By: Feronika Manohas (Community Outreach and Development Coordinator Site Teluk Cenderawasih National Park, WWF-Indonesia Papua Program)

K.M. Gurano Bintang is a monitoring and education vessel owned by WWF-Indonesia that operates in the Cenderawasih Bay National Park area. This wooden vessel has an important role in the Wondama Region, providing information to school-age children about the environment and how to manage it. In fact, since 2012, the outreach activities carried out with K.M. Gurano Bintang have expanded through cooperation with the GKI Wondama Klasis, especially the PAR Commission (Fellowship of Children and Youth) through Sunday school activities.

Approaches were made to Sunday school caregivers through the addition of environmental issues in the teaching materials in each church. WWF facilitators and partners regularly held meetings with Sunday school caregivers in each GKI church. As a result, at the end of 2016, Sunday school caregivers in one of the GKI Churches in Wasior city invited WWF-Indonesia to participate in an activity entitled "Santa Claus Love the Environment" to PAR GKI Betania Wasior.

Various scenarios had been discussed two weeks earlier. WWF-Indonesia Papua Program is in charge of preparing materials about the environment that will be delivered by "Santa" from the top of K.M. Gurano Bintang. In the scenario, Santa Claus is said to come to visit children in Wasior using the Gurano Bintang ship to tell the story of his journey to Sunday school children and provide environmental messages and give attractive gifts to those who behave well throughout 2016. Santa and his Christmas gifts will be welcomed by the children at the Kuri Pasai Harbor in Wasior.

Menghias K.M. Gurano Bintang

To welcome the event, the Gurano Bintang was transformed into a ship with a cheerful feel and attractive decorations. Elisabeth Pekey (K.M. Gurano Bintang's outreach team) was in charge of preparing the prizes while Matheus Rayar (K.M. Gurano Bintang's outreach team) and some of the crew as well as one of the Wondama Bay Fisheries Service extension officers were in charge of decorating the ship as festively as possible.

Meanwhile, Santa, who was played by a member of the Sunday school class of teenagers, was given preparation material about the environment by Kuriani Wartanoi, TNTC Papua Program's Community Outreach Officer Site. Santa will provide environmental messages with two main issues, namely waste and environmentally unfriendly utilization of natural resources.

Santa's coming!

After all preparations were completed, Captain Bardin, the Captain of the K.M. Gurano Bintang ordered to anchor at the Port of Kuri Pasai. In the morning on Wednesday (14/12/2016), Santa Claus accompanied by Pando (WWF icon) and Gurbin (K.M. Gurano Bintang icon) began to act and greeted the Sunday school children who were already seen welcoming at the port. They were all eagerly awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus.

Upon arriving at the harbor, the Sunday school children performed a joyful dance. Santa began to tell the story of his journey across the vast ocean and saw the beauty of the ocean. But Santa also told them that he saw various threats that destroy the beauty of the sea and the environment. In his story, Santa also explained to the children about the types of waste, how to manage wet and dry waste, and how to reduce waste, especially plastic waste. The children were reminded by Santa not to litter. They were also given information about the types of animals that live in coral and mangrove ecosystems and the benefits of coastal ecosystems, namely coral reefs and mangroves for people's lives in Wondama.< br />

The children listened carefully to the story from Santa. They responded happily. At the end of the story, Santa asked several questions related to the story of his journey, such as why not littering, asking children to name five types of animals that live in the coral reef ecosystem, and several other questions.

After listening to the story, Sunday school children were invited to the church building to receive gifts that had been prepared. More than 200 children were involved in this environmental Christmas activity. Through this activity, WWF-Indonesia wants to show that it will continue to consistently provide a message of protection of God's natural resources to anyone and anywhere. Hopefully activities like this can continue around the Wondama area.