I was traveling across Kyzylorda and Aral Sea region in Kazakhstan in 2004 with the project team of five experts when I got the first hand-in vision on environmental degradation. At that time I was working for the World Bank project on Forest Protection and Reforestation. One out of two selected pilot sites of this project was located in Aral Sea coastal territories with highly vulnerable saxaul areas. In a sunny autumn day we arrived to Aral Sea where I faced a place with the extremely degraded coast, desert-like areas everywhere one`s eyes could see, dried and salt-covered seabed and….people. People were so poor and isolated from the whole country that I could not believe we actually lived in the same realm.

That is how I have come up with the decision to link my future career with environmental protection and sustainable development. 

Now, after several year of work in my home country devoted to environment protection and climate change issues, I have decided to take mid-career break and to do volunteering as a Project Manager in the Raleigh expedition to Borneo this summer and to take part in the community and environmental small-scale projects that enhance people`s living and sustainability.

I also want to cite the info from Raleigh`s page: "Volunteers work on sustainable and worthwhile community and environmental projects alongside young people from the host country and local skilled workers."

To me, building a primary school or saving little turtles has bigger effect than just local good deed. It is like butterfly`s effect - the more you help, the more good things happen.

The main reason of this step is that every person can make difference. And given the mission of Raleigh International and my own goal to get an international perspective on different local solutions, I believe that I can further work on the promotion of the very known but currently often forgotten principle "think globally - act locally".