Ogan Komering Ilir (OKI) is a regency in South Sumatra Province. If you are from Jakarta and want to visit this regency, you can travel there by airplane, which takes approximately an hour to reach the provincial capital, Palembang.
I had the opportunity to make this trip with three colleagues from the Ocean Program of the Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara (YKAN) at the end of September 2025. This was my first trip to OKI, but not for my colleagues. YKAN collaborates with various partners, including local governments, to protect around 40,000 hectares of mangrove forests in OKI, while improving the lives of the surrounding communities. My trip this time was to support my program colleagues who planned to provide training to two women's groups. The training focused on mangrove conservation and how the groups can develop educational/outreach content related to environmentally friendly products.
Read: Together Protecting Forests for the Present and Future
We departed from Palembang by car and headed to Tulung Selapan District in OKI Regency. The approximately four-hour journey was quite enjoyable, escaping the hustle and bustle of the big city, and an opportunity to see other people's lives up close. In some places, our car shook quite a bit as it went over potholes. However, this allowed me to chat with the driver, who had been driving this road for most of his life. According to him, there are several roads to Tulung Selapan District, but the street we took at that time was the closest access from Palembang.
We departed from Palembang by car and headed to Tulung Selapan District in OKI Regency. The approximately four-hour journey was quite enjoyable, escaping the hustle and bustle of the big city, and an opportunity to see other people's lives up close. In some places, our car shook quite a bit as it went over potholes. However, this allowed me to chat with the driver, who had been driving this road for most of his life. According to him, there are several roads to Tulung Selapan District, but the street we took at that time was the closest access from Palembang.
We arrived in Tulung Selapan just in time for lunch. After having lunch and resting, we continued our journey to Sungai Lumpur Village. Traveling along the river by passenger boat, the journey took approximately three hours to reach our destination. I had the opportunity to see villages along the river, with their stilt houses and tall buildings where swiftlets nest. It turns out that this swiftlet farming business is one of their livelihoods. I was also amazed by the natural beauty along the riverbank, including the neatly arranged mangrove forests, a rare sight for me. As the sun was about to set, we arrived at the harbor of Pantai Harapan Village, a neighboring village to Sungai Lumpur Village.
Ribka Harefa, YKAN's MERA Program Officer, explained that the women would be staying at the home of Syahidah (Ida), a local facilitator I had just met the night before. Meanwhile, Muhammad Sadik, YKAN's Aquaculture Coordinator, would be staying at Pak Haji Juma's home in Sungai Lumpur Village, along with two male colleagues who had been there the week before.
Upon arrival at Ida's house, we were warmly greeted by her mother. After enjoying a delicious dinner she had cooked, we greeted our three colleagues who had come to discuss preparations for the next day's training. We discussed tomorrow's agenda, which Syidik Fahmi, YKAN's Mangrove Restoration Officer, and Sadik both scheduled to facilitate the first session on mangrove conservation. I was scheduled for the second session after lunch. My session is to help groups develop outreach and education content and practice it. The women's group we will be visiting tomorrow is the Maju Jaya Group in Simpang Tiga Jaya Village.
Around 10 p.m., preparations were complete, and it was already late at night. We dispersed to rest, and that night I dreamed of a blue sky.
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