Maverick Indonesia

Citi Zoo Day Out!

Going to the zoo can be so much fun and indulging in an upbeat activity while there can bring about even more excitement. At any rate, that was true for our friends from Citi Indonesia, one of our biggest clients, when they organized their annual Global Community Day (GCD) “Citi Zoo Day Out” on Saturday, 17th November 2007, at Ragunan Zoo.

At 7 a.m., when everybody was still enjoying a leisurely weekend morning in bed, nearly 1,500 Citi Indonesia volunteers had gathered at the main entrance of the zoo, all brimming with high spirit and energy. They all looked ready to take on the world in their “Citi Peka” white shirts over jeans or shorts, complete with hats and sunglasses, brooms, paintbrushes, shovels and many more cleaning devices in their hands.

What were they up to, going to the zoo carrying all those tools?

The volunteers were going to give the park a makeover! They had seven things in mind: to clean and paint animal cages, tidy up the public areas, paint park benches, plant trees, bathe the animals and also place trash cans at 38 locations around the park. Yes, they needed those tools as they had volunteered to clean up the zoo on Citi Global Community Day.

Citi has conducted countless community services through its award-winning Citi Peka program. The Global Community Day is a day when Citi volunteers all over the world conduct a massive program that benefits the community where Citi operates. This year, in Jakarta they gave Ragunan Zoo a makeover. And, for the first time, their colleagues in Bandung, Semarang, Medan, Denpasar and Surabaya conducted a similar volunteer work in their respective cities, organizing social activities at orphanages and schools and cleaning up beaches.

Now, back to that hot, sunny day at Ragunan Zoo, it seemed that one of the most favorite activities was giving the animals a bath. When a team from Maverick conducted a survey last month, they found that it was okay to give the baby tiger a bath and included it in the itinerary. However, Maverick found out later that the baby tiger had grown so fast in the past month that it had become too dangerous to give it a bath. Instead, the volunteers were given elephants to spoil, which was no less exciting.

Citi Indonesia on the occasion symbolically presented cleaning equipment to Ragunan Zoo Director Drh. Sri Mulyono, Msi., witnessed by U.S. Ambassador Cameron R. Hume and Jakarta City Secretary Ritola Tasmaya. These distinguished guests also rolled up their sleeves to join other volunteers.

When Citi volunteers wrapped up their activities at about 10 a.m., they all felt happy to have spent a wonderful time at the zoo. The “Zoo Day Out” was more than just a way to have a great time but also to get involved in efforts to preserve and conserve wildlife and the environment.

by: Joyce