Although we are not currently working on trust documentation in the Amazon, the article published in the April 2010 issue of GeoWorld grabbed the HIT teams' attention. The article is titled "Protecting Their Rainforest", and the main focus is on the work Amazon Tribes are conducting to protect their home. In the remote jungles of South America, the Indians of the Amazon are using technologies like GPS units, Android devices, and Google Earth for "cultural mapping".
Hello everyone,
We are only 19 days away from our departure to Australia and then Papua New Guinea. As of right now, the HIT team is putting the final touches on all of the orientation preparations. We are formatting powerpoints and coming up with ways to make the presentations more interesting than just lectures. Since all of our interns are college students, the last thing we want to do is make them sit in boring lectures right after they finished classes.
The Heritable Innovation Trust team received an email from Theresa Arek this morning. Theresa updated us on the work that is being done in Papua New Guinea to prepare for the interns' welcoming. Theresa's email says:
"Excitement is growing for the return of the interns. Alakasam prepared a house for the interns and is currently working on compiling their trust items. I have stressed that the interns will be with them for one week only.
Recent news from Mongolia describes the devastating effects severe snow storms are having on herders and their livestock. The storms commonly known as 'zud' or 'dzud' claimed the lives of 17 people while they were pasturing their animals. In addition to human loss, the storms are reported to be responsible for the deaths of 6.5 million animals. Over 500,000 of these animals were large animals like horses, cattle, and camels. The storms have left thousands of herding families with no livestock and close to 30,000 families with only half of their herds remaining.
The Heritable Innovation Trust team asked this year’s group of interns to prepare some additional thoughts about their upcoming trip as the trip gets closer. We wanted to learn more about how their preparations were going. Below, please find their responses:
Elspeth Missel-
Upon receiving our flight itinerary this past week, it struck me that we are really leaving in less than a month – yikes! In anticipation of the throng of papers and exams looming on the near horizon, I have tried to gather everything I will need for the trip in the past few weeks.
Rabaul, Papua New Guinea- Mr. Hosea John, a member of the East New Britain Autonomy Committee died this weekend. His death followed a prolonged illness. Mr. Hosea John was a strong advocate for bringing ethical economic development to the Province of East New Britain and the nation of Papua New Guinea. His work included supporting the development of the Palavat – the proposed Constitution for the Autonomous Region of East New Britain – and the Economic Study supporting this effort.
On Saturday, April 17, 2010 at 23:15 UTC, a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck New Guinea, Papua New Guinea. The first round of news releases did not report any severe damages or injuries, and the Pacific Tsunami Warning System in Hawaii did not issue a tsunami warning. We have heard from Theresa Arek with Pacific Spices, and her news was good. To read more about this earthquake visit the USGS's Earthquake Hazard Program website, and we will post any updates we receive about possible changes in PNG.
Hello everyone,
We have finally got the plane tickets, so we are officially going to Papua New Guinea in 36 days. With everything winding down with school and escalating with the preparations for the trip, I have been unable to prepare myself as much as I would like. It is just now hitting me that I still have collect all of my stuff for the trip along with making sure every one of our awesome interns is doing the same.
The Heritable Innovation Trust team recently asked this year's group of interns to prepare some initial thoughts about their upcoming trip. We wanted to learn more about how their preparations were going. Below, please find their responses:
Elspeth Missel-
In preparation for this trip, I have scoured the Internet for information pertaining to the history of the region as well as current political, economic, and cultural data. I enjoyed looking through photographs and blogs posted by others who have traveled to PNG.
A couple of months ago, we at the Heritable Innovation Trust were connected with Tyler Gage, the founder of the Runa Foundation in Ecuador. Due to similarities in direction and focus, the two organizations melded quite well. Runa LLC is an international organization dedicated to facilitating sustainable development and cultural preservation for the indigenous communities of Ecuador. Runa's main focus is to protect and participate in the fair trade of Guayusa, a naturally caffeinated tea grown and celebrated in Ecuador.
