KOALA

Recently a colleague travel to Perth for a short break from work.  It was so thoughtful of her to bring me back a key-chain koala as a gift from her trip.  I trained Ms Tah when she first joined WHO. We were in a team until a restructuring separated us.  I decided to join another team, hence, it distanced our friendship.

She was so excited telling me about her trip and visits with the koalas. Unfortunately she did not get a chance to hold one. Handling koalas may cause them stress. They rest and sleep for almost 16 hours a day. In the past years, there has been growing concern of koala well being.They are now an endangered species and protected by the Aussie government.   A century ago koala were being hunted almost to extinction for their furs.

Any how, I told Ms Tah, in 1988, I was lucky enough to visit my aunt Aishah in Adelaide.  I traveled with my sister Sheri, my grandmother and Aunty Azizah. And of course, it is a must....a visit to Cleland Conservation Park, South East of Adelaide. I told Ms. Tah that I would show her pictures of me handling the koala but then the album itself is too heavy to carry.  So Ms Tah, the following pictures are for your viewing pleasure.

Me, Aunty Azizah and Nenek

Sheri, me, Aunty Azizah and Nenek

The gentleman on the far left is the koala handler at this park.  My mom was surprised to see him in the picture because he was also working there when my mom visited Aunty Aishah in 1977.

A rare moment which I will treasure my whole life.

I stayed a couple of months and we traveled a lot. My aunty Aishah hasbeen living in Australia since the mid 70's. She is an Indonesian language teacher. She is married to Uncle Bill and they have 2 sons, Johan and Jeremy.