Latest news with #Adriana
Mada
20-07-2025
- General
- Mada
What was the Greek coastguard doing instead of rescuing 750 people?
'Tell the captain of the big red ship 'we don't want to go to Greece' okay?' an officer in the Greek coastguard said at 6:51 pm in a call to the Adriana, a fishing boat carrying 750 migrants, on June 13. The officer's voice can be heard speaking to the fishing vessel seven hours before it and the hundreds of desperate people on board would capsize into the sea in one of the biggest wrecks to ever take place in the Mediterranean. Instead of conducting rescue operations that could have saved over 500 people who died in the wreck, mostly Egyptian and Pakistani nationals who had boarded the irregular migration voyage from Libya to seek a better life in Europe, the Greek coastguard can be heard instructing the passengers in distress to tell passing commercial vessels that they don't want to enter Greece's maritime zone. A recording of the 6:51 pm call is audible in one of the files the Greek coastguard submitted to the Piraeus Naval Court that is investigating its role in the 2023 shipwreck, obtained and reviewed by OmniaTV. The call, only audible in the background of one of the submitted files, discredits the narrative that was put forward by the coastguard immediately after the wreck: that the people on board did not want Greece's help and insisted that they wanted to travel to Italy — and that nine of survivors of the wreck were responsible for the death of the majority of the passengers. OmniaTV's examination of the recordings, which document some calls between the coastguard and other vessels in the final hours before the Adriana sank, shows that the coastguard was aware of the desperate conditions on board and that instead of acting to rescue them, it spent hours in advance of the wreck creating a set of documentary evidence that would exempt it of any responsibility toward the passengers in danger. The Greek outlet, as well as lawyers of the survivors and the passengers who died, and the Greek Ombudsman investigating the wreck independently, also point to gaps in the evidence submitted by the coastguard to the investigating court. Following the concerns raised by several entities and the evidence that has emerged from the recordings, a new round of preliminary investigations was launched earlier this year — almost two years after the wreck — into the Greek coastguard's actions. All signs of emergency, no sense of urgency Although details of what the coastguard actually did in the hours before the shipwreck are difficult to confirm due to gaps in the official statements and evidence submitted, the accounts of other entities that played a role during the boat's final hours at sea provide a picture. What emerges is that it was clear to the coastguard, more than 12 hours before the Adriana capsized, that the boat was near Greek waters and the many people on board were in distress. Italy based activist Nawal Soufi first shared information about the boat with the Italian authorities after she received a distress call from its passengers in the morning on June 13. Italian authorities then informed the Greek coastguard's Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) at 11.00 am that the overcrowded boat in distress was within the Greek search and rescue zone. Based in Piraeus, the JRCC operates under the Greek coastguard's authority and coordinates search and rescue operations within the Greek zone. While the Greek coastguard confirmed in its official statement the following day that it made contact with passengers on the boat as early as 11 am on June 13, it stressed that the passengers refused to be rescued in Greece. The coastguard was aware, however, that the people on board were in a dangerous situation. This information was conveyed to them by Alarm Phone, an activist hotline for migrants in distress in the Mediterranean, who sent an email to the Greek coastguard and Frontex later on the same day stating that passengers were 'urgently requesting assistance.' Instead of sending a rescue vessel to assist, the coastguard sent two commercial vessels carrying food and water, which it said were the only kind of assistance the passengers required as 'they wished to continue on to Italy.' The captains of both commercial vessels echoed the dangerous situation in their reports to the coastguard, but they were also dismissed. In a call between the captain of the Lucky Sailor, the first commercial vessel that approached the sinking boat on the evening of June 13, and a JRCC official, the captain can be heard saying that the Adriana was overcrowded to the point where people on deck were unable to stand up. The Greek official fails to address the captain's concerns, however, neglecting to engage with his description of the boat's dangerous situation on the call. Description: Call between JRCC operator and the Lucky Sailo r captain, on June 13, 2023, at 20:10:42. Courtesy: OmniaTV Then, when the Faithful Warrior, the second commercial ship, approached the sinking boat at around 9 pm, its captain also reportedly informed the coastguard that it was ' rocking dangerously ' because of the large number of people visibly on deck. These reports of danger from the hours before the wreck were nowhere to be found in the Greek coastguard's retelling of the events in the following days, with its officials insisting instead, on multiple occasions, that the Adriana 's passengers did not request Greece's help. The coastguard also refused offers of help by Frontex in the hours before the boat sank. In an internal report from December last year, Frontex, which also received Alarm Phone's email, said it informed the coastguard that the boat needed assistance shortly afterward and, on five separate occasions until the time of the shipwreck, offered to assist the coastguard in its operations. All offers were rejected. Instead of accepting assistance, a joint investigation by Mada Masr and OmniaTV at the time revealed that the coastguard instructed Frontex's drone to patrol a different area where another incident was taking place on the same day. Frontex concluded in its report that the coastguard launched rescue operations when it was 'already too late' to save the people aboard the Adriana. Staging impunity What was the coast guard doing in the meantime? The answer is indicated by a conversation between coastguard officers that can be heard in the background of one of the recorded calls, though documentation of the conversation itself was not among the recordings submitted as evidence. In the call, which took place shortly before 6 pm, the officers can be heard discussing the narrative Greek authorities would repeat over and over on the following days. A JRCC operator tells his colleague that it would be 'convenient' if it is written in the logbook of the Lucky Sailor that the Adriana 's passengers refused to be rescued in Greece, according to a transcript of the call published by OmniaTV. Another JRCC operator can be heard later in the background of a second recorded call, a little before 7 pm, instructing passengers to tell an approaching commercial vessel that 'we don't want to go to Greece.' Description: Call between JRCC operator and the Radio and Television Center on June 13, 2023, at 18:51:34. Courtesy: OmniaTV Audio editing: Alexandre Mitri A little after 8 pm that night, the captain of the Lucky Sailor told a JRCC operator that this is what the people aboard the Adriana did. The same JRCC operator then requested that the Lucky Sailor's captain be careful to document the fact that people on the Adriana had asked not to go to Greece. 'They told you that they don't want to stay in Greece and they want to go to Italy, they don't want anything else?' the rescue center official asked in the recorded call submitted to court. The captain replied that passengers on deck screamed 'Italia' when he asked 'Greece or Italia?' — just as they had earlier been instructed to do by the JRCC. 'Captain, I want you to write this in your logbook, the bridge logbook,' the rescue center official is heard instructing through the recording. 'I want you to write that they don't want to stay in Greece and they want to go to Italy. That they want nothing from Greece and they want to go to Italy.' Description: Call between the captain of the Lucky Sailor and JRCC official on June 13, 2023, at 20:10:42. Courtesy: OmniaTV This insistence was vital in supporting what the Greek Shipping Ministry would assert in its recounting of events the next day: that the hundreds of men, women and children who had been stuck at sea in the Adriana for days were intransigent and did not want the help that was offered to them. The ministry claimed that the Adriana 's passengers had thrown supplies offered to them into the sea, something that one of the survivors told The Washington Post at the time was done because the bottles of water were thrown at them by the trade vessel and the movement was causing the boat to rock worryingly, putting them in danger of capsizing. Missing evidence None of the communications between the JRCC and the rescue vessel, before the shipwreck, nor any of the JRCC's communications with the Adriana, with the exception of the call audible in the background of another recording, were included in the evidence submitted by the coastguard to the Piraeus court. The captain of the first and only boat that the Greek coastguard sent, the PPLS 920, said in court that he was instructed to depart toward the boat in distress by noon on June 13, in his deposition in an earlier case which tried nine Egyptian migrants who were eventually acquitted of charges of causing the boat to capsize. But after the PPLS 920 's departure from Crete, it approached the distressed boat and 'remained at a distance and observed it discreetly' at 10:40 pm, according to the coast guard's statement the next day. After that, the only recorded contact between the PPLS920 and the JRCC is 24 minutes before the boat sank, at 1:40 am on June 14, reporting on the failure of the fishing trawler's motor. Even the call detailing the capsizing is not included in the evidence submitted. It was, however, quoted in the coastguard's records on June 14 that at 2:04 am, an official on board the Lucky Sailor informed the Shipping Ministry that the fishing vessel 'took a right, then a sharp left and another right so great that it resulted in its overturning.' But none of the communications made by JRCC in the most critical period of the incident, between two and a half hours prior to the shipwreck until around 18 minutes after it occurred, were included in the submitted evidence. Instead, it submitted to the court 12 calls made between the JRCC and its rescue vessel in the hours following the capsizing, where they planned recovery operations of the people who were thrown into the sea. In an attempt to justify the gap in the evidence, the coastguard has claimed that it was due to a 'complete collapse of the JRCC telecommunications system,' adding that in this case, communications are usually made from 'analog devices' and are therefore unable to be recorded. However, according to OmniaTV, there is no record of the JRCC's telecommunications system failing during that period of time. Other factors that made it difficult to review the coastguard's actions on the day of the shipwreck were that the rescue vessel it sent to monitor the Adriana was not provided with a black box, or Voyage Data Recorder — despite recommendations by Frontex to Greek authorities in 2021 which require all Frontex-funded Greek rescue vessels, like the PPLS-920, to record operations. The vessel's cameras were also out of order, as reportedly claimed by the coastguard to the Greek Ombudsman, which launched its investigation after the coast guard refused to launch an internal one. The coastguard argued at the time that its crew were instead focused on rescue operations. The coastguard later claimed that while the cameras did work, images were not stored due a long-term failure in the recording system, according to the Greek authority. The type of rescue ship sent by the coastguard is equipped with two state-of-the-art thermal camera systems. These ' gaps and omissions ' were also noted to be present in another evidence file submitted by the coastguard at the request of the Greek Ombudsman. The independent authority highlighted in a statement earlier this year that data from the mobile phone of the rescue vessel captain, now in possession of the Piraeus court, and all conversations between the captain and the JRCC until the boat capsized were among the most crucial undisclosed pieces of evidence. The authority has also accused senior Greek coastguard officers of 'a series of serious and reprehensible omissions in the search and rescue duties,' holding eight of its senior members responsible for the death of hundreds. Lawyers representing the survivors and those who were killed also mentioned that crucial conversations between coastguard officials were not included in the evidence submitted to the Piraeus Maritime Court, which began initial investigations into the Greek coastguard's role in the shipwreck in June 2023 and concluded them in December. The lawyers submitted a petition to the court in which they mentioned the missing evidence in the same month. The lawyers are contesting the Piraeus court's lack of investigation into the actions of the Greek maritime authority's high-ranking officials. The deputy prosecutor of the court has so far summoned only the captain and crew of the rescue vessel. OmniaTV has also found that not only did the Piraeus Naval Court Prosecution not receive the calls made by the coastguard's rescue operations, but they did not request them. According to OmniaTV, before submitting evidence, the coastguard had formed a committee to select audio recordings and written transcripts of the calls it made on June 13 and in the early hours of June 14. Justifying the selection of evidence, the guard claimed that it was necessary in order to distinguish the calls related to the Pylos shipwreck from those concerning a separate incident that occurred on the same day. Lawyers of the survivors and several rights groups have also highlighted the coastguard's lack of accountability and unwillingness to submit all the evidence from the time of the shipwreck. The court's deputy prosecutor re-launched initial investigations into the coastguard earlier this year and then referred 17 members of the Greek coastguard to criminal investigation in May, including officials in higher positions, finally turning the spotlight on the coastguard's role in the case almost two years after the initial incident.
Newsweek
19-07-2025
- Newsweek
Security Cam Captures Dad of Three With Kids, but in Hours He'll Be Gone
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A home-security camera has captured a father's last moments with his three children in Phoenix, Arizona. Adriana Sansam (@ shared the footage to her TikTok account, where the clip shows her husband, Eric, holding their son and saying goodbye to his daughter before walking out of the house for the very last time. "There was nothing dramatic about that day," 31-year-old Adriana told Newsweek. "No big goodbye, no final hug that felt like the last one. Split view of home security camera footage showing father walking down the stairs holding son (left) and father walking outside to truck (right). Split view of home security camera footage showing father walking down the stairs holding son (left) and father walking outside to truck (right). @ "He held our son, our daughter said, 'Bye, daddy,' like she always did. He walked down the stairs, got in his truck and drove off; just like any other day." Eric, a recovering addict at the time, was heading out on what was supposed to be a one-night work trip. Halfway through his journey, he checked into a hotel, but he never made it out, and he died in his hotel room from an accidental overdose. "What happened to my husband didn't start the day he got in that truck; it started long before that," Adriana said. Eric carried deep pain from a traumatic childhood that never fully healed. Though he found recovery and hope in the years before meeting Adriana, addiction remained a lifelong battle. "Like so many others who struggle with addiction, he didn't have the tools to cope with life's stressors in a healthy way," Adriana said. She recalled how Eric was the kind of father who went on countless hikes and adventures with their children and spent hours on the floor playing Barbies without rushing. "He was so patient, present, and completely in it with them," Adriana said. "They miss their dad deeply, and their lives are forever changed because he's not here." Losing him, she added, shattered her as well: "I died that day with my husband. I will never be the same; my best friend, the one I did life with, my partner in crime. "I've never felt so alone. The one person I wanted to call to help me through the pain was the only person I couldn't talk to. I didn't know how to handle it all," Adriana said. In the aftermath, she spiraled into deep grief and suicidal ideation. Then, one day, she found a message—a phrase Eric had learned from Narcotics Anonymous and written in his recovery journal. In his handwriting, it read: "Just for today." It was something she would repeat for herself. "Just for today, stay alive. Just for today, keep going. That note saved my life," Adriana said. The family found strength in a support system, mainly down to her parents who stepped in when she couldn't. Adriana and her children also talk about Eric often as a family. "We tell stories, look at pictures and videos; we laugh at memories; we imagine what he'd say or how he'd react in certain situations," Adriana said. "He may have physically died that day in March, but we've made it our mission to keep his memory alive. That's what helps us cope." Adriana also began sharing her journey online. Her video of Eric's final moments has been viewed over 40 million times across TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. She has since launched a podcast called "Just for Today," where she hosts real, raw conversations around grief, mental health, addiction and resilience. It is named after the phrase that helped both her and Eric through their darkest moments. Adriana said that, when you lose someone, the seemingly ordinary moments are all you have. "The way he carried our son, the way he waved goodbye, the sound of him walking down the stairs. Those ordinary moments—the ones you think nothing of at the time and then suddenly they became everything," she said. "That's what grief does. It turns what once felt routine into sacred memories. He's still here. He never truly left us."
The Guardian
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Rachel Roddy's recipe for courgette, goat's cheese and lemon risotto
As Venice braced itself recently for another wedding, I had been thinking back to last September, when Adriana and Thom exchanged vows in the cavernous cool of the boathouse belonging to Burano's rowing club. Following the ceremony, the double doors were opened wide, so friends and family could line the ramp all the way to the edge of the lagoon. There, standing majestically at the end of a green gondola, was Adriana's childhood friend Giulia, a champion of voga Veneta, or Venetian rowing, ready to take the couple to the other side of the island for lunch. While Giulia rowed Adriana and Thom around the island, the rest of us walked across it to Trattoria Da Romano, where Adriana's family have celebrated for lifetimes, and it was completely given over to our euphoric wedding party. I am sure I would remember all seven courses (several of which involved more than one dish) even if I didn't have the menu memento stuck to our fridge with a cat magnet. What I remember most vividly, though, is the fish risotto, because Adriana told me to get near enough the kitchen door to see how energetically the chefs beat it, and how soft and rippling the texture was. It was a perfect example of risotto all'onda, which means 'risotto with a wave'. It thickens during the passage from pan to plate, becoming dense and creamy and moving slowly in a sort-of ripple on the plate (I was really taken by the way the waiters tapped the plate to even out the rice). Seeing both the beating and the serving made me realise that I still have much to learn when it comes to getting the consistency right. For now, I find it helpful to think of the consistency as being closer to creamy porridge than to rice: loose but not soupy. With this in mind, this week's recipe is a novice risotto with courgettes, which is also helped by the addition of cream cheese. Serve immediately with very cold white wine. And, for afters, and also inspired by Adriana and Thom, a mixture of lemon sorbet, vodka and prosecco, AKA sgroppino. Serves 4 4 medium courgettes 1.6 litres vegetable brothOlive oil 30g unsalted butter 2 shallots, peeled and finely diced400g carnaroli rice 100g mild goat's or cream cheese 30g parmesan, gratedFinely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon Top and tail the courgettes. Grate two of them on the coarse side of a box grater, and cut the other two into thin slices with a mandoline or sharp knife. Pat the slices with kitchen towel, then rub with olive oil and cook on a griddle pan until tender and marked with lines. Cut the grilled courgettes into thin strips and keep warm. Put the stock in a pan at the back of the stove and bring to a gentle simmer. In a heavy-based wide saucepan, warm two tablespoons of olive oil and 10g of the butter, then gently fry the shallots until soft. Add the grated courgettes and move them around for a minute, then add the rice and stir so it clatters against the sides of the pan for two minutes – it should be glossy and glassy. Add a ladle of broth, stir until it's absorbed, then repeat, adding broth and stirring over a low-medium heat that keeps the risotto barely simmering, for about 17 minutes, until the rice is plump and the consistency is soft and rippling – like a creamy porridge, but not soupy. Take off the heat, beat in the butter, goat's cheese or cream cheese and parmesan, then stir or, better still, jolt the pan so the risotto comes up and over in a wave that mixes the ingredients and also loosens starch. Meanwhile, very quickly reheat the strips of courgette in a pan, then add the lemon zest. Divide the risotto between four plates, bash the sides of the plates so the risotto spreads, and top each serving with a little pile of grilled courgette strips.
The Guardian
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Rachel Roddy's recipe for courgette, goat's cheese and lemon risotto
As Venice braced itself recently for another wedding, I had been thinking back to last September, when Adriana and Thom exchanged vows in the cavernous cool of the boathouse belonging to Burano's rowing club. Following the ceremony, the double doors were opened wide, so friends and family could line the ramp all the way to the edge of the lagoon. There, standing majestically at the end of a green gondola, was Adriana's childhood friend Giulia, a champion of voga Veneta, or Venetian rowing, ready to take the couple to the other side of the island for lunch. While Giulia rowed Adriana and Thom around the island, the rest of us walked across it to Trattoria Da Romano, where Adriana's family have celebrated for lifetimes, and it was completely given over to our euphoric wedding party. I am sure I would remember all seven courses (several of which involved more than one dish) even if I didn't have the menu memento stuck to our fridge with a cat magnet. What I remember most vividly, though, is the fish risotto, because Adriana told me to get near enough the kitchen door to see how energetically the chefs beat it, and how soft and rippling the texture was. It was a perfect example of risotto all'onda, which means 'risotto with a wave'. It thickens during the passage from pan to plate, becoming dense and creamy and moving slowly in a sort-of ripple on the plate (I was really taken by the way the waiters tapped the plate to even out the rice). Seeing both the beating and the serving made me realise that I still have much to learn when it comes to getting the consistency right. For now, I find it helpful to think of the consistency as being closer to creamy porridge than to rice: loose but not soupy. With this in mind, this week's recipe is a novice risotto with courgettes, which is also helped by the addition of cream cheese. Serve immediately with very cold white wine. And, for afters, and also inspired by Adriana and Thom, a mixture of lemon sorbet, vodka and prosecco, AKA sgroppino. Serves 4 4 medium courgettes 1.6 litres vegetable brothOlive oil 30g unsalted butter 2 shallots, peeled and finely diced400g carnaroli rice 100g mild goat's or cream cheese 30g parmesan, gratedFinely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon Top and tail the courgettes. Grate two of them on the coarse side of a box grater, and cut the other two into thin slices with a mandoline or sharp knife. Pat the slices with kitchen towel, then rub with olive oil and cook on a griddle pan until tender and marked with lines. Cut the grilled courgettes into thin strips and keep warm. Put the stock in a pan at the back of the stove and bring to a gentle simmer. In a heavy-based wide saucepan, warm two tablespoons of olive oil and 10g of the butter, then gently fry the shallots until soft. Add the grated courgettes and move them around for a minute, then add the rice and stir so it clatters against the sides of the pan for two minutes – it should be glossy and glassy. Add a ladle of broth, stir until it's absorbed, then repeat, adding broth and stirring over a low-medium heat that keeps the risotto barely simmering, for about 17 minutes, until the rice is plump and the consistency is soft and rippling – like a creamy porridge, but not soupy. Take off the heat, beat in the butter, goat's cheese or cream cheese and parmesan, then stir or, better still, jolt the pan so the risotto comes up and over in a wave that mixes the ingredients and also loosens starch. Meanwhile, very quickly reheat the strips of courgette in a pan, then add the lemon zest. Divide the risotto between four plates, bash the sides of the plates so the risotto spreads, and top each serving with a little pile of grilled courgette strips.
The Star
04-07-2025
- General
- The Star
Gen Z birdwatchers find their flock in KL parks
Community initiative connects youths with nature and each other ON a quiet Saturday morning at Taman Botani Perdana in Jalan Kebun Bunga, Kuala Lumpur, a small hushed group of young people had their eyes fixed on a canopy overhead. A flash of yellow was seen and a melodic whistle heard. Then, one of the youths pointed excitedly to a feathered visitor that had come into view and produced the sound. The group leaned in, binoculars and cameras at the ready. In the distance, a black-naped oriole called, brightening the otherwise muted cityscape. Other birds the group spotted that day were white-throated kingfisher, brahminy kite, oriental magpie-robin and white-breasted waterhen. This is the world of Jejakliar, a community birdwatching initiative led by Malaysian Gen Zers who are redefining how urban youth interact with nature. Aidil Iman Aidid, 26, who studied international relations with a minor in environmental studies at Universiti Malaya (UM), never thought birdwatching would become a passion, let alone spark a movement. 'I was looking for a hobby, something communal yet solitary. 'I picked up a book about birds at UM library, learned about the different species around the campus and fell in love with the hobby,' he said. What began as a solitary escape in UM's urban parks and other green spaces such as KLCC Park and Taman Rimba Kiara in the capital city evolved into a community-building effort. When tasked with a community project, Aidil decided to connect other Gen Zers in the Klang Valley to urban biodiversity through birdwatching. 'Birds are the most visible and audible wildlife in cities. 'I wanted us to reconnect with the urban environment,' Aidil added. The grassroots initiative, which began on May 25 last year, runs primarily on Instagram, where it recruits and engages participants. Over the past year, it has organised more than 10 birdwatching excursions, with each outing always near public transport to ensure accessibility. Among those drawn to the group is Nur Adriana Sofea Shahril, 23, an undergraduate studying ecology and biodiversity from UM. After joining the group, Aidil invited Adriana to volunteer as a guide. Adriana, who studied urban bird biodiversity for her final-year project, sees this initiative as a perfect blend of research and community outreach. The excursions attract a vibrant mix of young Malaysians. Pravena Sreetharan, 25, a law graduate completing her pupillage, joined the group after meeting Aidil through Kolektif Iklim, a youth climate initiative. 'I've always been interested in environmental law. 'Birdwatching is therapeutic for me and also a good lesson in patience,' Pravena said. 'Before this, I was very high-strung. Standing still, observing and being present; it changed me.' Maria Nash, a marketing student from Shah Alam, learned about Jejakliar through social media. 'It's my first-time birdwatching,' she shared. 'I love how walking around Taman Botani Perdana feels like a workout without actually feeling like exercise. 'I'm making new friends and learning so much.' The group's diversity is striking – from biodiversity students to law graduates and swimming instructors. Lim Wen Kai, 22, a biosciences student at UM, said birdwatching enriched his academic learning. 'Birds are everywhere and essential for sustaining urban ecology,' he said. 'It's one thing to read about them in textbooks, but seeing them in real life is a pleasure.' For Jebamanoh Johnson, 24, a zoology graduate, birdwatching helped him shift focus from the big picture to the small details. 'Many people walk around the park without noticing the birds,' he said. 'When I joined Jejakliar, it changed how I pay attention to the world.' Hazeeq Syahme, 28, another law graduate, believes birdwatching helps bust the stereotype of Gen Zers being glued to their screens. 'This builds a sense of community,' he said. Aidil said members of the group even shared their sightings digitally via WhatsApp and bird identification mobile apps. Noting that bird books could be expensive, he said they balanced book knowledge with real-world exploration. Far from being isolated or distracted, the young birdwatchers find themselves more connected to nature and to one another. Now, Aidil said he started a separate KL Youth Birdwatch excursion, which takes place twice a month. 'People think Gen Z individuals aren't curious or eager to learn,' said Pravena. 'That is a misconception. We have an interest in learning. 'When we see a bird we can't identify, we do our research until we know what it is.' For many, the Covid-19 pandemic deepened their appreciation for birds. Adriana recalled being stuck at home, where her only solace was the veranda near an urban forest. 'Birdwatching saved me,' she said. Beyond personal well-being, she said birdwatching, which she described as healing, also sparks creativity. Adriana, who loves design, sees nature as inspiration. 'We can learn so much from birds, their mechanisms. 'The woodpecker's long tongue, for example, and the trees they perch on.' On the surface, a group of 20-somethings gathering to look at birds might seem unusual, even quaint. But their movement represents something deeper: a quiet resistance to the isolating, screen-heavy modern world. 'We always encourage participants to bring friends,' Aidil added. Last month, he said, 10 strangers joined the group and they became friends by the end of the day. In a society where loneliness cuts across generations, Jejakliar offers a rare chance to slow down and truly see, not just the birds, but each other. As the group packed up their gear after another successful morning, there was an undeniable sense of optimism in the air.
