April 27, 2009 - Santa Monica. OURF President Gary Shapiro made the most of his trip to Sumatra in March 2009. It provided an opportunity for him to meet and hear the shortlisted candidates for this year's Orangutan Caring Scholarship. Seven candidates from Universities in North Sumatra were vying for three available scholarships this year. An additional two scholarships are being offered in Aceh this year, marking the first time the scholarships were expanding to another region of Sumatra.
This very successful program receives its funds from OURF and is administered by the Sumatra Orangutan Society's Orangutan Information Center (SOS-OIC). In 2009, OURF was able to obtain funds for the program from the Australian Orangutan Project and the Orangutan Conservancy to provide three of the five offered scholarships. The scholarships are for a multiyear period, generally four years, and include funds for the write-up of the thesis. Eight awards have previously been given (2006-2008).
Before leaving Medan, OURF President Gary Shapiro signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Panut Hadisiwoyo, Director of SOS-OIC, which was later countersigned by the dean of the Veterinarian School of University of Syiah Kuala. The MoU will provide a level of commitment to provide scholarships to students of Aceh where most of Sumatra's critically endangered orangutans remain. OURF will continue to solicit funds from a variety of sources to provide these scholarships to both North Sumatran and Acehnese students.
