Bill Cason's Last Note Before the Trek Begins
Dear Trekkies,
This will be my last note before we leave Sunday for Sumatra. We are all very excited and busy with packing and last minute details. I hope that we will be able to connect without too much difficulty from Sumatra. MedanNet has given me an account to use and a phone number to call if help is required.
We will be joined by two scientists from Medan when we arrive Monday. One is a Canadian and the other is Indonesian. Both are working on environmental and educational projects. They will be with us for 2 or 3 days to help out with our project.
At last count, we have 63 registered Trekkies for our trip. Most are schools that represent one or more classes; a few are individuals. We estimate that up to 2000 people may be following our trip virtually! As one of our goals is to raise awareness and interest in the rainforest and the orangutan, we think we may have succeeded in that respect. We hope that all of our Trekkies will share their virtual trip with friends and other classes.
Many of you have sent us letters, answered some of our questions, and sent questions of your own. We thank you for all your support and help and we will do our best to respond to everyone.
When I was in Istanbul at the NE/SA Teachers' Conference last week to present my workshop on Virtual Field Trips, I was fortunate to meet Dr. Jane Goodall (famous for her work in Tanzania with the Gombe chimps) and to speak with her briefly regarding our trek and project. She was very supportive and interested and I invited her to join our trip LITERALLY. Of course, she is much too busy with her Roots and Shoots educational program, but I did promise to forward our correspondence to her when we write to you. She has an email address and a web page (search: Jane Goodall) and is very active travelling and meeting young people. I hope that some of you have the chance to join her program and to meet and be inspired by her in the future. We are all working towards the same vision of the future.
If you want to send us a message while we are in Sumatra, send mail to KIDPROJ@listserv.nodak.edu and put "Virtual Sumatra" in the subject line.
Wish us luck and enjoy your Virtual Trek!
Ranger Bill Cason