Samsudin, a man from Indramayu, West Java, ended his long storytelling journey about rhinos and other endangered animals in Aceh, the most remote province on the island of Sumatra. In his final mission to campaign for animals to Indonesian children, the 46-year-old told stories at the SOS Children's Village and the Aceh Museum in Banda Aceh. Samsudin also told stories at KM 0 Indonesia on Weh Island, which was held at SD 1 Sabang and SD Iboih.

Samsudin traveled around Sumatra from West Java using an old ontel bicycle that he pedaled with enthusiasm. During the storytelling tour in various cities in Sumatra such as Jambi, Pekanbaru, Duri, Medan, Banda Aceh and Sabang, Samsudin was assisted by environmental organizations such as Alert, ZSL, Hipam, SOCP and WWF Indonesia. "I am alone doing the traveling storytelling but behind that this is a teamwork that supports each other," Samsudin said.

On Saturday, (20/08/2016) Samsudin arrived at SOS Children's Villages Banda Aceh and was welcomed by the children there. In front of dozens of SOS Children's Villages children, Mr. Samsudin told stories about saving tigers, rhinos, elephants and orangutans using puppets made of cardboard resembling these endangered animals.

"There are so many animals in Indonesia that are almost extinct. Whether it is due to poaching or due to forest destruction, including rhinos and tigers. I was encouraged to take part in campaigning by creating puppets and storytelling so that endangered animals and their habitats are not diminished," he explained.
"On the back of my bicycle, there is a box that contains messages of environmental conservation and love for protected animals. So, when I pedal, people can see the messages. When storytelling, I also use props such as cardboard puppets with pictures of various animals and others," said the man who graduated from S1 Corporate Management at Wisnuwardhana University Malang.

"The hope is that people will read the message wherever I walk. Later, when I arrived at the destination city, I continued to meet the children for mondongeng. That's it," he said. Everything Samsudin does as a form of his love for the environment.

"So through this fairy tale, there is a message that I want to instill, namely a love for the environment from an early age with the principle of local wisdom. If I can do that, why not?" he said.

"I also always socialize to people that fairy tales are good and have a big impact on child development, increasing children's vocabulary and stimulating their psychomotor. Parents can also have direct contact with children and children will feel closer to their parents. For this reason, I appeal to the entire community and parents to re-cultivate storytelling because the positive impact is extraordinary for children," said Samsudin, who is also the owner of Bumi Pertiwi Indramayu Reading House.

The stories told are set in four key species in Aceh Province that have been critically endangered such as Sumatran elephants, Sumatran orangutans, Sumatran tigers and Sumatran rhinos are always the main characters. It is the hope of this volunteer from Indramayu to move people's hearts to care about the environment. Forests and the habitats within them such as rhinos and tigers can still be found as an ancestral legacy for future generations.