Support Local Trekking Guides and Porters of Ketambe through COVID-19 Pandemic

Hello everybody it's Johny,

March 8, 2020 was my last trip to the jungle. After that trek, the Indonesian government announced a stay at home order. While everyone is affected on some level, the tourism industry has been hit very hard and these treks were our sole source of income.

In the past few years we have worked hard to improve our trekking tours. We love our jobs and Our guests and we strive for excellence with every trek. In addition to arranging local accommodation in Ketambe, we offer exhilarating jungle treks of the highest quality. Ketambe is located in Gunung Leuser National Park, one of the last places on Earth where you can find wild orang utan populations. Together with a guide and porter you can spot orang utans and other wildlife and enjoy the great nature of the rain forest.

In our trekking tours we work together with a team of local guides and porters, all born and raised in Ketambe. By working with local guides, we stimulate the local economy and support the families in the village. Our team of guides are extremely knowledgeable and can explain everything about the area around Ketambe. They all have a real passion for the jungle and the animals in addition to a lot of knowledge and experience. The porters cook the best food and as they learn the ropes to become a guide.

Unfortunately, like all of you, we are now dealing with the coronavirus outbreak. Tourists are not allowed to enter Indonesia and we don’t know when tourism will go back to normal again. The trekking activities are canceled and the guides and porters are at home. Due to a lack of social system here, there will be no income until we are operational again.

With this fundraiser we want to help our team of local guides and porters as we struggle to stay afloat financially and I humbly ask for your support. All donations will go directly to our team and any amount helps! We hope to open our jungle trek activities in the near future, so we can welcome you back to Ketambe.

FAQ

Where will the money go ?

Sometimes people want to know where their money is going and what they are funding.

If we mention that we need to say how much will go to the teams and their families and how much will go to the new venture capital, I think it's better to say that it will simply go to the team and support the families.

Specifically, there will be 5 professional guides supported and 10 porters, which brings the total number of people supported to 15.

How will we use the money ?

At first, the money will be used to feed ourselves and our families because in Indonesia you can imagine that there is no or very little help from the government.

Secondly, we are going to use the money to start farming on the available land, because unfortunately we cannot expect much from the government.

Here's an example of what you can do with $20:

Put a smile back on the faces of the Ketambe people you know :-)

We prepare food bags* that include :

5 kilos of rice, 20 bags of instant crumb, 30 eggs, 2 bags of frying oil, 1 can of condensed milk, 250 grams of coffee, 1 can of tea, 1 kilo of sugar, 2 masks.

One bag can help a family for a week. The cost is about 300 000 IDR = 20 USD.

*(our bags are recycled from rice sacks and sewn by the little hands of a local family)

Testimonial

"Hello it's Damien and Sophie, from France, it's in November that we made a 4 days trek in the jungle of Ketambe with Johny and his team.

It was simply the most incredible experience of our lives!

We were in osmosis with nature.

Moreover, participating in eco-tourism and the local economy was part of our way of travelling.

Today with the global situation, we learned that this small village that we really appreciate is in great difficulty...

That's why we decided to make a donation to help the guides and families of Ketambe in Sumatra. We invite you to do the same. Give what you can. It's the gesture that counts."

Damien and Sophie

Stay safe and healthy and thank you very much for your donation!

Jhonyjungle & our team of guides and porters.

Links

https://player.vimeo.com/video/113850517?title=0&b...

Indonesia's March foreign tourist arrivals plunge 64%

Worst period ever: Indonesia’s foreign tourist arrivals fall to lowest level since 2009

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