2006 - Kesi goes from strength to strength

Our child born in difficult times seems to defeat a few of her disabilities. There are a few orangutans at the Nyaru Menteng rehabilitation centre who decided not to grow too fast. Kesi is one of them. She is still very little though she eats and drinks very well.
 
We can see some improvements in Kesi using her foot. She is able to use two of her toes now to hold on to the smaller branches. Now Kesi can use her little toes to hold on she starts to climb the smaller trees herself. She climbs up to 2 or 3 metres high and then she doesn't know how to come down again. She really needs the help of one of the baby caretakers and when they are not fast though - because they have a few other little ones hanging on their legs - Kesi starts to shout at the top of her lungs.
 
Kesi also has a hard time when she sees her friends walking away from the group; she wants to follow them and play with them, but because Kesi can not walk so fast because of her missing hand she stays behind. Her whining chills you to the bone.
 
But Kesi perseveres. She always tries to reach a higher branch, she will keep on trying to catch up with her friends; she never gives up after the first time. She starts to use the arm with no hand more and more. When she is hanging in the trees she will move the leaves to her mouth with the stump of her arm.
 
Now still very attached to some of the babysitters, though she also loves to bite the ones she doesn't like, we are quite confident Kesi will be a very independent orangutan lady. After she has grown a little bit.
 
She makes so much progress, and makes us all so proud. "Many, many positive changes" is how the babysitters describe it. It was only two months ago that Kesi only wanted to be carried around by the babysitters when the group left to the forest, but not anymore! Kesi walks to the forest, just a little behind, all by herself. She does not panic anymore when she stays a little behind; though she makes sure she is the first to leave. Only when she does not feel very well, like having flu or something, Kesi wants to be carried again. Kesi adapted to her new surroundings quickly. It was not so long ago that she moved from the smallest group of infants (Nursery) to Baby School. In fact, she is moving ahead so very quickly that in no time she joined Group 3 of Baby School. With so many new friends around her, who are a bit more experienced than her, Kesi learns quickly. She is busy learning to make her own nest and - this is the part everybody is proud off - Kesi has started to climb trees more and more. She has become so skilful despite lacking her hand, that she surprises us all.
 
Kesi has become a kind of tomboy, not afraid of anything, living on the edge sometimes. She forages around in the forest all by herself, wandering from one group to the other. She is far ahead compared to the rest of her peers. When she truly does not like one of her babysitters, our little daredevil does not hesitate to tease them in their hammocks. As has many of her friends, Kesi recently fell ill with malaria. She was a bit weaker than usual. Of course, she is very well taken care of by the medical team and is already improving. She is sure to be back to her old self in no time at all!
 
Kesi weighs 8.3 kg.
 
Meike, Babysitter, Nyaru Menteng

2007 - Independent, happy and learning what it means to be an Orangutan

Kesi is currently in group 7-8 together with Grendon, Fio and their friends who were previously in group 5-6. They have all been moved up to this group because of the increasing number of orangutans in the project. In turn this results in the number of orangutan groups in the forest school also increasing.
 
Each day Kesi and her friends in group 7-8 go to the forest school. Although Kesi only has only one functioning hand, her activities in the forest are not inferior to the other orangutans. She is already very proficient at climbing trees although she still can't make her own nest at the top of the trees. Kesi can actually already make nests but she makes them on the ground, and when in the trees she often shares other orangutans' nests.
 
Kesi still follows her old habits such as running off to other forest school groups but is not brave enough to run off by herself, she always does this together with Robby and Besty. She also still likes to follow the larger orangutans around.
 
Kesi loves playing with water, and will spend lots of time doing so. This is especially the case in the wet season, like now, when there are lots of puddles in the forest school area, and Kesi is certain to spend most of her playing time in those puddles. Kesi does not like baby-sitters or anyone new to her. If there is a new baby-sitter she will punch and bite them. She will continually follow, punch and bite the new baby-sitter until they are overwhelmed.
 
Kesi is not a fussy eater and she will eat whatever food the baby-sitter gives her. Usually this is bananas, oranges and milk, and like the other orangutans, Kesi still really likes drinking milk. Hopefully Kesi is soon able to make nests in the trees to go up a class.

2008

Kesi is currently with Duta, Mohito,Teweh and some others in group 4 of the forest school, but is in love with Pundu in Group 9. Pundu and Kesi often meet one another because both often run away from their own group. Every time, Kesi and Pundu meet, he will instantly get close to her and welcome her, even though he was busy eating or doing something else. The other day it happened that Pundu was playing in group 3 and by chance Kesi also visited group 3. As Pundu saw Kesi playing in the trees with orangutans from group 3, Pundu instantly climbed up the tree to greet Kesi and asked her to play with him. Every step, which Kesi does is followed by Pundu, and if she climbs down and is looking for food, Pundu will follow her.

2009

Since joining Group 4 of the Forest School at the Nyaru Menteng rescue and rehabilitation centre, Kesi has made a lot of progress. Her friendship with Pundu has had a really positive effect on her behaviour, and she's much less aggressive than she used to be. In the past she used to get upset very quickly, but now she seems to be more self condent, and has become less dependent on her babysitters.
 
Kesi hasn't, however, been very well lately. One day recently, her babysitters realised that she appeared tired, and not as active as usual. When checking her body temperature, they found that Kesi had a fever. The medical team picked her up to do some tests, and when the results were received, Kesi was found to have contracted malaria. She therefore had to be put into isolation, so that she could rest, and be given her medication regularly.
 
Even though Kesi is in isolation with some friends, she gets bored very quickly. She's angry at the carers who have put her into the cage, and she spits at everyone passing by. Despite the different kinds of enrichment which are provided for her every day, she seems so frustrated to be in a cage again. A plastic ball with popcorn hidden inside has always been a favourite with Kesi, but she worked out how to get the popcorn out of it a long time ago, so even that isn't keeping her occupied for long.
 
On days when she feels well enough, Kesi is brought to the playground in front of the clinic, where she can climb and get some exercise. Her treatment won't last much longer, though, and when her health tests indicate that she's well again, Kesi will once again join her friends in Forest School, so that she can continue to enjoy her training and rehabilitation once again.

2009 Information

Date of Arrival:	1st September 2004
Age on Arrival:	3-4 months
Sex:	Female
Weight:	17 kg
Present position:	Group 4, Forest School & Clinic
Health:	Malaria