The village is in a remote side valley along the Selenga River-very beautiful and several sacred places close at hand, including hot springs and prayer shrines. Youth Activity Centers. Our new grant program for Youth Activity Center development will require many volunteers. We are in need of volunteers who can work with rural villages through their schools on small enterprise development. Help establish micro-enterprises such as meat smokers, roadside cafes, woodworking shops or greenhouses to produce specialized vegetables.
Village life is basic.
Volunteers should be ready to accept limited personal comforts and limited communications. A very innovative and determined Russian teacher of English in the tiny village of Orot in Buryatia hopes to provide her village with new sources of income by creating a cultural tourist camp. The camp will attract both foreign visitors and Russians. Volunteers can help at all levels, from construction of the camp to helping with language training. At several sites around Lake Baikal, we are working with rural residents to get them involved with tourism.