NOLS and Mountain Fund

National Outdoor Leadership School & Mountain Fund:

by Lea Weston

In an article in the last issue of this newsletter we told the story of Oksana Polonskaya, a former orphan from Bishkek, and her quest to lead others like herself on trips to the mountains of Kyrgisthan. We complete that story in this issue with a note of gratitude we've received from Oksana. That isn’t the real end of this story, however. NOLS, or National Outdoor Leadership School, the countries premier school for outdoor leadership skills and Mountain Fund have a commitment to each other for continuing programs. We are presently discussing the possibility of having an NOLS instructor assist with one of the outdoor courses run by Empowering Women of Nepal as well as looking at future exchanges of young men and women from both Central Asia and Nepal and having them attend outdoor leadership courses at NOLS.

Attending NOLS courses is a superb way to positively impact the future of hiking and trekking in these regions of the world. For tourism to succeed in the long run, it has to be sustainable and protective of the natural resources that tourists are going to admire. NOLS courses are a great way for sustainable tourism practices to be taught to young guides just starting out. We are confident that over time our partnership with NOLS will have lasting positive impact on the tourism practices in mountain regions.

In her online journal, Oksana Polonskaya shares how the NOLS experience has influenced her outdoor leadership abilities and practices.

" Trip of My Dreams-

The first time I heard about NOLS was from an American friend of mine, Molly Loomis, a NOLS instructor . . . This wilderness leadership course sounded like a lot of fun to me. I knew that a lot of people were proud of me because they knew I was trying very hard, especially since I was a girl who grew up in a Kyrgyz children’s home. I got a lot of new skills and now I am happy to be back home to continue working with the Alpine Fund and share my new experience with the kids.

For example, I have never heard anything about “Leave No Trace Principles” but they are very important. The kids have never heard about these principles either. So, I decided this would be something really good for the kids to know about.

I planned the lesson on the seven principles of Leave No Trace as taught to me at NOLS. [The kids] gave me examples of seeing a lot of people leaving trash after camping, making fires, and being disrespectful to the environment. They understood that this is not good and might cause a lot of problems in the future . . . It was uplifting to see that having gained an appreciation for the wonders of the wilderness, the children were eager to care for these wild places as well.

I learned a lot on my NOLS semester last summer. There are all kinds of interesting and useful things that I want to teach the kids now. "
- Oksana Polonskaya

The Mountain Fund is looking forward to a long and beneficial relationship with NOLS. We are deeply grateful for the opportunity provided Oksana.