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Alumni Start Non-profits Around the World
By Alicia Giuffrida
Reprinted from The Leader, Summer 2002, Vol. 17 No. 3
Cardamom Project
In the summer and fall of 1993, Ed Lovett took himself on a post-college trip through Asia, stopping off in the Himalaya for a few weeks to participate in a NOLS expedition. Another part of his journey took him to Cambodia—and of all the places Lovett visited, it was this small, war-torn nation for which he developed the deepest affinity.
“It was everything—the history, the architecture, the city of Phnom Penh…but most of all it was the people,” he recalls. “They have a real sweetness to them. I was struck by the serene, positive attitude they maintain after all they’d been through and how quick they are to smile and laugh.”
Lovett knew he’d someday return to Cambodia, and in April of 2000 he found his reason. He read an article in the New York Times describing the predicament of the Cardamom Mountains. This range in southwestern Cambodia was a retreat for Khmer Rouge guerillas after their fall from power and remained untouched by developers afraid of the Khmer Rouge and their mines. Now this unmanaged wilderness, with its incredible variety of wildlife, is being threatened by poaching, logging and other incursions.
“As a global citizen, I found it unacceptable, even farcical, that this ecological tragedy could happen on the heels of Cambodia’s human tragedy,” says Lovett. “That conviction produced a vision: that preservation of Cambodia’s natural heritage had potential to be a big source of national renewal.”
This is the mission of Lovett’s foundling non-profit organization, the Cardamom Project. “We are working as conservationists to preserve this amazing wilderness,” explains Lovett. “At the same time, we want this to involve Cambodians, and to be deeply rooted in their experience. The Cardamoms have such a unique role in history that the story of wildlife and the story of the Cambodian people are tightly linked.”
Lovett describes the Cardamom Project as “in transition from startup to phase two.” He and his advisory board are working closely with Fauna and Flora International, a British group currently undertaking a wildlife survey in the Cardamoms.
“We’ve had two special events to spread awareness and begin fundraising for on-the-ground contributions to the conservation effort,” Lovett reports. “And I’ve spent a lot of time forging contacts in Cambodian communities, both there and in the U.S. We want to do environmental education campaigns and create imaginative programs to help shift Cambodians’ attitudes toward nature.”
The project is evolving as his relationships with Cambodians evolve: “They’re into it, they get it. Most of them don’t know this treasure is there—when they hear something about Siamese crocodiles, they’re amazed, happy and grateful.”
You can learn more about the history of the Cardamoms and the Cambodian people by visiting www.cardamom.org.
Alicia Giuffrida (SSPM-1 9/25/98) lives in Lander, Wyoming, where she climbs, writes and fosters dreams of starting her own non-profit one day.
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