We are delighted to announce that Andaman Discoveries is one of the five winners of the SEED Award for Entrepreneurship in Sustainable Development. The SEED Initiative - Supporting Entrepreneurs for Sustainable Development, is a global network for action on sustainable development founded by the IUCN (World Conservation Union), UNEP (Unities Nations Environment Program) and UNDP (Unities Nations Development Program) to deliver concrete progress towards the internationally-agreed goals in the UN's Millennium Declaration and the commitments made at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002.

SEED promotes and supports exceptional multi-stakeholder partnerships, which have developed innovative, locally-led solutions to the global challenges of sustainable development. "The Award recognizes your (Andaman Discoveries') innovation and entrepreneurship, the likely contribution to promote economic growth, social development and environmental management in Thailand, and not at least your (Andaman Discoveries') potential to inspire others," wrote Helen Marquard, Executive Director of The SEED Initiative in a recent email.

SEED focuses on locally-driven, entrepreneurial partnerships in developing countries. It's goal is to inspire, promote and build capacity to support the many innovative ways in which diverse groups are working together to improve incomes and strengthen livelihoods, tackle poverty and marginalization; manage and conserve natural resources and eco-systems. "The SEED Awards Winners have real talent and are among those who can lead the way in showing how it is possible to tackle action and solve some of the major problems facing the world today and at the same time act responsibly," said Julia Marton-Lefevre, Director General of the IUCN.

"By rewarding and supporting grassroots entrepreneurial partnerships committed to contributing to their community and the environment, the SEED Awards are playing an important role in helping tom bring about positive change," said Kemal Dervis, UNDP's Administrator. "The winners identified show all of us, how working together, we can make real progress towards meeting our development goals."

"I would like to thank on behalf of Andaman Discoveries, all our partners that provided references letters in support of our application," said Kelly May, Co-Director of Andaman Discoveries. "These include Reef Check Thailand, Mangrove Action Project, USAid, Intervol, IUCN, Ban Talae Nok Community-based Tourism Group, Ban Talae Nok Soap Cooperative, Laem Som National Park, and Go Differently. "This is proof that a multi-stakeholder approach to sustainable development is the way to go. I would also like to congratulate Mimi, Andaman Discoveries' Programs and Pricings manager, for all her hard work and effort on this funding proposal, well done!"

This month marked the third visit in as many years from the University of Birmingham International Volunteer Society (Intervol). Nine students joined us this year, after having raised 1,900£ (about 180,000 Thai Baht) to fund a variety of projects over a five-week period.

"The nine of us spent five days in the village of Ban Talae Nok. Four families in the village offered their homes to then us to allow for a taste for the Thai way of life. We spent each morning teaching English to children aged between seven and 13 in the local school. The children were very pleased to see us, very eager to learn and participate in activities we'd prepared for them. By the end of the week they seemed to have made good progress. We also cleared a sediment-filled drain with the villagers, acted as 'pilot' tourists for the batik group and Nipa palm craftspeople so they could practice with farang (westerners), made roti for breakfast with our homestay families and cleared a nature trail near the beach. We found the village so welcoming and friendly that we were sorry to leave it behind. The younger generation of the village seems set to be a great success for the eco-tourism industry, and we wish them all the luck in their future endeavor." International Volunteer Society, Birmingham University

The 12th of August is a very special day in Thailand: it's the Queen's birthday, and it is also Mother's Day. To celebrate this special occasion, the International Volunteer Society volunteers joined the villagers of Tharnkirin Village to make Mother's Day cards using recycled card stock from the village-based Recycled Card Group. The volunteers also stayed with host families in several homestays. "The two-day program was very varied," explained one volunteer. "We started with both Thai and English games, which the children really enjoyed, and we did too! Later on we helped the children make cards for mother's day using the recycled paper made by women in the community.

The community also requested the wall of the community centre to be painted to make it a more welcoming place: our fundraising helped to pay for the painting equipment and our presence (and extra pairs of hands) enabled us to finish it in one day. The enthusiasm of the staff involved in the scheme was a delight to see," said the volunteer. The two-day program was designed by the villagers, who had wanted to paint the community centre for a long time, but had lacked funds to do so. "We are very grateful for the time, effort, and funds that the group provided, they'll be greatly missed," said Khun Sutheap, a representative of the village and also homestay dad.

The Andaman Coast boasts some of the healthiest mangroves in Southeast Asia, and the both the communities and Andaman Discoveries want it to stay that way. This month we joined hands with Bang Boaw, lead coordinator of the Rufford Grant Project in Had Phra Phad village to help create a multi-specie mangrove nursery. "Many restoration projects replant a single specie mangrove," explained Bang Baow. "We collect many different types of mangrove species from the beach and created a diverse nursery which we can then plant to create a mangrove eco-system that is more like nature and is more likely to survive."

"We collected seedlings from the beach, potted seedlings, and even improved site access during our two days with Rufford," explained one of the volunteers. "We then had a guided tour of the tsunami museum, which included a long-boat trip through a section of mangrove. Some of those who died in the tsunami in this village were found here -- the boat driver found his son on the route we took. I found it a amazing as to the how vital the mangrove ecosystem is to the Andaman coastline. It was an unbelievable opportunity to spend time in such a diverse and unique environment."

Over the past year Andaman Discoveries has developed a close-working relationship with Kuraburi Pittayakom High School. Both teachers and students benefit greatly from the volunteers that go into the school to teach English. The International Volunteer Society volunteers spent their last week teaching at the school. "It's a pleasure to have International volunteers helping out at the school," said Khun Suwit, the head master. "Their assistance with conservation and pronunciation is much appreciated and we are always ready to welcome more volunteers," he said.

"Until now, we'd been lucky with younger children in smaller classes in villages like Ban Talae Nok and Kho Pra Tong," explained one of the volunteers. "The children at Kuraburi High School were 12-18 years old with widely varying abilities, with up to 40 students per class. We were able to teach a variety of topics and tried to think up different ways of teaching the same topic to make it interesting for the students as well as us. We often found them to be very competitive when they were split into teams for games on the board. We found the prospect of teaching secondary school children somewhat challenging; however, the enthusiasm of the kids made the experience so worthwhile."

Last month's Update was so long, we had to save some information for this month, including updates about our collaboration with the University of California's month-long Travel Summer Course, "Institute of the Environment: Thailand Sustainable Ecosystems," which worked with multi-cultural communities on the North Andaman coast in partnership with Andaman Discoveries.

"The program introduced and directly involved students in applying social and natural science methods and practices for coastal community planning, management, and conservation in general, and in development contexts in particular. The program included two courses: Environmental Science, Gender and Sustainability, and Oceanography. Students participated in different research projects and interacted with different coastal communities. At the end of the program, they were responsible for researching and presenting a final project that demonstrated their understanding of the knowledge they attained.

Dara learning how to make Batik with the Batik Cooperative.

"This program aimed to focus on experience as a means of learning. Accordingly, lectures, field work, research and service learning as the main approaches of this program's goal to create an understanding of Thailand's social and ecological aspects. Students worked with an array or organizations and communities to attain the greatest amount of knowledge from their experience. They learned social and environmental field research methods and techniques, not only for personal knowledge or to achieve recognition in one's field, but also for the purpose of local community needs. Responding to this need is one component of service learning. Therefore, students engaged and participated in research and additional activities with multi-cultural, Thai - Buddhist, Muslim, and Sea Gypsy coastal communities, allowing them to gain an understanding about the intersection of each community's actual social and environmental dilemmas. There were exchanges and community dialogs, which will allowed students to learn directly from community members and their experiences. An aim of our fieldwork is to provide environmental and social data and analysis useful for the local communities we are involved with.

Khammany assisting the Naka Wildlife Sanctuary Youth Group on a nature trail.

"Today, more than ever, research demands a team effort, and in this course, we prioritized working together as a group, learn to dialog, exchange information, critique methods and analysis, and support one another in learning and making a difference for the communities we meet. Additionally, we hoped that working together as a team will allow individuals to reap the greatest benefits from a constant exchange of ideas and allow them to be comfortable as a member of a group that seeks to work with other groups and communities.

"Faculty-led lectures provided students with theoretical frameworks on sustainability, gender, and coastal ecological process and ecosystems. There were many guest briefings that offered regional and local context and policy practices from intergovernmental agencies, Thai government staff, NGOs, CBOs, and others who have been involved in environmental and social assessments, and livelihood programs following the destructive impact of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on these communities. This is a key time to interact with these communities and institutions, as most of their respective projects have completed their funding cycles and final evaluations, identifying what has been successful and what areas need change or further support." UCLA's Travel Summer Course, Thailand - Sustainable Ecosystems: Natural and Social Science Service Learning.

"For our final project, we came to the island to do community mapping with the kids but ended up having the kind of unbelievable experience that can never be planned. While we collected a great deal of information and conducted many mapping exercises, I think that we learned the most through simply spending time with the warm and welcoming people that we met.

"We did and felt so much that it is hard to put everything into words. Adults in the community welcomed us into their homes and we were able to talk to them about their livelihoods and their hopes for their children. The children grabbed our hands and led us around their moo-bahn (village), pointing out their favorite places. We woke up at 5 am and 'made a merit' by giving food to the monks. We helped the children clean the temple and the monks even presented with necklaces and Buddha pendants. We, two of the most un-domestic people in the world, had to cook our own dinners and the teachers taught us to stir-fry! The electricity was not working our last night so we cooked our dinner in the dark wearing headlamps. The people, especially the children, of Tha Pae Yoi were incredibly open, patient, and generous, and we are so grateful to them for taking us in and sharing so much.

"As our boat left the pier on Saturday afternoon, the children waved goodbye from the dock. I did not expect that I could ever become so attached to a place where I spent just three days. Tha Pae Yoi is a rich and vibrant community." Anuja, UCLA student

"Our mission was to collect water samples from five different areas of the Naka stream. We also had to collect a water sample at each site and record the stream's depth, width and temperature. Our Thai partners (the Naka Youth Group) helped with everything and we all managed to get by and get along very well. I'm really glad that I learned my numbers in Thai because they came in handy when we all took measurements for the width, depth and temperature. We finally came across the infamous and endangered water onions that can only be found in this area (in the world). It must not have been the right season to bloom because out of the many water onions that we found, only one was in bloom. It was beautiful nonetheless.

"Both us and the youth group seemed very excited to meet each other and as we started to step out into our individual ecosystem groups, I couldn't help but notice that most of the youth were females. After learning a lot about gender issues in Thailand, it's very natural to see females doing more humanitarian work than males. I think it's even more interesting see this kind of gender dynamic at such a young age.

"Between the leech-infested stream and the falling and slipping on fresh mud, it was a fun and worthwhile experience. The jungle was beautiful with fresh fauna and an unlimited amount of sounds from birds and insects. All the groups met back at the center where we started to work on our presentation. The youth were very quick to pick up the techniques of the water testing kits with just one demonstration. Alongside, we drew a very elaborate and beautiful drawing of the stream; props go to the two younger individuals in our group, Gui-ta and Zha ,who threw in all their creativity in those drawings.

"Goodbyes are always hard especially to the individuals in my group with whom I had become friends even though we've only known each other a short time. The two younger individuals who are so adorable were the hardest to let go because they were the ones that I connected with right away. But at the end, I'm very happy that I had the opportunity to experience something so wonderful with our Thai partners (the Naka Youth Group) who are just as wonderful," Jun, UCLA student

Andaman Discoveries welcomed Kerrie Hall from Capital Television, a Bangkok-based English language television station, who came to document our work and joined the UCLA and Naka Youth Group activities. Here's what she had to say: "Following the progress of Andaman Discoveries since the group began after the 2004 tsunami, I was impressed by the grass roots conviction and environmental and community tourism programs. Recently, I had the opportunity to work on a short documentary about the conception and future visions of the Andaman Discoveries team. Together with producer Bryan Hall, we tagged along for a fun weekend in the field with a local youth group and visiting UCLA students during their North Andaman study adventure. I must say it is my favorite television story to date. Keep up the great work guys, you are truly inspirational!"

It seems like a lifetime ago I was publisher of OK! Celebrity magazine in Bangkok, attending fancy launch parties, organizing 80's discos at Bangkok's top nightclubs, wearing high heels and dancing the night away on random podiums across town. When I told my Bangkok friends I would be moving to a small rural community down south to work in community development, they guessed I would be back in Bangkok in two weeks. That was two and a half years ago, and what a journey it has been.

I joined the North Andaman Tsunami Relief in February 2006, and have assisted in its transition from a relief organization into Andaman Discoveries, a grass roots community development and conservation agency and responsible tour operator. Andaman Discoveries and the villagers have achieved so much, including two International Responsible Tourism Awards. As Andaman Discoveries heads into its third stage as a social enterprise, I feel it's important to have new blood and new ideas to drive the organization forward. I feel confident that Mimi, our Programs and Pricing Manager; Erik, our Webmaster and technical wizard (now back in Kuraburi!); and Mai, our Guest and Community Facilitator, will work with P'Tui, Andaman Discoveries' Co-Director to carry on the good work and dedication to the villagers' and their community and conservation goals.

P'Tui, Pink, Cha, volunteers, and I have worked hard to build Andaman Discoveries' reputation as an organization that is commitment to the villagers and each one of our guests. During my eight years in Thailand, I have had terrible experiences as a tourist and volunteer, and we have used this to create a supportive service that welcomes each person as member of the Andaman Discoveries family with an important part to play in the communities' development process. I want our visitors and volunteers to love Thailand and its people as much as I do, and that's been the essence of my work. I would like to thank Andaman Discoveries' founder, Bodhi Garrett, all staff, volunteers, and the people of the Andaman Coast for their warmth, kindness, and friendship. I'll be moving to Koh Lanta, Krabi, to manage a resort, but will always be part of the Andaman Discoveries family.

"I can't believe how much I have learned! This experience is beneficial for the traveler AND the community. It is such a wonderful opportunity. I searched a long time on the internet for a cultural exchange like this, but it is very hard to find. The program is unique and cutting-edge, and exceeded my expectations. Thank you for allowing me to experience this beautiful land, beautiful culture, and the beautiful and friendly people!

"Experiencing cultures has long been a passion of mine. As I searched online, I came across Andaman Discoveries through responsibletravel.com. I was impressed with their overall mission of helping communities become self-sufficient, and this was the only volunteer vacation I could find that offered homestay to further emerge travelers in the culture.

"My time spent in Thailand was truly amazing! Through Andaman Discoveries I was able to stay in the beautiful village of Ban Talae Nok and saw first-hand how this community is overcoming the devastation caused by the 2004 tsunami. I experienced wonderful cultural exchanges with the villagers as we made soap, peeled cashew nuts, tapped rubber trees, and wove palm roofs. I also toured their wild animal rescue center, dressed in traditional clothing, participated in activities with the children, and had a delicious Thai cooking lesson! I ended my incredible travel with teaching English in the Kuraburi High School. As a woman traveling by myself, Andaman Discoveries and the people I encountered made me feel safe, included, and welcomed. This is truly a unique experience that I would recommend to anyone who has an adventurous spirit!" Anna, US, five days cultural and volunteering trip.