Three years ago I landed in Bangkok, tired from a really long flight from Canada, worried about how I was going to get out of the airport with all my baggage/field equipment, and feeling very aware of the fact that I was completely alone on the other side of the world. Armed with some research equipment, a video camera, and a solid pair of hiking boots, I had arrived in Thailand to begin my PhD research and was moving into the jungle to study primates at UNESCO World Heritage Site, Khao Yai National Park. It was the start of my biggest adventure to date.
The for next two years I would live with Thai locals as the only foreign researcher in one of Thailand’s largest, and most celebrated, protected rainforests. And relying only on the kindness of strangers, I had to learn the local language fast and figure out how things worked to make new friends in order to survive so far away from home.
I documented my journey in this blog for my friends and family to read, but soon the blog grew into a more meaningful enterprise. An audience was building of students and interested readers looking to learn more about the animals I study, my relationships with the Thai locals in a foreign culture, and my experiences with nature.
In a nutshell, you guys already know: it was the best experience of my life and I'm so thankful so many people were interested in reading about my adventures!!
When I finished my research and returned home from Thailand at the end of 2011, I knew things couldn’t end there. I had to do more. More people need experiences like mine to gain perspective of themselves and find their place in the world; more opportunities needed to be available for young adults to experience other ways of life and consider the essential interrelatedness of humans and nature. And most importantly, I had to find a way to give back to the local communities and people who, though they had very little themselves to give, enriched my life and shared with me all that they had, taking care of me while I lived so very far away from home for so long.
And so, I initiated the Jackie Prime Project (www.jackieprime.org).
The Project
The main purpose of the Jackie Prime Project is to create opportunities for young adults to experience other cultures and live in nature, developing their skills of compassion, self-value/confidence and empathy, and to educate people about the interconnectedness of humans and nature.
With the help of a few of my friends and dedicated student volunteers, I have created an enthusiastic group of peers to help me build my vision and share it with others. We believe that knowledge of the connections between humans and nature through active participation in the world fosters harmony, empathy for others, and globally responsible individuals.
We're still a small group, but with your support we can create opportunities for other students to venture outside the classroom and experience the world first hand in a fun, safe, and educational way. But to really turn our work into positive action we need a bit of money, and so we initiated a crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo.
The purpose of this fundraising campaign is to help us raise funds to initiate our prospective core programs:
The Core Programs:
To contribute choose a perk from our Indiegogo campaign here: http://igg.me/p/278625?a=1771354
Tweet Follow @primejm Tweet to @primejm
The for next two years I would live with Thai locals as the only foreign researcher in one of Thailand’s largest, and most celebrated, protected rainforests. And relying only on the kindness of strangers, I had to learn the local language fast and figure out how things worked to make new friends in order to survive so far away from home.
I documented my journey in this blog for my friends and family to read, but soon the blog grew into a more meaningful enterprise. An audience was building of students and interested readers looking to learn more about the animals I study, my relationships with the Thai locals in a foreign culture, and my experiences with nature.
In a nutshell, you guys already know: it was the best experience of my life and I'm so thankful so many people were interested in reading about my adventures!!
When I finished my research and returned home from Thailand at the end of 2011, I knew things couldn’t end there. I had to do more. More people need experiences like mine to gain perspective of themselves and find their place in the world; more opportunities needed to be available for young adults to experience other ways of life and consider the essential interrelatedness of humans and nature. And most importantly, I had to find a way to give back to the local communities and people who, though they had very little themselves to give, enriched my life and shared with me all that they had, taking care of me while I lived so very far away from home for so long.
And so, I initiated the Jackie Prime Project (www.jackieprime.org).
The Project
The main purpose of the Jackie Prime Project is to create opportunities for young adults to experience other cultures and live in nature, developing their skills of compassion, self-value/confidence and empathy, and to educate people about the interconnectedness of humans and nature.
With the help of a few of my friends and dedicated student volunteers, I have created an enthusiastic group of peers to help me build my vision and share it with others. We believe that knowledge of the connections between humans and nature through active participation in the world fosters harmony, empathy for others, and globally responsible individuals.
We're still a small group, but with your support we can create opportunities for other students to venture outside the classroom and experience the world first hand in a fun, safe, and educational way. But to really turn our work into positive action we need a bit of money, and so we initiated a crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo.
The purpose of this fundraising campaign is to help us raise funds to initiate our prospective core programs:
The Core Programs:
- provide a public platform for students in anthropological, biological, environmental studies/work to showcase their work on our website
- create a mentorship network to mediate opportunities for high school and undergraduate students to connect with graduate students in their prospective area of interest and gain hands on fieldwork experience for future careers/higher education
- promote activities that teach global responsibility through experiential education trips abroad
- provide educational materials, resources and supplies to underprivileged youth living in rural Thailand in the Nakon Ratchasima Province of North-Eastern Thailand where Khao Yai is located
- produce educational videos that highlight ongoing JPP activities and humanitarian work, showcase current academic fieldwork by graduate students and professors around the globe, and detail conservation and environmental topics to keep viewers informed
- continue to build and maintain an interactive website for our project
- cover printing and translation costs for posters we made to educate park visitors and staff about the dangers of human-wildlife contact, promoting appropriate activities for nature appreciation (e.g.: Don’t feed the monkeys, put garbage in provided dispensers, etc.)
- cover distribution costs for our humanitarian efforts to provide clothing and school supplies to young kids living in the Khao Yai area
- purchase additional video equipment to produce our educational videos
- cover travel expenses for our volunteer staff trial-expedition before opening these trips to the general public through our website
To contribute choose a perk from our Indiegogo campaign here: http://igg.me/p/278625?a=1771354
Tweet Follow @primejm Tweet to @primejm
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