Ala Archa Eco-Leadership Project
Donation protected
The Ala Archa Eco-Leadership Project is an initiative that will change the way a group of students in Kyrgyzstan approach sustainability, leadership, and education. The Eco-Leadership Project, or ELP, is the centerpiece of University of Vermont graduate student Nathan Fry's masters degree project and will integrate concepts of social-ecological sustainability and outdoor adventure leadership into a two week-long experience in Ala Archa National Park, Kyrgyzstan. The project participants, nine Kyrgyz students from the Environmental Management department of the American University of Central Asia, will experience a unique curriculum unlike any other program currently existing in Kyrgyzstan and will leave the program with a strategic vision for the future sustainable development of their nation's environment.
Nathan, the lead instructor and curriculum author, has over eight years of military officer leadership experience, fifteen years of backcountry and mountaineering experience as a participant and professional guide, and is a year into his ecology work as a student in the University of Vermont's Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. In August 2016, he will lead a team of two US-based undergraduate instructors and one Kyrgyz-based experiential educator to implement the ELP program vision.
As the first program of its kind in the region, the ELP is currently in need of generous donors to assist in its "pilot program" year. All funds will go directly to the following uses:
1) Instructor travel to Kyrgyzstan ($4200 for air and ground travel for three US-based instructors)
2) Instructor living expenses for three weeks in-country (approximately $1000 for three US-based instructors)
3) Lodging for three weeks, both hostel and park camping fees ($700)
4) Instructor salary ($1500 for a Kyrgyzstan-based professional experiential educator)
5) Program transportation ($200)
6) Program food expenses ($4000 for fourteen program participants and instructors for two weeks of dehydrated meals)
The program will require funds on a rolling basis beginning in February 2016 (to purchase airline tickets) and will gladly accept donations up until the instructor team's departure from the United States in mid-July 2016. If you are not able to contribute a monetary donation, the project also gladly accepts any gently used outdoor clothing (down jackets, Goretex jackets) to help supplement the Kyrgyz students' outdoor equipment (please contact Nathan in person for details).
The Ala Archa Eco-Leadership Project seeks to bring together the best of the outdoor and conservation community to assist the students of Kyrgyzstan in contributing to their sustainable future. We greatly appreciate any assistance to help us bring this program vision to reality!
Nathan, the lead instructor and curriculum author, has over eight years of military officer leadership experience, fifteen years of backcountry and mountaineering experience as a participant and professional guide, and is a year into his ecology work as a student in the University of Vermont's Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. In August 2016, he will lead a team of two US-based undergraduate instructors and one Kyrgyz-based experiential educator to implement the ELP program vision.
As the first program of its kind in the region, the ELP is currently in need of generous donors to assist in its "pilot program" year. All funds will go directly to the following uses:
1) Instructor travel to Kyrgyzstan ($4200 for air and ground travel for three US-based instructors)
2) Instructor living expenses for three weeks in-country (approximately $1000 for three US-based instructors)
3) Lodging for three weeks, both hostel and park camping fees ($700)
4) Instructor salary ($1500 for a Kyrgyzstan-based professional experiential educator)
5) Program transportation ($200)
6) Program food expenses ($4000 for fourteen program participants and instructors for two weeks of dehydrated meals)
The program will require funds on a rolling basis beginning in February 2016 (to purchase airline tickets) and will gladly accept donations up until the instructor team's departure from the United States in mid-July 2016. If you are not able to contribute a monetary donation, the project also gladly accepts any gently used outdoor clothing (down jackets, Goretex jackets) to help supplement the Kyrgyz students' outdoor equipment (please contact Nathan in person for details).
The Ala Archa Eco-Leadership Project seeks to bring together the best of the outdoor and conservation community to assist the students of Kyrgyzstan in contributing to their sustainable future. We greatly appreciate any assistance to help us bring this program vision to reality!
Organizer
Nathan Fry
Organizer
Hinesburg, VT
