“Every person must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative
altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness. This is the judgment.
Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others?”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

People living in the Mekong region desire a better quality of life for their children and grandchildren. The common cultural methods for achieving this are a combination of maintaining traditional values, working hard, saving, and investing in the future. Because of these methods and values, wise regional leaders know that biodiversity is “savings” and “investment” that has been passed down from distant ancestors to be enhanced by the current generation for future generations.

The presence of research projects within local communities will inevitably have some form of impact (good or bad) on individuals and communities. This simple fact must not be ignored. Projects of the Changing Mekong Program will strive to mitigate negative impacts by trying to use appropriate scale technologies and infrastructure that will eventually revert to communities for their own benefits. Projects that communities most appreciate involve elements such as the following.

Staff

Whenever possible positions will be filled with local personnel in an effort to provide immediate economic benefit to local communities. Staff will receive training to improve skills and attempts will be made at the end of each project to find new positions for them in other projects or organizations.

Accommodations

Local agents will be employed to arrange lodging and other logistics. Longer term research projects will require new buildings for researchers. These buildings will revert to local communities for their use after each project is complete.

Transportation

Projects will utilize vehicles that are consistent with those used locally instead of relying on foreign imports. Vehicles will revert to local communities for their use after each project is complete.

Scientific equipment

Technologies and knowledge will be introduced and shared in ways that improv daily lives. Training workshops about equipment maintenance and use will be conducted to assist in long-term viability be used for research and development in the region.

Information learned within projects will be organized and made available to communities in ways that they feel is appropriate for them. Video DVDs are expected to be a primary means of redistribution of information but the Internet and print ublications will be used as well.

Although the invitations to work in the region have emphasized research on biological and cultural diversity, the Changing Mekong Program projects will also attempt to address the most important social issues in the region because we feel that science without a conscience is inappropriate.

When possible, projects will address:

• Poverty/hunger
• Child labor
• Forced migration
• Loss of resources
• Health care
• Emergent disease
• Micro-financing
• Education

The “seven social sins”: Knowledge without character Science without humanity Wealth without work Commerce without morality Politics without principles Pleasure without conscience Worship without self-sacrifice - Mahatma Gandhi