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Pen Pals: Protecting Nature and Promoting Peace

Region: Central Asia, Kazakstan
Author: Kulyash Nurkanovna Kasymova, Naurzum, Children's Environmental Education Section
Consortium Member: ISAR Central Asia
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $154 Collected: $154 Needs: $0
Result: As a result of this grant, one hundred and twenty students in Central Asia’s Kazakstan developed a pen pal program with three ecological clubs in the U.S. and exchanged information about local environmental conditions and life in their regions.
Donors: Upper Mohawk Valley Model United Nations Conference at Hamilton College [December 1997], and the UNA-USA of Upper Mohawk Valley, with Virtual Foundation Matching Funds
Comment: The world views of hundreds of youths were changed for the cost of envelopes, pencils, stamps, and photographs.

General Description of NGO and activities:
Our NGO, Naurzum, is named after the nature preserve around which our members live - the Naurzum Nature Preserve, located in northern Kazakstan. Our group consists of biologists, teachers, rangers, and journalists from the villages and cities that surround the nature preserve. We work to conserve the natural resources of the nature preserve and educate the local community on the need to protect it. We created our group in response to the rapid degradation of natural resources experienced by the nature preserve due to decreased government funding for nature protection activities, and the increased use of nature preserve resources by those living in the surrounding rural villages.

The children's environmental education section of Naurzum consists of 120 students.

Project goal:
Develop relationship between students in the club and three ecological clubs in the US through a pen pal program.

Project description:
The project is to support exchange of information between the club and three ecological clubs in the USA. Students in the third grade will write to a club in California; 6 - 8th graders will write to a club in Georgia; and 7 - 10th graders will write to a club in Texas.

In their letters, the students will exchange information on the local environmental conditions, projects that they have taken part in to improve the local environment, and general topics.

Budget