Northern Lights Expeditions, a project seeking to establish links between children of isolated indigenous communities of the Arctic and children of the U.K., has completed the first phase of this three-part service project.

Northern Lights explorers Richard Smith and Craig Mathieson founded the project with the goal of educating children about climate change and environmental awareness through scientific and social projects. Kokatat Watersports Wear has provided Smith and Mathieson GORE-TEX® Expedition Dry Suits and Ronin Pro Life Jackets to assist their efforts.

Smith and Mathieson returned recently from kayaking between remote Inuit settlements of Greenland where they forged links with U.K. schools and delivered donated laptops to Inuit children. Ultimately these laptops will assist both cultures as they connect on joint projects exploring climatic change, cultural differences, differences in way of life, and core values.

“Along the journey we dodged falling icebergs, avoided polar bears, learned how to hunt narwhal from kayaks, were shot at, experienced extreme opposites in weather, learned a great deal about the modern issues and problems affecting the East Greenlandic way of life, made great friends, and established links for the follow-up phases,” Smith said.

During April and May of 2010 Smith and Mathieson will return to Greenland with children from specifically chosen U.K. schools, guiding both the U.K. and Greenlandic children on a mini expedition by dog sled across the sea ice while sleeping under the stars and the Northern Lights.

“Guided by our mantra ‘inspiration of exploration,’ we will inspire a younger generation to learn about the environment and take advantage of the great outdoors themselves,” Smith said. “With active involvement from children of both communities our aim is to educate the generation who will be directly impacted by climatic change. We hope these experiences will leave lasting impressions so that the children will make the right choices in the years ahead,” Smith added.

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Northern Lights Expeditions
Northern Lights Expeditions is an initiative to establish links between children of isolated indigenous communities of the Arctic, and children of the United Kingdom, highlighting climatic change and environmental awareness through joint scientific and social projects. Please visit http://northernlights-expeditions.org/.