tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71300084362726817772012-01-11T13:16:30.780-08:00American Association of Museums (AAM) Museums Community Collaborations Abroad (MCCA) Project - Improving the Dushanbe Zoo in TajikistanLori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.comBlogger231100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-51300423834202608702009-04-26T05:31:00.000-07:002009-04-26T05:33:16.281-07:00

Dushanbe Zoo: One Year Later Students at Holy Cross School in Fort Wayne, IN were at first inspired to act in response to a horrible bear mauling that seriously injured a pen pal on the other side of the world. Though their young friend survived her encounter with a bear living at the Dushanbe Zoo in the capital city of Tajikistan, the students wanted to do something to help ensure such a

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-81490523762554612952009-04-25T13:15:00.000-07:002009-04-25T13:19:39.077-07:00

February 5, 2009New signs funded by this project will provice a much more educational and enriching experience to visitors to the Dushanbe Zoo. Designed by Dushanbe Zoo volunteers using photos taken of actual animal living at the zoo, with information provided in three languages (Tajik, Russian and English), these attractive signs bring the zoo to a whole new level!See more signs here!

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-59559296438728422542009-04-25T13:11:00.000-07:002009-04-25T13:13:58.677-07:00

New lions born over the winter now enjoy a naturalistic and much larger habitat, designed by the U.S. project team and constructed by volunteers at Dushanbe Zoo.

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-76277211817912551762009-04-25T13:08:00.000-07:002009-04-25T13:10:23.932-07:00

March 1, 2009The volunteers in Tajikistan have started the Garden project at Dushanbe Zoo. More than 30 fruit trees have been plated already at the zoo. This is going to be a garden with apple, cherry, quince, pear, plum, apricot and some pine trees along the garden lane and around the playground area.

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-15693085167805554122009-04-25T13:01:00.001-07:002009-04-25T13:08:00.461-07:00

We apologize for the long delay in posting these photos that share the amazing work done by volunteers at the Dushanbe Zoo.August 22, 2008Slide is installed:

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-88526498549852951582008-08-05T05:30:00.000-07:002008-08-05T05:32:17.248-07:00

Click here for team agenda while visiting U.S. August 7-19

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-31404005230971201342008-08-01T10:30:00.000-07:002008-08-01T10:39:06.664-07:00

After many weeks of working through the red-tape of planning an extensive visit around the world in the U.S., the Dushanbe team is finally set to come! They are scheduled to arrive in Chicago on August 7 and return August 18.Those who will make up the Tajik team include a delegate from the Dushanbe city mayor's office, a university English teacher, a lawyer specializing in volunteer

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-22228360474928812042008-08-01T10:25:00.000-07:002008-08-01T10:30:20.646-07:00

Hi everyone,The construction of new lion habitat is finally completed. Bobo (green T-shirt in pictures) is a lead volunteer with over 500 hours worked at the Dushanbe Zoo working on different projects: installation of volunteer center room, painting the habitats of exotic animals, working on playground area, improving the wild pigs habitat, creating the new lions' habitat, and working on the

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-52162643655287143212008-06-10T05:23:00.000-07:002008-06-10T05:31:30.358-07:00

This presentation was published by Youth Opportunities NGO. Check it out!Dushanbe Zoo Volunteers

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-71365744547282192582008-04-27T17:51:00.000-07:002008-04-27T18:09:15.018-07:00

Check out our U.S. project teams photos from Istanbul and Dushanbe at:http://www.flickr.com/photos/25807896@N07/

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-29809599276902224502008-04-27T13:16:00.000-07:002008-04-27T18:06:14.112-07:00

This week was very busy. There was a lot of hard work. We completed the improvements of the wild pig habitat and the room for a new Volunteer and Information Resource Center. In addition, I have negotiated with Zoo Director to create a legal volunteer organization with volunteer regulations, rules, rights and obligations. Today we have moved the wild pigs to their improved habitat. The pigs are

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-68424735962964260512008-04-22T13:50:00.000-07:002008-04-22T14:13:24.969-07:00

During our visit in Dushanbe from April 3-14, unfortunately, we had very limited opportunity to update the blog (sorry!)Since returning though, I'm happy to post a few photos and to say the project continues! Teens are volunteering at the Dushanbe Zoo under the guidance of Victor Ibragimov, Youth Opportunities, and volunteers from Zumrod NGO, an ecological society dedicated to the zoo project.

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-6144792950879624002008-04-08T20:38:00.000-07:002008-04-08T20:56:00.701-07:00

Volunteering Not a "Mandatory" ActivityThe freedom Tajikistan gained with the fall of the USSR in 1991 is still not fully appreciated by many here in Dushanbe. Since our arrival last week we have learned it is important to help young people understand that volunteering to help improve the zoo, their zoo, is not a mandatory activity. While many welcome becoming involved, others do not understand

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-25329971872510873742008-04-03T06:56:00.001-07:002008-04-03T07:17:23.199-07:00

We're here!!Despite a few travel hiccups, the U.S. project team arrived in Dushanbe at about 3:40 a.m. today, tired but in good spirits. Travel time from Indianapolis to Dushanbe was about 30 hours, including a wonderful side-trip into Istanbul for the day. Baggage did not, unfortunately, arrive with us so we did some shopping in the open market and hope they will be here Monday.Tomorrow we

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-31163491608635072652008-03-24T08:09:00.001-07:002008-03-24T08:09:57.506-07:00

Check out the new Dushanbe Zoo website - a work in progress!Dushanbe Zoo

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-26508833893982602062008-03-24T08:03:00.000-07:002008-03-24T08:08:46.629-07:00

Dushanbe Zoo Benefit DinnerA benefit dinner, featuring a traditional Tajikistan Pilov meal, will be held on April 26th, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at Holy Cross Lutheran Church’s cafeteria (Fort Wayne, Indiana). Tickets are $6.00 each.A team of students from Holy Cross Lutheran School began a project to improve the zoo in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, two years ago when an email pen pal of theirs had a serious

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-67909515961357922972008-03-24T07:59:00.000-07:002008-03-24T08:02:47.909-07:00

March 18, 2008 9th grade students of Public School #21, Parvizi Hairullo and Daler Abjabarov have visited Public Schools of Firdavsi, Sino and Somoni districts of Dushanbe city, where they met with directors and students of 7 to 9 grades to build friendly relations. In the framework of these meetings, the AAM MCCA Project for Zoo Improvement was presented to the audience and the most active

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-78288741835432383752008-02-14T13:28:00.000-08:002008-02-14T13:49:38.771-08:00

Our very small home town enjoyed seeing some unfamiliar faces this week, including that of Victor Ibragimov (pictured with "Peaches", a resident of Black Pine) when three visitors from Tajikistan joined up with local MCCA project team members for lunch and a sanctuary tour!Roger Kovacs and Lori Gagen met up with Victor, the MCCA Tajikistan-based project manager, and were joined by Pulod Amirbekov

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-37323484555104214332008-02-13T06:41:00.000-08:002008-02-13T06:50:03.750-08:00

BBC America reports:Energy Crisis Hits Tajikistan - See audio/videoTajikistan is in the grip of emergency food shortages, the UN's World Food Programme is warning. The deteriorating food situation is part of the energy crisis which hit the mountainous nation in the middle of its coldest winter for five decades. The cost of food has tripled in recent months, partially because of rising world

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-82678952366830917742008-01-31T07:44:00.000-08:002008-01-31T07:55:50.602-08:00

Roger Kovacs reports that some of the items the U.S. project team wants to get for the new playground at the Dushanbe Zoo is on order! The company we are purchasing from, AAA State of Play, will ship the items to Denver to be consolidated on a shipment to Dushanbe, which will help us come in under our current budget of $7500 US.The new playground equipment will include slides, swings, a see-saw,

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-51137926782850027292008-01-19T05:59:00.000-08:002008-01-19T06:03:36.232-08:00

Roger has been meeting with the kids from Holy Cross school in Fort Wayne, and they are a busy bunch! They have been trying to figure out when everyone can travel to Dushanbe from the U.S. as well as researching playground equipment to be shipped soon.Annette at Holy Cross would also like Black Pine to come to the school soon for an outreach program so that we can document the typical

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-14232889331448951522008-01-15T06:43:00.000-08:002008-01-15T06:51:30.025-08:00

Today I was pleased, on behalf of the American Association of Museums and as the fiscal agent for the MCCA grant project, to present a check for $1,400 to Karen Lemire, Director of Volunteer Connections in Albion, Indiana.Karen will be one of the U.S. team members who will travel to Dushanbe this spring and coordinate volunteer training for zoo staff. She has been instrumental in helping Black

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130008436272681777.post-14516905298604553142008-01-06T13:00:00.000-08:002008-01-06T13:06:42.706-08:00

Welcome! We will assume you have already read about this Museums Community Collaborations Abroad grant project, but if not, please check out the project web site. (The Museums & Community Collaborations Abroad Program (MCCA) is administered by the American Association of Museums (AAM), and funded by the US Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA).) After working for

Lori Gagen - Development Directorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952910473781431959noreply@blogger.com0