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Discovery of Jungle School Sparks "Kid2Kid" Project
While kayaking down a lonely, caiman infested river in the Brazilian Amazon, we discovered a jungle school of 15 students and one dedicated teacher, all who travel to school in canoes. Their logistical challenges are daunting. The start of the school year is timed to miss the annual flooding. Humid, 100-degree heat is endured with no cooling system. Surrounded by miles of dense mosquito infested jungle, their isolation cuts off most contact with the outside world. 
I was invited to speak to the students about our travels to other parts of the world. I spoke about the lives of Alaskan kids who live in a winter world of snow and ice with an occasional polar bear visit. These children of the jungle had never heard of a polar bear and had no idea what life might be like living with snow and ice in the darkness of winter. Their eagerness to know more about kids who are living totally different lifestyles in far-away countries inspired us to add "Kid2Kid Talk" section to Adventure Classroom.
We will eventually have a network of participating schools - from remote locations to urban isolation - where students can communicate with other students about growing up in cultures and circumstances other than their own. The program’s goals are:
- To develop a worldwide network of schools which will enable students of all ages to share, via Internet email, their photos and stories of their school life, family life, and cultural customs
- To increase intercultural respect through student communication
- To provide a unique opportunity to learn the geography, history, climate, and lifestyles of other lands.
Helen Thayer
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Kids in a Gobi Nomad Family
In the Mongolian Gobi, boys and girls begin learning the traditional survival skills of the desert as soon as they can walk. They quickly become proficient horse, yak, and camel riders.
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School in the Pantanal
Deep in the Pantanal, the world’s largest wetlands, students attend a tiny school in session only when the floodwaters recede enough for the students to be transported to school by tractor or truck.
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School at the Dump
A school has been built over the trash dump in Tegucigalpa, the capital city Honduras, to give the children living near the dump chance to receive an education.
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