secure them together. Dan taught us how to tie knots using string in a way which allowed us to firmly connect the bamboo pieces together. It took us about an hour to put up all the beams but it was a very fun, rewarding experience and the activity made us work together and towards the common goal of putting up the structural base of the hatchery while also working together to overcome any challenges we faced, which in my opinion helped a lot to bring us students closer together and also to bring us and the members of JTP closer together, too.
The following morning we covered the whole hatchery with a black mesh material to act as roof cover. We had to work together, using chairs or ladders to help elevate ourselves so we could tie the mesh coverings to the beams which made up the structure of the hatchery, while also tying them to other, separate mesh coverings. We used zip ties to hold the mesh covering in place and to avoid letting any sunlight leak through gaps between the mesh coverings. It was evident that we all felt a strong sense of satisfaction and contentment after the completion of the hatchery, and we all found the experience of doing something so different and contrasting to our normal, busy, urban-orientated lives in Singapore a pleasant, eye-opening one.
Kaleb
