The Mirik International Friendship Center is the Elephant Thoughts international development pilot project. This center is a combination of educational institution, cultural gathering place, and international youth hostel. It will serve as a prototype for future projects in remote, developing villages world wide.
The specific mandate of the International Friendship Center Projects:
- Provide a meeting ground for the progressive interaction of people from varying cultural and economic backgrounds.
- Celebrate, propagate, share, and learn cultures.
- Facilitate the economic development of the host villages.
- Increase the levels of and access to education in the host villages.
- Generate income to help contribute to site specific needs in the host villages such as health and disease concerns.
- Initiate programs for the empowerment of women.
- Propagate and facilitate a spirit of volunteerism in the village both with locals and with foreign travelers.
The Mirik International Friendship Center is slated to be built on two separate plots of land in the Mirik area. Mirik is a small Indian town nestled about 6800 feet above sea level in the Himalayan Mountains, spanning the India/Nepal border. The town is surrounded by pine forest in its higher elevations, tea gardens, thick jungle, and an incomparable view of the foothills leading to the Himalayan Mountain Range. Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world looms in the background while Buddhist prayer flags sing from bamboo poles.
The first phase of the project will be built on approximately one acre of pristine jungle, and will house the Elephant Thoughts Tree House Hostel. Quaint, ecologically sound, low impact accommodations above the jungle floor will attract travelers from all over the world to enjoy a unique accommodation experience.
The second phase, perched on top of a hill over looking Kanchenjunga, has perfect vantage of both fabulous sunrise and sunset, will serve as an educational and cultural facility for both foreigners and locals alike. Periodically throughout the year foreigners will have the opportunity to participate in educational tourism programs like Himalayan trekking, mountain biking, telescope observation, film making and photography, meditation, yoga, comparative religion investigations, cultural programs, and more to name just a few. Foreigners will gain the cultural experience of a lifetime with options like being billeted to local families for a small fee and volunteering in local social programs. For locals and foreigners alike, the facility will serve as an institution to promote local handicrafts by offering classes in local arts, which will ultimately supply our our art cooperative. The center will serve as a center for tutoring and giving extra help to local students and house a part-time college where Elephant Thoughts, with the aid of our foreign volunteer program, will help upgrade the skills of local teachers and educators.
Money raised from operations of the center will contribute to fulfilling our charitable mandate in the area primarily increasing the level of and access to education.
