印度海龜保育workcamp

成立VolTra以來，經常有人問我參加過哪一個workcamp，我只能不好意思地回答：沒有啊！

創辦一個workcamp組織而自己沒有參加過，彷彿是紙上談兵。縱然如何賣力地推廣workcamp怎麼國際性、怎樣可以跟外國義工作文化交流、怎樣協助當地社區持續發展等，始終欠缺了說服力。

現在我終於可以宣佈，我為VolTra獻出了第一次，會在11月參加印度的海龜保育workcamp。

Workcamp在印度西南岸的Kundapur舉行，我會先由香港飛去印度首都德里，第二天早上再飛孟買，然後轉機去Mangalore，第三天的早上坐2小時巴士去Kundapur，一程都花了兩天時間，可說是長途跋涉啊！

完成兩個星期的workcamp之後，返回德里，我計劃到訪泰姬陵，然後第二天就要打道回府了。

今個星期六就要出發了，今次旅程還會初嘗couchsurfing的滋味，希望不枉此行！


＃如有興趣知道更多workcamp的資料，可以去：

VolTra 官方網頁：http://www.voltra.org

VolTra 討論區：http://www.voltra.org/forum

About Kundapur:

 

Kundapur is a town situated on the west coast of Karnataka near the beach, and very close to the Western Ghats (a mountain ridge). The Western Ghats is India's prime zone for bio-diversity, known for its number of animal and plant species in this region.

 

The name Kundapur can be traced to the Kundeshvara temple built by Kundavarma in the vicinity of the Panchagangavalli River. Kundapur is also described as the "town of the sun". It has another old temple, that of Mahalingeshwara. It was the principal port of the Rajas of Baindoor who came to prominence after the decline of the Vijaya Nagara power. The Portuguese settled here in the 16th century and built a fort. A well-built redoubt constructed by Haidar Ali commands the entrance to the river. After the fall of Tipu Sultan in 1799, the town was taken over by the British. There was once a tank of fresh water near the town in which was bred a special type of fish said to have been exclusively reserved for Tipu Sultan.

 

 

The taluk of Kundapur is well blessed with more rivers than any other taluk of South Kanara. It has also a 45 kilometre long sea coast on the western side extending up to its northern boundary. The bridge at Gangolli is the longest in the district. The Kundapur taluk has played a significant role in evolving the Yakshagana dance-drama of the northern school known as badagutittu. Kundapur is the only taluk of the district where bisons are found in its forests. Leopards and wild boars can be found mainly in the forest areas.

Workcamp activities:

 Awareness Rising:

Awareness raising  among the public about the importance of the protection of sea turtles

Doing street plays and role-plays in the colleges and selected schools.

Making house visits in local communities to raise awareness of the importance of the sea turtles to the local bio-diversity.

Awareness rising amongst local fishermen regarding the importance of sea turtles and their protection.

 

Building:

Building temporary information centers (TIC) about Sea turtles.

Build hatcheries to safely house endangered eggs.

Collecting eggs and preparing artificial incubators for reproduction.

Preparing charts, posters, and information sheets for public display.

 

Data Collection:

Data collection for research of the sea turtle population and environment

Establishing local contact people for the project to help take care of the eggs and turtles.