Saving endangered animals and gold mining in Indonesia

A few years ago in October 2014 I signed on as a Sun Bear Volunteer and it totally changed my outlook on life. It was time when I wasn't really sure about myself. I just dropped out of college and was working for my dad in a gold mining company in Borneo, Indonesia. It was a family business. We had been mining gold since 2009 and I did it to earn money and to help my dad. I heard little about bears on the island but never gave it a lot of thought. Just a few hours away from the mine I heard there was a rescue clinic where they took in endangered animals like Orangutans and Sun Bears. As an animal lover I jumped at the opportunity. I always had a love for animals that was my chance to do something spontaneous with my life. I emailed them, told them my story and why I wanted to volunteer and 2 months later they accepted me as a Sun Bear volunteer for 6 months. These are my pictures. This was my experience.

Me with a bar of gold I just poured. I knew that mining and nature conservation are complete opposites of each other. I was very grateful that they accepted me as a sun bear volunteer despite my mining background.

Volunteering there will always be one of my most cherished memories. Having worked both in mining and nature conservation gave me a new way to look at life. Mining is notorious for the destruction of the environment but we have to realize that we as consumers are responsible too. When we buy gold jewelry where do you think the gold comes from? When we buy a new laptop or a new phone did you know that theres a little bit of gold in that piece of technology? Don't always blame the miners. We as consumers have to admit that we drive the demand of gold.