During the week of the Fourth of July, incoming juniors Rupsa Mitra, Mika Carreon, and Madeline Painter were all presenters at the Caretakers of the Environment International (CEI) Conference 2023 in Indonesia, with a theme of Natural and Cultural Heritage. Madeline went in-person to Yogyakarta for a week while Rupsa and Mika attended online through Zoom. Madeline was the only student representative from the United States present on-site for the conference, which had representatives from 16 different countries.
Rupsa, Mika, and Madeline gave their presentation to the conference on something they started here at RMHS, the Bookbinders Initiative. Run as a club during the school year, the Bookbinders Initiative writes bilingual Spanish and English children’s books with themes about Latino empowerment, friendship, and most relevant to the conference, a love of nature and wildlife. These books are made sustainably, using recycled faces of cardboard boxes as covers and including a message about keeping the earth healthy on the back of each book. Last fall, the Bookbinders went to John Jay Elementary School to distribute these books to kids grades K-2, and will be distributing hundreds of books again this fall. Bookbinders now has international supporters from the conference who will help with translation of the Bookbinders stories into even more languages, a great example of the global collaboration encouraged by the CEI conference.
“I’ve been going to this conference virtually for the past two years, my first conference was CEI 2021 in Ireland and then CEI 2022 in Costa Rica,” said Madeline. “Going in-person for the first time was such a rewarding experience. It was awesome to get to meet more international friends and see the friends I had made at old conferences face-to-face. Exploring Yogyakarta was great, but I think my favorite part was the international fun market we held where every country brought something to trade or give away. I went with baseball cards and came home with a lot of candy and souvenirs from different countries!”
“My favorite part (of the conference) was to know the different new ideas of other people.” said Anshu Badal, an in-person conference attendee from Nepal. Anshu says she learned “about friendship, new traditions, and people and their plans for their projects.”
“I’ve always enjoyed meeting new people, especially others who have different cultures and traditions than mine,” said Clarin Yuwanto, a conference attendee from Surabaya, Indonesia. “It’s always fascinating for me to uncover new perspectives. CEI 2023 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, has given me the opportunity to do so. From meeting amazing new people to discovering their cultures and country. CEI has given not only me, but hundreds of participants to form a great bond and understanding to others around the world. I enjoyed it from the beginning to the end. Especially the opening and closing ceremony held in ISI campus. I got to witness amazing performances by the students of ISI campus as well as getting to know the founding fathers of CEI a lot more. The highlight of the opening ceremony was definitely the marching band and dance act. I enjoyed their performance, as they paired Indonesian traditional songs with modern dance. It was a spectacular performance, and I can’t wait for the next conference!”
“CEI is a wonderful place to gain knowledge and socialize with new people. It was in a beautiful place with beautiful memories that will never be forgotten,” said Jan van Druten, a volunteer organizer of the conference from Indonesia who helped film large portions of the conference. Pictures and video from the conference will be on the CEI 2023 website and Instagram.
“It’s an amazing experience,” said Mika. “I got to connect with people from all over the world. I learned so much more than I could’ve expected. I learned about Indonesian culture and also about various things affecting our environment and what people are doing to help it. I especially appreciate the efforts the CEI Indonesia team took to organize the hybrid meetings. It’s definitely something I definitely want to continue to participate in and there are people I am 100% looking forward to seeing again next year, and in years to come.”
Any person or group in middle or high school can go to a CEI conference and present, as long as they have done a project, research, or something else conservation-related that will be a valuable presentation. The theme of CEI 2024 is Education, Regulation, and Collaboration for a Sustainable Future and the conference will be held in Sweden. CEI 2025 will be in Mexico City. If you’re interested in this opportunity and would like to attend a future conference either in-person or virtually, you can go to alumnicei.org or caretakers4all.org for more information, or learn more about this past year’s conference at cei2023.org or @cei_indonesia on Instagram.
