September 17, 2005

BREAKING NEWS FROM THE FIELD!

Greetings friends and donors of The Itgel Foundation,

Ulaanbaatar, MONGOLIA -- I'm writing to you all today because something quite urgent has just come up, and we’d like to reach out to our generous network of constituents for support.

As you all know, Itgel has been working with the Tsaatan reindeer herding community in Mongolia since 2002. Last year, headed by our international team of veterinarians, biologists, and advisors, our foundation observed some terrible diseases in the Tsaatan reindeer herd in Mongolia. One thing that makes these diseases significant is that they are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted to the human population. We met with Tsaatan women who reported having multiple miscarriages, a symptom of the disease Brucellosis, one of the most serious diseases in this community. Other women approached us presenting hands covered in pox-like lesions, which had been transmitted to them through milking infected reindeer. This condition remains undiagnosed and quite mysterious. Currently there are many unknowns about the nature and origin of these diseases, or what should be done to ameliorate the health of both the reindeer and people in this community. Therefore Itgel has been working to identify top scientists who can offer their expertise in order to help us conduct PCR (DNA) analysis on these diseases so that we may pursue mitigation efforts. I am happy to say that we have identified a microbiologist in Canada who is available to fly out to Mongolia later this month to conduct ground-breaking research on these diseases. His work will enable Itgel to respond in a timely fashion to these ailments, through education, vaccination, and treatment programs that will serve to reduce and prevent future infections for both the reindeer and the Tsaatan people. Arrangements could be made in the next two weeks for a Canadian scientist to travel to Mongolia at the end of September in order to coincide with our other research efforts. However, with the unexpected expense of bringing an additional team member to Mongolia this year, we fear that Itgel's modest budget may not be sufficient to finance this expense. That is why we need your help!

We would like to reach out to all of you at this critical time in our field season, to consider making a contribution to The Itgel Foundation. Your gift will help us maximize our time in Mongolia this year and advance new initiatives such as disease research and mitigation programs. A donation of any size goes a long way here in Mongolia, and as always, you can be assured that your gift is put 100% towards project costs, not administrative expenses or salaries.

For those of you who have already contributed in 2005, from the bottom of my heart, thank you! You have enabled us to fund the visit of world-leading reindeer veterinarian Dr. Jerry Haigh for the second year in a row. Jerry arrives in Mongolia in just 7 short days. You also helped us provide training to Tsaatan herders on reindeer identification and management strategies this past August, thereby strengthening the sustainability of their identity-defining lifestyle as reindeer herders. Each and every donor to Itgel has made this possible, and I would like to express sincere gratitude on behalf of the Itgel team and the Tsaatan herders with whom we work. Thank you!

If you haven’t already, we hope you will consider joining the group of Itgel donors who have made it possible for us to protect the health and legacy of Tsaatan individuals, and the reindeer they depend on for survival. Tax-deductible contributions can be made to Itgel by mailing a check to our U.S. office:

The Itgel Foundation
1243 Arroyo Chico
Boulder, CO  80302
USA

You can also donate with a credit card online by following this link:

https://app.etapestry.com/hosted/TheItgelFoundation/OnlineGiving.html

All the best from Mongolia, and thank you for your support!

Morgan Keay
Executive Director

P.S…Your funds will get to us here in Mongolia! You will be a part of our visit to the Tsaatan community this month! You can even send a note along to the community and we’ll deliver it for you.