Local youth makes plans to visit Mongolia

Rebel Rauterkus of Star Valley will be among 30 youth to visit Mongolia through Wyoming 4-H leadership program this summer. As part of the program, Wyoming State 4-H specialists will travel with 30 youth and five adult chaperones from eight states to Mongolia this summer. The expedition is part of a leadership partnership with the Mongolian 4-H Youth Organization. The group will leave June 16 and return July 15.

“The program will provide an opportunity for students to experience firsthand knowledge of foreign cultures and to collaborate on solving global natural resource and environmental issues,” said Warren Crawford, youth development specialist with Wyoming 4-H.

Youth were selected to participate in the trip through an application and interview process. Applicants were from the 13-state western region of the land-grant universities Cooperative Extension Service.
Kim Reaman, state 4-H volunteer management specialist, will also accompany the group.

“This type of experience can be life changing and start a young person down the path to being an involved, global citizen,” she said. “My first international experience was through the International 4-H Youth Exchange to Jamaica. I have had a heart for international programs and the effect they have on a young person’s life ever since. ”

Reaman and Crawford traveled to Mongolia last September, paid for by the UW College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Global Perspectives program, to provide technical assistance and training for the newly established Mongolian 4-H program. While in Mongolia, they had many opportunities to develop and lay the groundwork for this exchange program.

“For most of the stay, the students will live with a Mongolian host family and experience the Mongolian way of life,” said Crawford. “While we are there, we will be learning about environmental issues such as renewable energy, water quality and land restoration and reclamation.”

The group will also participate in community service projects in and around the capital city of Ulaanbaatar.

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