In This Issue:
2007 Field Season Kicks Off Next Month!
Annual Fundraising Campaign & Project Updates to be delivered to your door next week!
News Briefs & Reminders
Contact
The Itgel Foundation
info@Itgel.org
www.itgel.org
In Mongolia:
The Itgel Foundation
Ulaanbaatar-211213
P.O. Box 2142
Mongolia
Telephone:
(976)11-310-296
Mobile:
(976)99-722-667
In the US:
The Itgel Foundation
1243 Arroyo Chico
Boulder, CO 80302
Telephone:
(303) 241-4411
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It’s our 5th Anniversary this year,
and we’re marking the occasion by setting ambitious goals
that serve
more people
in more ways for our 2007 field season!
2007 Field Season Kicks Off Next Month!
On April 20, 2007, the Itgel team will head to Mongolia to begin what promises to be our biggest and best field season to date. Here’s an update of what’s going on in our various project areas, and what we’ve got planned for the coming field season.
Tsaatan Community & Visitors Center (TCVC) Updates:
- Courses designed to develop operational capacity at the new visitor’s center are scheduled to begin next month (April) with a workshop hosted by Mongolian NGO New Zealand Nature Institute. The herder-requested workshop will focus on risk/benefit assessment of community-based tourism, identification and “mapping” of community resources, and organization of management and leadership systems among Tsaatan community members to support the TCVC. This and other courses at the TCVC made possible by generous support from the USAID special project Economic Reform & Competitiveness Initiative (EPRC). Thank you EPRC!
- Itgel is proud to announce the premiere of the TCVC website, featuring an interactive trip calculator that allows potential visitors to get price quotes on services offered by the Tsaatan community. Click here to visit the site. Thank you to our web designer Pierrick Verilhac for an outstanding job!
- Goals for 2007 include construction of a expanded TCVC facility, provision of community-based tourism services and activities, development of profit-sharing systems to bolster household income, and much more.
Community & Herd Health Updates:
- Itgel’s ongoing initiatives on medical/veterinary wellness in the Tsaatan community continue this spring with collaborative field work between Mongolia’s Institute of Veterinary Medicine, the Mongolian Ministry of Food & Agriculture, Veterinarians Without Borders, Itgel veterinarian Dr. Bruce Smith, Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks, and a visiting researcher from the University of California at Davis. Advanced diagnostic techniques including PCR and on-site serological screen testing for infectious diseases will occur, along with work that seeks to enhance herd nutrition and productivity. Thank you to all our valuable partners on this project!
- Itgel Patron Ed Tedeschi provides financial support to cover community-wide screen testing and treatments for Brucellosis and other diseases which affect Tsaatan herders and their deer. Mr. Tedeschi’s support will enable Itgel to provide one-on-one check-ups to 300+ herders, and offer therapeutic medicine to those suffering from bacterial infections, arthritis, and other debilitating ailments. Thank you, Ed!
- Goals for 2007 include definitive speciation of the brucella strain affecting the Tsaatan, development of an aggressive mitigation plan aimed at eradicating infectious disease, facilitation of health education workshops for herders and health professionals, and much more.
New Project: Cultural Documentation & Access to Information:
- Itgel team member Ashley St. Clair heads up an exciting new project scheduled to kick off this June. The project seeks to document threatened traditional knowledge in the Tsaatan community and synthesize content with newly available information to produce an accessible tool kit herders can use for problem-solving and decision-making. Content, focusing on topics such as herd & range management and Tsaatan history, will be gathered through audio/video recordings, written testimonials, and mapping activities, and will be blended with scientific data, aerial photography, and more to produce interactive DVDs and accompanying map and guidebooks that herders can reference to inform management practices, movement decisions, and more. Thank you Ashley for your efforts and enthusiasm!
- Goals for 2007 include content-gathering on herder-identified topics, translation of threatened cultural knowledge into English and Mongolian, production and distribution to herders of multi-media tool kits including interactive DVDs and map/guidebooks.
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We invite you to support these and other important activities
by making a tax-deductible contribution online today by clicking here.
A gift of any size makes big things possible!
Annual Fundraising Campaign & Project Updates
to be delivered to your door next week!
If you’re one of the 800+ people in our international network of friends and supporters, Itgel’s colorful annual mailing is headed your way next week. Be on the lookout for your packet, which includes project updates, a Mongolian jacket order form, and most importantly, our annual call for support. Please help us make the design and printing of our only annual mailing truly worth it by replying with your contribution before April 15th.
News Briefs & Reminders
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Do you have a gently-used laptop you’d like to donate to a great cause? How about a connection to a business that makes tents, duffels, portable solar charging units, or veterinary/medical supplies? All of these items are on our 2007 in-kind wish list. Donating goods keeps our costs low, and offers valuable PR perks for your business! E-mail Morgan to arrange your in-kind donation.
If you’ve moved in the last year, or if you’re not already on our mailing list, send us your current address by March 20 and you’ll receive our colorful annual mailing in just a few weeks.
Now is the time to order your custom-made Mongolian jacket and support Itgel at the same time!
Click here for a printable order form and more details about this exciting fundraising program.
Only a few vacancies remain for 2007 field volunteers, including a position for a multi-media specialist and positions for scientific professionals.
Visit http://itgel.org/about_volunteering.htm to apply.
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Itgel has already raised $27,000 for 2007!
Help us reach our yearly goal of $60,000 by donating today!
Click here to donate online.
Thank you to each of you for being part of Itgel’s global network!
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