Bening Saguling, Citarum River

25th October 2022

We visited an absolutely amazing eco-school Bening Saguling, located by the Citarum river, where the children pay in plastic bottles to attend! Apart the regular curriculum, the children also learn about environmentalism and how to keep the river clean. To make sure that the Citarum kids understand that they do not face environmental problem alone, we organised our fun workshop where the kids had chance to swim with turtles via our VR headset. The connection with the Citarum kids was almost immediate and our jaws almost hurt from all that laugh and smiles.

After the workshop we got into their boats and continued with the Citarum River Cleanup. Unimaginable had happened and under 10 minutes we collected 6KGs of rubbish! We have never experienced something similar in Ireland. It was a very eye opening experience to our transition year students. Some of us also learned how to make bags from plants growing at the Citarum river and some of us will die trying to learn this skill.

26th October 2022

To see the full journey of plastic bottle after being recycled, we went to the recycling center in Bandung. We were shocked by the time it took for a plastic bottle to break down and recycle. Curiously, the longest part of the tour was where the bottles get washed. We also got to see the lab and so much equipment just for plastic bottles.

27th October 2022

We planted trees in the Citarum Harum sector 6, the same place, we visited in 2018. Here, we could see the river bubbling due to the methane gas from the compacted rubbish and the fast fashion companies that have been pumping poisonous chemicals into the river.

During our journey, we had the chance to see how the boats donated by Flossie and the Beach Cleaners serve the local community.

After, we continued journey to Bumi Pohaci, where Mrs Irma Hutabarat, showed us among many different types of plants, the vetiver plant, which she plants along the Citarum river. The vetiver plant roots act as a filter and hold on to the toxins in the water, as well as the leaves of the plant keep snakes and bugs away.

The Citarum river is 160km long and we witnessed the ancient water spring of REAL CITARUM, The Majestic Cisanti, where the water comes from earth.