An Appeal

Hello friends,

Since I've been here in Albania, many of you have asked if there is anything you can do to help support me.  While I love a good letter and care package, I have a slightly different request at the moment.

As you may have noticed from my pictures, Albania is a beautiful country.  I can honestly say that I haven't seen this much natural beauty in such a small area ever in my life.  Yet many youth don't have the opportunity to appreciate and explore their own country.  I was lucky enough to grow up in a community that put a premium on educating youth about environmental preservation and conservation. Lessons on composting and recycling were mixed in with trash clean ups and class gardens throughout my childhood.  Here in Albania, youth face a very different reality.  The ideas of preservation and conservation are new in this country where until 20 years ago, plastic bags didn't exist and having a car was a privilege few enjoyed.  Since Albania's rapid development, these things have become common place and have led to serious environmental issues.  The Outdoor Ambassadors (OA) program is a nation-wide program run by PCVs along with local counterparts that seeks to provide Albanian youth with the opportunity to learn about and explore nature.  Students participate in activities ranging from hiking trips, ecology lessons, trash pick ups, town beautification, and public awareness campaigns, to name a few.  I myself have had the opportunity to see the OA group in Gramsh in action and I can say that I can't imagine a better program to be involved with.  Not only does OA provide a space for youth to explore the nature around them, but it also provides an outlet for students who, unlike in America, don't have a plethora of extra curricular activities to chose from.

While I could go on about the wonders of OA for way longer, I will spare you and get to the point.  Every year OA hosts a summer camp for youth from across Albania.  Here, students have the opportunity to attend classes on topics ranging from nutrition to biodiversity as well as have a camp experience that we in America take for granted.  For most camp participants, this will be their first opportunity to meet with and socialize with youth from all around the country.  This year, the OA committee needs donations to make the camp possible.  Any donation would truly help (just $20 can pay for 1 day's worth of food and housing for a student).  The deadline to donate is August 1st and if our goal isn't met by then, we will lose all of the money that has been donated so far and have to cancel the camp for this year.  All of you who know me know how awkward I find it to ask for donations and that I wouldn't be writing to you unless it was something that I truly believed could make a difference.  So I would encourage you to visit this website to learn more about the program and how you can make a donation. 


For more information on the OA program visit their website: http://www.outdoorambassadors.org/

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I promise another update will be coming soon.