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    Salvage Mangroves in Sungei Buloh – Amritians Singapore Chapter Team on a mission

    December 27th, 2010

    Our Humble Pranams to Our Holy Mother AMMA

    We offer this unto Our holy mother AMMA!

    Besides weekly satsangs and Swamijis’ discourses every now and then, AMMA has always told us to lead a life that is one with nature. To put that valuable advice into some action, a total of 17 of us from Amriteswari Society, Alumni (from various AMMA’s Instituitions in India who are currently working in Singapore) & Ayudh in Singapore gave up the comfort of our beds on a Saturday morning only to volunteer ourselves to Salvage Mangroves in Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.

    It was time; we were geared up with hats, shovels, boots and gloves. Some had even planned in advance and got their own boots, trowels and even some snacks. All ready and eager to get down and salvage some Mangroves! Before we headed to the site, we had a short briefing accompanied by a group prayer to kick start our mission for the day.

    Despite the briefing, We had no clue what to expect when we got there. All We knew was that we were going to save as many mangroves as we can. As we trekked towards the mangrove site, we identified and enjoyed the fauna and flora surrounding us.

    When we reached the mangrove site (mud flat), for some reason we felt brief moments of anxiety. Many questions kept popping in my head on whether we would be able to maneuver from myself from one end to the other or will we  just sink in.

    We split amongst ourselves into small groups to focus in specific areas. The instructor requested us to remove those saplings which were grown atleast our knee height!  Because they wanted the smaller ones to be removed by primary school children… Wow…it was surprising to hear this. When school children are encouraged to participate in such kind of activities, why not we adults!!! That was an added inspiration.

    When we got down to the mud flat, the experience we earned waddling around in the soft muddy ground was special on its own. Falling down and helping each other up and getting stuck many times was all worth it end of the day where we had the chance to salvage a total of 62 mangrove saplings.

    It was an amazing feeling to see all the mangrove saplings being grouped together before we placed them in the nursery. The method on how we all managed to transport the  62 saplings on our own without the aid of any fancy machineries was an experience on its own. We all stood side by side forming a ‘human-chain’. One by one we manually passed the sapling across to the other side.

    At the end of it all 62 mangroves were given a chance to fulfill its purpose. While going back home, it was such a great feeling and a beautiful sense of satisfaction that we were able to do a little something for Mother Nature by salvaging mangrove saplings to open up the wetland areas for migratory birds to seek habitats. JAI MA!

    ‘ Lokah Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu’

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