Source: WWJ
Detroit Zoo staffers and volunteers are spending the next two weeks in Peru. But they're not looking for animals to bring home.
The Detroit Zoological Society is leading a conservation expedition to the heart of the Peruvian rainforest, delivering school supplies to rural communities along the Amazon River.
Staff members and 18 volunteers from Michigan and around the country will spend two weeks delivering books, paper and supplies purchased with donations to the Peru Adopt-a-School program.
Zoo Director Ron Kagan says it's part of their mission to provide educational opportunities to thousands of kids in the Metro Detroit area. And they want to do the same thing to help children in an underserved part of the world receive the tools they need to further their education.
"Our message is we value their children the way we value our own and we hope they value the Amazon which is such an incredible treasure house of biodiversity and they're the only ones that can keep it safe," Kagan told WWJ's Greg Bowman.
The volunteers, who travel to Peru at their own expense, will also build a water purification tower.