We know that Wakatobi is an acronym for four islands in Southeast Sulawesi, namely, Wangi-wangi Island, Kaledupa, Tomia, and Binongko. It is famous for its beautiful underwater scenery and astonishing marine biodiversity. Indeed, Wakatobi is part of the world's coral triangle route. There are six countries included in this "golden triangle" in the world, namely Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia (Wakatobi, Bali, Kalimantan, Lombok, and Papua), Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean. We should be proud that Indonesia is included in it, and Wakatobi is right at the heart of this golden coral triangle.

However, when reading the writings in the book "Wakatobi in the Whirlpool of Time: An Anthology," we seem to discover things that have never been mentioned in any narrative. This book contains stories passed down orally, crafted into interesting writings that invite even deeper interest in Wakatobi. These writings fill the voids in our knowledge of Wakatobi and complement the answers to our ignorance of the island's stories.

These stories are compiled as part of the implementation of the GEF SGP Phase 6 program in Wakatobi. Learning about the culture and people of the places where we work is an integral part of the field implementation process. GEF SGP Indonesia Phase 6 has been collaborating with communities in Wakatobi since 2017 until now. Although the implementation of phase 6 is complete, the bonds of storytelling, relationships, and activities will never end.

Since 2017, the GEF SGP Indonesia program phase 6 has been underway in four regions of Eastern Indonesia, namely Nusa Penida Island in Bali, Semau Island in East Nusa Tenggara, the Wakatobi Islands in Southeast Sulawesi, and the areas surrounding the Paguyaman River in Gorontalo. A total of 82 partners from community groups, non-governmental organizations, higher education communities, research institutions, private companies, local governments, and national governments are involved in this program.

Starting to work with the community is not as easy as strategizing on paper. The twists and turns of events had to be taken one after another. Various methods and approaches were tried and applied. Often, sweat accompanies failure, and smiles accompany the success of GEF SGP Indonesia partners when interacting in the field with communities.

Bringing together many elements, interests, and thoughts into a community program is not easy. Various steps are taken. Strategies that are deemed effective and complete with prayers are implemented so that the goals can be achieved, such as, "The program that has been designed can run and process well together with the community. The benefits of the program can be enjoyed by the community. And the program can continue even though the GEF SGP funding has been completed."

Departing from the idea of retelling the stories of GEF SGP Indonesia partners in implementing the program through descriptive and reflective narrative version writing, we collaborated with Wisanggeni91 to compile a book. The book is a learning book entitled "Fajar Timur Sampai Senja Kala Nusa: An Anthology of Stories, The Search for the Sense of Four Regions.

In this book, each partner writes with a different writing color. Not the same. This difference in narrative style reflects the diversity of perspectives and ways in which GEF SGP Indonesia partners engage with communities. Diversity in behavior, actions, patterns, and strategies when interacting with community members. Diversity holds value, namely empowering local communities, enabling them to voice their concerns, and having bargaining power over their lives, environment, and territory.

This book tells the story of partners' journeys in finding change agents in the field. Simple in narration but actually challenging in implementation. All stories are told in a flowing manner that immerses us in the narrative. As if we are involved in feeling the sweat and smiles of the partners in their daily lives.

In 2021, when all activities in the GEF SGP program were completed, it turned out that there were a lot of visual documentation, especially photos, which were part of knowledge management during 2017-2020. The existence of thousands of these photo documentation has sparked the idea of ​​creating a book about traditional knowledge and local food.

Although there are thousands of photos, there are limitations in crafting narratives. Therefore, despite the time constraints, Visual Literacy dared to accept the challenge from GEF SGP to create two photo books. One book contains local knowledge and another book about local food, found in the four locations of the GEF SGP Indonesia phase 6 program. Namely, on Semau Island (East Nusa Tenggara), Wakatobi (Southeast Sulawesi), Nusa Penida (Bali), as well as Gorontalo Regency and Boalemo (Gorontalo).

Buku ini dimaksudkan untuk memicu ketertarikan generasi muda, sekaligus guna membangkitkan kenangan generasi terdahulu akan kekayaan Nusantara. Ketidaklengkapan buku ini diharapkan nantinya bisa memunculkan ide selanjutnya untuk melakukan penelitian di seluruh lokasi di Indonesia, tentang pangan lokal dan pengetahuan tradisional masyarakat.

Pengetahuan dan keahlian manusia dalam membuat peralatan sederhana yang cukup efektif, terjadi pada masa megalitikum. Masa di mana keahlian pengolahan batu sudah kompleks, sementara pengolahan tulang dan kayu juga telah dimulai. Dan, masa yang akhirnya ditandai oleh dimulainya pengolahan logam. Masa megalitikum juga merupakan masa awal manusia menetap di satu lokasi, bertani, dan beternak. Bahkan, berdagang dalam bentuk barter untuk memenuhi kebutuhan mereka.