Sakhalin is not always easy on the soul. Oil and gas make it a driving entity, people hustling and taking very little time for such common pleasures as conversation. So it was pure ecstasy to meet someone who glowingly talked about such simple things as hikes into the snowy forests surrounding the major city in Sakhalin and red glowing camp fires on the beach. This is what used to be called social tourism. A way for children or people to get together and enjoy the outdoors while in pursuit not just of pleasure but also active involvement in keeping nature preserved as it is for future generations. Now the feeling is that others might enjoy these types of joyful excursions which not only permit the traveler to learn more about the nature of Sakhalin but also about the people who live there and their concern about their environment. What better way to repay your host country for its wonderful hospitality?

Lada

You are on a remote and amazing green island, Sakhalin. Like a giant fish in the Pacific Ocean, it guards Russia from the West.

Let me introduce myself. I am Lada Milchenko. I live and work on Sakhalin.

My mother is a teacher and my father is an artist. I was raised in a large family with four brothers, where mutual assistance, kindness and respect were the living standards. I got my education as a shoe designer in Sankt-Petersburg.

I spent my girlhood learning music, painting and many other things. However it was my love of the fine arts and nature that brought me to the interesting people, pedagogues by education and romanticists by the state of soul. Friendship began with songs around the campfire and brought me then to the public organization Rodnik. Addressing the human thrive for spiritual self improvement, this is the goal of this organization, kin and clear to me. Providing conditions for the growth of human creativity and development via the synthesis of tourism, ecology, music, fine arts, and communication - what could be better?

Tours, concerts, junior ecology camps, festivals, seminars, conferences and field trips consolidate our small group of like-minded enthusiasts.

One may think that tourists are strange people. And one would be correct to an extent. Who else but the tourist would follow the fog, the dreams and the odor of Taiga? Only in nature can one perceive being a particle of the Universe and merge with it in harmony of understanding and love.

There are many manmade temples on the Earth-
Small and modest and big ones
Famous for the magnificence of gold,
Some for the grace and grandeur of shapes.

They were founded by people
And people there go
Who are pushed by the wind of seeking the truth
And new temples are built
And the story repeats...

And there is no temple on the Earth
Greater, more magnificent or true than the one called NATURE-
The temple established by the ETERNITY ITSELF!

But not many go there...

Lada Milchenko

Rodnik

There are 100 children and 10 adults among the members of the organization. The above said organization also deals with children who are not its members.

Members of the organization are guided by the following programs when we work with children:

• tourism training
• ecological instruction
• sport marches
• system of self improvement
• Ecological campaigns arranged for children in conjunction with other junior organizations

The organization is planning to expand its number of programs by:

• enhancing self-control within junior teams
• marking and arranging tourist routes
• musical projects
• applicable ecological projects

The high priority activity of the organization is providing and arranging junior tent campaigns. This mass long-term (carried out for many days) event is carried out in self-sustaining conditions. There are up to 100 people involved in one shift of the campaign. The organization cooperates with other public and federal organizations on the project.

Organizing international ecology campaigns is our prospect.

The organization arranges other mass events - celebrations and festivals in the beginning and the end of summer tourist season. Along with the main activity, Rodnik provides the following tourist services: carrying out scientific, ecological tourism and expeditions, providing professional guides for Russian and foreign tourist groups.

Tourism and ecological activity is carried out on Sakhalin island, Kuril islands and other areas of the Far East.

The organization has completed the following projects for the past two years:

• summer sport marches
• winter sport marches on skis
• celebrations annually devoted to opening and closing the tourist season
• junior ecological campaigns
• participated in regional project "Summer recreation and occupation of juniors"