Dushanbe Zoo, Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Black Pine Animal Park, Albion, Indiana
Students at three Fort Wayne-area schools, who have enjoyed a pen-pal relationship with students in Dushanbe, Tajikistan for several years, were shocked when one of their Tajik pen-pals was injured while visiting the local zoo. They had to act, and so the project Promoting Volunteerism to Improve Zoo Safety, Education, and Animal Care project was conceived. The students found mentors and sponsoring organizations with whom they could work to achieve their goals of preventing future accidents and providing a more family-friendly zoo experience for the people of Dushanbe. With funding from MCCA, the Black Pine Animal Park, The Dushanbe Zoo, and schoolchildren in both nations will work together to develop educational materials for visitors and to promote community involvement in the zoos through volunteerism.
The project centers around the development of educational materials and signage in the native Tajik language for the Dushanbe Zoo. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, little funding has been available to invest in the Dushanbe Zoo. Educational materials and signage are scarce and are mainly in Russian rather than Tajik. Working with the staff of Black Pine Animal Park in Albion, Indiana, schoolchildren and zoo professionals will jointly design new educational programs and improved signs for the zoo. Pen pals in both countries will be involved researching the animals for which the signs will be made. Black Pine has developed extensive programming for schoolchildren, and the project will use this material as a starting point to develop new educational resources in both Tajik and Russian for Dushanbe. While working with Tajik participants to adapt the materials, US participants will learn about Tajik cultural norms.
The Black Pine Animal Park has only three paid staff members but is able to operate on a professional level with extensive volunteer assistance. Transferring this expertise in recruiting, organizing, and motivating volunteers will be a second goal of the project. There are many interested individuals willing to volunteer their time to improve the zoo facilities in Tajikistan, but because there is little history of organized volunteerism, they need guidance on how to organize a well-run volunteer organization. BPAP staff will train staff members at the Dushanbe Zoo on running a strong volunteer program, and the volunteers will then work to install the signs designed and produced by the students and to create a picnic area to make the zoo more family-friendly.
