Category: environmental issue

BECOME A HOYA SPECIALIST

April 19th, 2025

After praying this morning, the first thing that crossed my mind was the hoya flowers. I shortly went to the yard and checked their condition.

They are my favorites. I will focus on them now and in the future. I used to like collecting all kinds of flowers. But I thought, why did I have so many types if I was not an expert in caring for them? I should choose only one or two types to grow, but I understand the ins and outs of it.

My choice is the Hoya. Hoya has many variants and is spread throughout the tropical forests of Indonesia. Each has its uniqueness. Currently, there are about 30 pots of hoya flowers in my garden. I just ordered 4 hoya seedlings of the Papua variety to add to my collection.

For those of you who are not familiar with Hoya, please see the article below. I have written about this flower several times.

https://asnellyrd.com/?s=hoya
PESSIMISTIC, BUT I WILL TRY

April 3rd, 2025

I reside in a small urban area with diverse social classes. Among the challenges faced by my community, I am particularly interested in addressing issues related to cleanliness, environmental aesthetics, and reading habits.

However, it is tricky to influence people to improve the environment when they believe everything is fine. In conversations or meetings in my neighborhood or with my friends, I try to casually bring up topics about managing household waste, particularly organic waste, by suggesting composting. I also encourage them to plant trees in empty areas. The government provides trees for free; individuals can request specific types.

I love reading. But it’s rare to meet friends who share the same passion. Over the years, hardly anyone has borrowed my books. Fostering a love for reading is still quite challenging. Reading is still an exclusive hobby.

There are many ways I can contribute to improving my community, but I need to be realistic about my patience levels—hahaha. If there’s a community group working on a social project nearby, donating to support their activities is good. And frankly, it’s an easier option rather than doing it by myself.
MEETING OLD FRIENDS, SHARING AMBITIONS FOR THE FUTURE

January 28th, 2025

In my belief, playing the lottery is considered haram. Let me talk about a different and more uplifting topic.

When meeting old friends, the conversation revolves around children, careers, and sharing information about other friends in college or the surrounding environment. For those whose social status is not good, such chats frustrate them. Nothing to tell from their side except the sad and disappointing ones. That is one of the reasons why many people reject reunion parties.

I understand their feeling. Old memories are only good to write about, not to retell, because their influence is not good psychologically. I feel tired after discussing old memories, even though, for others, they might be funny. However, they are different if written down. I can see more clearly from various aspects, learn lessons, and soften my heart.

So, after chatting about family and work, I usually ask what they will do in the future. It is really an interesting topic to explore.

This weekend, I had the pleasure of welcoming two old friends and their families to my home.

My friend, Idy, is working on a concept for a homestay that will be integrated with a poultry farm, focusing on preserving local poultry germplasm. He works as a consultant for a large poultry company in South Sumatra.

Another friend who came the day before, Hen, told me about the community empowerment activities she leads. He is implementing a waste management initiative project integrated with a poultry farm. This activity will contribute significantly to reducing domestic waste, including wasted food, if adopted by the government to be socialized on a large scale.

Reunions like this really leave something exciting and provoke new ideas in my head. I also asked myself, what will I do in the future?

I have such ideals and ambitions; however, they remain discourses. These thoughts are refreshing, beneficial for self-development, and will clearly contribute to the surrounding environment.

How about you? Do you have interesting ambitions for the future (after retiring from working in an office)?

Do you have extraordinary friends like mine?

Share, please. I’m waiting.
DON’T BUY CLOTHES FOR A YEAR, CAN YOU?

January 24th, 2025

The campaign to not buy clothes for one year is active on social media. I applaud a girl who admits she hasn’t bought new clothes in five years. How strong she is, not tempted to buy new clothes amidst the many promotions for clothes from famous designers and online shops.

I take some time to reflect on myself. At home, I have a cupboard full of clothes. I didn’t realize I had accumulated—pants, shirts, and more. I only wear a small portion of them regularly. The others were purchased because of my consumerist appetite.

I never realized how my buying habits wasted money and the world’s resources. Do you know how many resources are required to produce a single piece of clothing?

Apart from raw materials such as cotton and wool, to make the clothes, you also need electrical energy to drive machines, water to wash, process, and dye materials, labor, and technology. In the production process, air and water pollution will occur around the factory and produce waste.

Indeed, the waste caused by a single person may seem insignificant. But if hundreds of millions of people engage in wasteful practices, the total amount of wasted resources becomes substantial.

I want to change my wasteful habits gradually. I’m not a fashionable person who believes that clothes enhance my beauty. This change is manageable.

What about you? Ready to take on the challenge of not buying clothes for a year?
Slow Living in Rural

December 10th, 2024

Daily writing prompt
What is something others do that sparks your admiration?
View all responses

Owning a farmhouse has been my dream for a long time. However, David Beckham stole my idea. He makes me envious.

I watched David Beckham’s TikTok. In it, he shows his daily activities on the farm, how he raises poultries and harvests eggs, tomatoes, potatoes, and vegetables. Oh my God, how lucky he is. His career as a football player is not enough to amaze the world. He also shows off his animals and vegetables on his beautiful farm.

In Indonesia, the trend of subsistence farming is on the rise. The rich urbanites are moving to the countryside to build mini farms and start a slow-living lifestyle. They plant fruit trees, build fish ponds, and raise goats and cows. Of course, money is not their goal. They only want to live in peace and close to nature.

They are my inspiration, my source of admiration.
6 Keys to Successful Implementation of Community Empowerment Programs

December 6th, 2024
After writing my experience in conducting a reclamation program in Bungo Tanjung Village, I gained some insights on how to manage such an empowerment program.

See the article related in https://asnellyrd.com/2024/12/05/why-community-empowerment-programs-are-prone-to-failure/

Here are some keys to the success of the program that involves the local community.
- The team must prepare a conceptual program that previously had been discussed and agreed upon by the chief of the program.
- Comply with regulations related to program implementation.
- Listen to community opinions and guide them wisely. As long as their opinions are in line with the program’s targets, it’s okay. If not, try to divert their opinions gently.
- Explain all project schemes and set a target at every step of the program.
- Involving them in almost all the process of decision-making.
- Prepare cadres to continue activities at the project location.
Why Community Empowerment Programs Are Prone to Failure?

December 5th, 2024
Empowering communities is a noble task, but the challenges are tough. I just completed a reclamation program of 10 hectares of illegal mining land in Bungo Tanjung Village of Merangin Regency. We and the local residents agreed that the ex-mining land would be reclaimed into an eco-park. In return, they will manage the park and earn income communally.

Initially, everything went well. The community agreed to work the land even though the wages were small. In the middle of the project implementation, several problems emerged, including a lack of transparency in expenditure and disputes between group members. Some felt they were not involved at all.

The pond and gravel hill were formed as a negative impact of illegal gold mining activity. In contrast with the landscape years ago when hundreds of hectares of paddy land dominated this area.

Several conditions would potentially make community empowerment programs vulnerable to failure, namely:
- The local people of the project target expect the project can instantly improve their well-being. Project administration is needless, they try to disobey it.
- Most of them have low education yet are quite confident that they know the best about themselves. With that insight, they tend to ignore the rule or initial agreement.
- The locals tend to be easily influenced by one or two dominant figures. If the figures are good, the program gets supporters. If not, the program would be in trouble.
- Traditional norms and values in rural are shifting. The people have become less sincere, and suspicious of one another. This hinders group cohesion.
- People see the community empowerment program that’s conducted by the government as their privilege. They become less responsible and don’t care about the sustainability of the project.