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. This includes bed and breakfast accommodations, action-vacations that they host in areas such as hiking, horseback riding or nature questing. Our volunteers will counsel and work with these beginning tour hosts to better prepare them to receive guests. Includes everything from advising to helping them build better toilets or showers. Many small village schools and entrepreneurs have requested help and advice in marketing their goods.