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I have just returned from spending a week out at the Blackfeet Indian reservation in Browning Montana. This marks the 8th year I have journeyed out to Montana for a week long Native American ceremony. With each year I gain new insights into the culture my grandmother comes from. And each year I gain insights into community, commitment and humility as well as strength. One thing I reflected on last week as I returned to my home in Seattle, was the importance of commitment. Once you have opened yourself up to another culture and experienced some of what it has to offer, there can be so much to learn from committing yourself to revisiting that culture again and again. I was recently reading an article by Anthropologist and National Geographic Explorer in Residence- Wade Davis who wrote- “It’s really important to encourage the questions: Why are we doing this; what’s the point? Why do you go to this place? What level of engagement do you want and what level of education are you prepared to embrace?”

This resonates with me not only in my own choice to be with the Blackfeet Nation each year, but as well with my work at Crooked Trails. We all need to ask ourselves.. ‘What level of education am I willing to embrace’, and that begs the question: What kind of commitment am I willing to make? If you dream of revisiting a community you lived with years ago on a CT trip, consider doing it. Meeting up with your host family will touch you and them more deeply than you imagine strengthening the bonds of respect and understanding.

Travel Boldly,
Christine Mackay

Executive Director and Co-Founder

Quote of the Month

In life, many thoughts are born in the course of a moment, an hour, a day. Some are dreams, some visions. Often, we are unable to distinguish between them. To some, they are the same; however, not all dreams are visions. Much energy is lost in fanciful dreams that never bear fruit. But visions are messages from the Great Spirit, each for a different purpose in life. Consequently, one person's vision may not be that of another. To have a vision, one must be prepared to receive it, and when it comes, to accept it. Thus when these inner urges become reality, only then can visions be fulfilled. The spiritual side of life knows everyone's heart and who to trust. How could a vision ever be given to someone to harbor if that person could not be trusted to carry it out. The message is simple: commitment precedes vision.

High Eagle

Featured Story

Second in a three part series on the rationale and results of Responsible Travel…

Giving Responsibly

In this age of philanthropic travel there is an emphasis on giving. We give gifts to host families, we give money to organizations, we give time to projects, as well as medical supplies and more. What we give and how we give it can have a substantial impact on the recipients, their future and their environment.  A story comes to mind from a village we work with in Peru called Vicos. Way back in the 50’s a group of well minded farmers from the mid west discovered that the peasants of Peru high in the Andes were still using hand- tools to farm. They thought it would be a great idea to pull together the funds to purchase a tractor and send it to Vicos. It was an amazing undertaking, and somehow the John Deere made it out of the Midwest, down the Mississippi, and over to Peru. That was only the beginning. Vicos lies at 14, 000 feet and the road to Vicos in the 1950’s was not what it is today. The truck carrying the tractor had to unload its cargo and let the tractor drag the truck up the mountains. Eventually to the applause of the Americans and the amazement of the Vicosinos the tractor made it. So a few years back one of the Crooked Trails groups saw this old relic behind an adobe shed and inquired about it. Apparently the well meaning Americans hadn’t thought about the fact that the Peruvian farmers had no idea  how to work on such a piece of machinery when it broke down, nor did they have the proper tools. So this great dinosaur sits at 14,000 feet like an Incan icon paying homage to the Gods of Corn.

Around the world there are abandoned tractors, wells, buildings, clinics, greenhouses and other derelict projects that were the brain-children of well meaning people and organizations private, non-profit and governmental alike. So how do we go about giving responsibly? First, ask the people. Most people know what they need and what they want. However, what they want is not always what they need. So research into the project feasibility is needed. Some initial questions should be asked:

• *What has been done in the past to address the situation being confronted?
• *Does the situation need addressing in the first place?
• *Are there are any neighboring communities that have faced the same situation and what have they done? Look for success stories and see if one community can be the teachers for another community sharing best practices.
• *Ask the important question: Who will manage this project and how will it be sustained?
• *Almost always, the most successful projects involve low tech and high people power. There are times when high tech is the way to go when it results in low maintenance.
• *Be sure the community is heavily involved in the idea, implementation and management of the project.
• *Finally, asking what the repercussions of a huge project or influx of money will do to the community is critical.

Crooked Trails has learned many lessons over the years it has worked with different communities around the world. We have helped support many projects. Each has its own lessons and I don’t think there is one sure fire approach that will work each and every time. It’s all a great lesson and we do the best we can. However taking the time to ask questions and involve the community at every step is the first and most part of any successful endeavor.

Featured Trip: Bhutan

By Chris Mackay

For past 25 years I have been interested in going to Bhutan. The interest was initiated when I was 20 years old and I had spent several weeks with two young Bhutanese boys in the Rocky Mountains at a cross cultural wilderness camp run by my mother. I was a counselor at the camp and Mom always had interesting people from around the world coming in and out, but mainly from differing Native American communities around the US. One summer she had brought two 16 year old Bhutanese boys who brought with them a thoroughly unique attitude to our mainly Native camp. They were everyone’s’ immediate favorite campers, and their stories of the high Himalayas, remote temples and Buddhist ceremonies had all the other kids enthralled. But there was something more than stories which everyone found so engaging; there was a special air about them. They seemed to glow with a ‘love of life’ which many of the Indian youth at camp had not experienced before; having come from rough lives in the inner city or reservations where times were often very hard.

Ever since spending those long summer days with the boys from Bhutan, I had stared at maps and dreamed of going to this Himalayan Kingdom. I have come close many times, but that was just geography. So, two weeks ago, I was approached by a Bhutanese man in Seattle named Phuntsho "Fin" Norbu who is intrigued by the Crooked Trails model of travel. Fin let me know that the current model of tourism in Bhutan does not include homestays or service projects and he is interested in changing that. As it stands now tourism is heavily controlled by the government, which has both advantages and disadvantages for this small mountainous country. 
Fin feels that the Crooked Trails style of tourism, which emphasizes cultural immersion, home-stays and service projects, would be well accepted in his country. He feels the most important project worth pursuing would be the restoration and preservation of typical Bhutanese architecture- mainly homes.

Fin has invited me to Bhutan this winter to meet his family who are involved in the tourism industry and to pursue the idea of a Crooked Trails program to Bhutan in 2009. If you are interested in attending a pilot program in spring of 2009., be sure to email chris@crookedtrails.org to be placed on a list of interested participants.

New Addition to the Crooked Trails Web Site

Crooked Trails has added a new feature to our website.  Now you can connect to Amazon through our site!  Doing so will allow you to check out the gear that the CT staff and adventurers recommend.  You can also continue on to search the entire Amazon store.

Items featured in our store include books, water purification systems, headlamps, water bottles, backpacks, clothing, and more!  If you are having trouble finding the best items for your next crooked trail head to this site and check out what we suggest.  Or if you have an item that you absolutely love and think it should be put in our store let us know, we are always looking to add.

The Amazon link helps us to help you make sure that you have all of the best gear for your next adventure.  But it also helps us as well.  Each time you connect to Amazon through our site, we receive a small percentage of anything you buy.  So if you are ever in the mood for some shopping via Amazon and would like to show your support feel free to link through our site.  Thanks for all of your support.

The Crooked Trails Store

Featured Event: A Night in Durbar Square

Date: July 24, 2008
Time: 5:30pm-10:00pm
Cost: $10
Location: ArtXchange in Downtown Seattle

Experience the wonder of Nepal’s Durbar Square as the vendors, music, people and spirit of one of the world’s most beautiful sites is brought to Seattle. Crooked Trails, in partnership with ArtXchange and Namaste Children’s Fund, is pleased to announce the first ever ‘Night in Durbar Square,’ an evening benefiting and funding education in rural areas of Nepal.

The event will be held on July 24, 2008 from 5:30pm-10pm at downtown Seattle’s ArtXchange (www.artxchange.org), a contemporary global art gallery, which will be transformed for the night to replicate the vivacity of one of the world’s most beautiful cultural sites, Durbar Square in Katmandu, Nepal.  The event is co-sponsored by Crooked Trails and Namaste Children’s Fund, a recently launched organization providing educational support for rural children. Events include local Nepalese vendors on hand for momo tastings, tea samplings, as well as handicrafts and art.  A raise the paddle auction will be held later in the evening with attendees given the opportunity to sponsor a child’s education for a year. Featured presentations will be given by ArtXchange Director and Namaste Children’s Fund co-founder, Cora Edmonds; Crooked Trails Executive Director and world traveler Chris Mackay; and a very special presentation by international scholar and philosopher Dr. C.M. Yogi from Katmandu, Nepal.
All ticket proceeds will go towards educational projects in Nepal by Crooked Trails and Namaste Children’s Fund and are tax deductible. Crooked Trails will continue its funding of the Shree Kalika Secondary School in Bhaktapur Nepal, where they intend to expand educational facilities in Bhaktapur which currently only accommodates education to age ten. Namaste Children’s Fund will continue funding the education of children in remote areas of Nepal.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased through our website. 

Introducing Mia Reyes: Crooked Trails' Newest Employee

My name is Mia Reyes and I feel honored to be the new Events and Volunteer Coordinator for Crooked Trails. I have been a fan of the organization ever since I stumbled upon the booth at a street fair five years back. I remember reading the Edward Abbey quote "May all your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome..." written on the bookmark and feeling totally shaken, as if this quote was speaking directly to me. I was immediately impressed with the organization, and I kept the bookmark and quote tacked above my desk for years. Who would have known that five years later the bookmark would still be above my desk, only this time it sits above me as I do work for the company.

I am a recent graduate of the University of Washington with a Communications degree and an English concentration. My initial goal was to go into Public Relations and Marketing for the music industry, but as I began to get involved with non profit and volunteer work locally and abroad, I realized that I wanted to use my skills and degree to do meaningful work (not that music isn't meaningful!). I worked with a few non profits in the area, all the while waiting for the perfect job opportunity to find me, which it did with the opening of this position. I have a deep seeded passion for responsible traveling after globetrotting and seeing the benefits of traveling, but also the pitfalls of tourism. That is why I believe in Crooked Trails so much. My traveling experience includes: Living and studying sustainability in southern India, traveling and backpacking through: Thailand, China, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines. One of the biggest traveling highlights of my life is sitting in on the teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharmasala India and getting to participate in the March 10 freedom rally with nuns and monks from all over the world.

Maasai Association's First Annual Fundraiser

From Kakuta Ole Mai Mai

Jambo rafiki,

On July 31st Maasai Association is having its first fundraising event “Fund Our Destiny” at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Your support will allow the means for community empowerment and poverty eradication programs.

Right now in Merrueshi, mothers and their newborn babies are in need of urgent care for basic immunization and treatment. Mothers must travel 80 Kilometers to see a nurse. Seeing an actual doctor is rare for people in Merrueshi. Midwifes can use extra help for their delivery services. The newly built Maasai Village Clinic needs basic medical supplies and equipment, as well as basic educational programs for mothers and their children.

This fundraising event will allow educational opportunities for hundreds of Maasai children who would not otherwise have the chance for basic education. Your support will make a significant difference.

Come meet our campaign staff, board members, and your fellow supporters, and support Maasai education and healthcare.

If you are interested in attending email treasurer@maasai-association.org

One of our volunteers will contact you with additional details. If you are unable to attend our fundraising event please consider donating to the cause.

Together we are making a difference.

Read below about their past projects:
Last year, with support from the Park family, we concluded the construction of Merrueshi Village Clinic. Our wish it to open the clinic by January 2009. Over 4,000 people living in Merrueshi and neighboring communities will be served when the clinic is up and running. Click to see the latest pictures from the clinic

Waterholes Restoration Project
With support from Woodland Park Zoo, we restored six natural waterholes for wildlife and cattle. We received much needed rains in March and all the waterholes are full with water. The success of this project exceeded our expectations. Click to read more about this project.

Merrueshi Primary School is shining!
The school earned position 3 out of 50 public schools in Kajiado District. The students did well in English and Mathematics subjects. Click to see pictures from the colorful ceremony.

We are developing our Computer Learning Center for Maasai youth. Our wish for 2008 is to equip the village clinic and see more healthy students attend school.

Come meet our campaign staff, board members, and your fellow supporters, and support Maasai education and healthcare

Crooked Trails at the West Seattle Street Fair

Be sure to stop by to talk to our staff and volunteers.

Join us for West Seattle Summer Fest July 11-13! The 3-day street fair, now in its 26th year, hosts dozens of bands, hundreds of merchants and artists, and over 30,000 attendees.

Complete with food courts, beer gardens, and family activities, this is a true community celebration in the heart of West Seattle. We will be right in front of the Elliot Bay Brewery near the Alaska Junction- booth 40.

Success at Faces of Hope!

Every year hundreds of thousands of young children are trafficked to be sold into sexual servitude.  Girls as young as seven are forced to perform sexual acts on as many as thirty clients a day.  It is a hard battle to fight but one organization, The Friends of Maiti Nepal, are doing their part.

Maiti Nepal was established in 1993 to fight child sexual slavery and to give victims of the trade a place to turn to.  They run a rehabilitation home in Kathmandu to help improve the lives of the survivors.  They offer counseling, job training, health care, and a loving home.  It is often not appropriate to place a young girl back with her family; they are sometimes the reason the girl was sent to a brothel in the first place.  Maiti Nepal offers these girls and all others a place to live and get an education.  There are currently 300 women and children living in the center.

On Wednesday June 18, Crooked Trails and 50 supporters joined the fight to end child sexual slavery.  The documentary The Day My God Died was shown; shedding light on the conditions of the brothels these girls are forced to live in.  Adding to the night was local photographer Jeff Speigner with a photo exhibition, showing the light that still exists in victim’s spirits.  Bracelets made by the girls of Maiti Nepal were on sale.  These goods are part of the job training girls receive as they learn to create a life on their own. Together we raised $1560 to be donated to The Friends of Maiti Nepal.

We would like to thank all of you those turned out to help support this cause; Jeff Speigner, our sponsors Lord Hill Farms and Starbucks, and all of those who helped to put the event together: Mia Reyes, Angela Dollar, Chris Mackay, and Jerome Healy.

Crooked Trails Upcoming Events

West Seattle Summer Fest
When: Friday, July 11 – Sunday July 13
Where: West Seattle Junction
Cost: Free

West Seattle Summer Fest is a FREE 3-day street fair, hosted by an organization of local area merchants, the West Seattle Junction Association. Now in its 26th year, West Seattle Summer Fest is host to dozens of bands, hundreds of merchants and artists, and over 30,000 attendees. Complete with food courts, beer gardens, and family activities, this is a true community celebration in the heart of West Seattle.

This year’s festival promises to be better than ever! For 3 days, our merchants will open up their doors and spill out onto their sidewalks to display all the wonderful products and services they offer year-round, while artists and artisans display in the streets. Junction restaurants and a delectable selection of cross-cultural food vendors can satisfy your hunger along the way. Live music on two stages, a skateboard exhibition, and a full block of family activities make each day special. And don’t forget our welcoming beer & wine garden, the annual Saturday Night Street Dance and, of course, West Seattle’s own Sunday Farmer’s Market!

Healing China, Healing the World
When: Wednesday, August 6, 2008 7-8:30 p.m.
Where: East West Bookshop of Seattle
Cost:  FREE!

In April of 2008 while Seattle was welcoming the revered spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the local Chinese community was simmering with anger and frustration over the "distorted" view of China/Tibet in the West. What has led to this dramatic disparity in people's attitude toward one person? What danger does this disparity imply to the world's future if we don't start addressing it? DR. SPRING CHEN, founder of Mystic Trails and an ardent student of spiritual healing, will offer a compassionate view of the challenge China is facing and her vision of how China can be healed. Dr.Spring is a native Chinese who came to the U.S. 13 years ago.

Volunteer Tourism with Crooked Trails co-founder Chris Mackay
When: October 18th at 1:00 p.m.
Where: The Savvy Traveler Edmonds
Cost: free

JUICE: A Night of World Music to benefit Crooked Trails, Featuring DJ DMZ & DJ RHYTHMA
When: Saturday, November 1st starting at 9:00 p.m.
Where: The Nectar Lounge, Fremont, Seattle
Cost: $5

Experience Peru with Crooked Trails co-founder Tammy Leland
When: November 15th at 10:00 a.m.
Where: The Savvy Traveler Edmonds
Cost: free

Our Deepest Thanks Goes Out…

To the wonderful volunteers who have helped out this month:

Many thanks from all of us at Crooked Trails!

Two Free and Easy Ways to Help Crooked Trails… We Mean EASY!
We know not everyone has the time and or money to donate to us. So we have thought of two EASY free ways you can help Crooked Trails.

1: If you fly a lot on business we can use your frequent flyer miles to save us money. We have to fly staff to countries we work in, we would like to fly some of our hosts to the United States and we would like to attend conferences to present our work on valuing cultural diversity. DONATE YOUR MILES TO US! It's easy to do. Just call Chris Mackay at 206-372-4405 or email us at info@crookedtrails.org to find out how you can help us out.

2: If you live in the Seattle area and are planning on buying or selling a home then why not choose Deirdre Doyle or Christian Moulin from Windermere as your real estate agent? Deirdre and Christian are Crooked Trails members and support our work abroad as well as our efforts locally. Deirdre will donate 30% of her profits to Crooked Trails from the sale or purchase of your home and Christian will donate a flat $1000. Not only is this a fantastic way to support Crooked Trails but both Deirdre and Christian are extremely knowledgeable agents who have been in the business for over ten years. And we love ‘em because they are both avid travelers as well. So let them help you out with your next real estate transaction and by doing so help us out as well.
To contact Deirdre Doyle email her at: deirdre@windermere.com or reach her by phone at: 206-234-3386.

To contact Christian Moulin you can call him at 206-799-6471 or email cmoulin@comcast.net or visit his website at www.chrismoulin.com.

Crooked Trails T-shirts
“I love my country, but I think we should start seeing other people”

Crooked Trails international staff and friends sporting their new CT T-shirts in the jungle in Peru!

Do you want to support Crooked Trails, be stylish and make a statement too? Then purchase a Crooked Trails T-Shirt! It includes the CT logo as well as the quote: "I love my country but I think we should start seeing other people”. There are men’s and women’s cuts. Women’s’ T’s come in baby blue, brown and grey- sizes M (fits like a small) to XL. Men’s come in grey, blue and green- sizes M-XL. Cost is $25 and includes taxes, shipping and handling. Please contact angela@crookedtrails.org or call 206-383-9828 to purchase a T-shirt.