It is my biggest dream to work in Kalimantan with orangutans at a center one day. I even wrote a letter to you when I was in 9th grade. Here it is:

Dear Lone Droscher Nielsen,
My name is Brandon. I am writing this letter now in hopes that one day I might meet you and maybe even work with you.

I was about 12 or 13 years old when I deciuded I wanted to work with oragnutans. Abd everything has accelerated since then. I would do almost anything to work in Kalimantan with orangutans and maybe even own my own center. I am even learning Bahasa Indonesia with the Rosetta Stone program. Call me crazy but I pretty mich almost know the rehabilitation process for orangutans inside and out (but probably not as much as you, I might add). I know everything from confiscation and quarenting, baby station or nursery, and climbing school, to the socialization cages and halfway house and islands all the way to releasing the orangs.

Everyday, I am constantly reminded about this so called “orangutan genocide”. I’m a;ways thinking about it or I see palmitate, plam kernal oil, or some other form from the oil palm tree on my food label. Of course, I am doing almost everything I can do on my part but I want to do more. I want to help more directly. Perhaps my biggest dilema now, as a high school student is figuring out what to do after I graduate. I know I should go to college and I want to. I want to major in conservation biology and be a primatologist. But what if by teh time I graduate college, orangutans are extict. That is why I don’t know what to do. Maybe I should go over to Indonesia and work there while I try to get my degree.

I hope that one day you read this letter and that I might also work with you. Maybe we will be good friends some day.

Sincerely,
Brandon

In closing I would like to reiterate the fact that I would do anything to work in Indonesia. Like I said, I would even give up my college education just to work with orangutan conservation projects. I know that many people out there would love to go to Indonesia and work with BOS, but I am not going to take no for an answer and I will one day work there. All I have to do is have the right attitude.

Brandon
orangutan14@q.com

P.S. If you have read this, Lone, if you have the time, please comment back or e-mail me with the above adress: orangutan14@q.com

Thank you so much and God bless you,
Brandon

I think what you are doing is truly miraculous. I have always wanted to come to the jungles of Boreno and work with orangutans. Is there any way I could come and volunteer at your center? I would love to work in the nursery, I would work tirelessly. I also would love to help you raise funds for your center. I know you are so busy but if you get the chance to respond my email is alexayeats@aol.com. Thank you for all you do to help these beautiful unfortunate creatures.

~Fiona Hogan

With best wishes
Christina Schuerch

P.s. Pleas excuse my english! It’s not my mother tongue but i gave my best.

Please do take care of your selves so that you have the strngth to fight against the whole world, in order to get back some of the foretst that trully belong to other animals than us.

MERRY CHRITMAS and A VERY GOOD NEW YEAR.

Beryl Furman
artist, fem., acivist, 55 -y., Finland

I know you’re very busy and so I’m sorry that my question might seem really unimportant. But we just need to ask this question. I live in Bogor, and about 6 years ago my family sent 3 orangutans- the name were Dul, Bonbon and upik. Sent by Ibu Amalia. We got them from people who abandoned them/treat them badly, and I grew up with Dul together, literally, for 8 years. We’re like my sisters… and that time we didn’t know anything about Nyarumenteng… and we’re against them to be released in the wild because we thought Indonesian forest are dangerous. But finally, we got more information and decided to send them to Nyaru Menteng, with lots of tears. I know it’s impossible for you to remember all the orangutans names one by one, but still….
That time Ibu Amalia visited Nyaru Menteng several times to see how the orangutans doing. But to be permitted to enter it needs your permission, and since your number became permanently unactive, and our mails were never been replied, we guess you became a lot busier.
these past 6 years we’ve been missing them, we just want to know whether they’ve been released in the wild or not, had they been healthy, could they survived well, and is it possible for us to see them again, perhaps in the forest, and what should we do so we can do that?
We really loves orangutans, we stop using the palm oil, and it hurts us everytime we read/watch about the disasters/cruelty related to orangutan…

By the way…
My family watched “Orangutan Island” on Animal Planet very diligently, over and over on Indovision. Me and my Mom cried when Oyoy was founded dead. We love all the characters there, even Hamlet the bully. Even the trailer lines ( –” This is a story… about hope and survival”—) make us cries,so we cries everytime we watched the trailer. Lots of love and prays to all the orangutans all over the world!!

She tries to read all the comments on redapes.org– so feel free to send her your thoughts, words, and prayers…. She is incredibly appreciative!

Nyaru Menteng is not open to the public. Having lots of visitors would be a major health risk to the orangutans– especially the little ones.
BOS has another site that is open for visitors. It’s called Samboja and you can learn more about it here: http://sambojalodge.com
Feel free to email if you have any questions– or contact them directly.
Thanks for your support and interest in protecting orangutans! ~OO