Dear Friend,

We are happy to inform you that the place for the Gathering 2012 has been found and is waiting for our community!

This is a beautiful homestead in the Carpathian mountains about 40 kilometers from the city Uzgorod near the village Turya Polyana in the wilderness. This place combines wilderness and some civilization comfort. Here you can see pictures of the place http://www.istoki-center.org.ua/konftitlepm.html

Lodging for majority of participants will be camping. There are places on the territory of this homestead where it is possible to set up camps. For those who camp showers and toilets are available.  There are 2 cottages on the territory with 17 indoor places. We plan these places for those participants for whom it’s difficult to live outdoor because of age (old or young). There are four bedded, double bedded and twin bedded rooms.  We will have a big tent for the community meeting and several big tents for workshops. Children will have a special place in case of rain.

By a creek there is a beautiful place for our sweat lodge.

From the place of Gathering we can make excursions both deeper into the wilderness and to cultural monuments.

Because this is wilderness it is necessary to know that there are no places near the gathering site to shop for food or anything else.

We are working on the program now.

So, again we would like to ask you to step forward and write us if you would like to make:

• Workshop in the frame of the Gathering (for 2 – 2.5 hours)
• Sweat lodge

Please, those who are ready contact us! This will really help to plan in advance. Thanks for those who already sent us the themes for workshops!!!

We would like to remind you that we plan Renewal Fast for Guides before Gathering with Keith Howchi Kilburn. If you want to participate, please, contact us istoki-center@mail.ru and Keith howchi@howchi.net

Cost of participation for the Gathering consists of several items:

* We would like to ask adults to pay an extra $50 in order to create scholarship fund for those our brothers and sisters who need to be with us and need support from all of us. If it is too hard for you to pay this donation – please, feel free not to pay. If you have already pay or you plan to pay this donation to your local community to support your local people in participating – please, feel free not to pay. If you can pay more then 50$ - this will be gratefully accepted. If you decide not to participate but ready to support this event – please, make donation to support participation of those who plan. Thank you!

There are several ways to get to this place:

• From Budapest (Hungary). We can organize transfer from Budapest airport. It will take about 4 hours to get to the place from the airport. Budapest has a big airport with a rather big amount of flights through it. So the tickets can be much cheaper. There is a highway between Budapest and Ukraine border, so the way will be pretty comfortable except last 5 km of mountain road. So, if you prefer to fly and then use a car or bus – you can check the flights to Budapest. In our opinion for today it is the most cheap, comfortable, fast and easy way to get to the place.

Approximate cost of shuttle from Budapest: $60 one way, $120 round trip.

• From Uzjgorod. It is nearest town. You can get there by train or by local flight from Kiev and Lvov. And there is the only 1 flight a day from Kiev airport to Uzjgorod. It will take 16 hours (night train) to get from Kiev to Uzjgorod. It will take 1.5 hours to get from Uzjgorod to the place of Gathering.

Approximate cost of shuttle from Uzjgorod: 12$ one way, 24$ round trip.

We can organize shuttles from these places and back depending on the amount of people that choose this or that way.

If you need reduction or scholarship, please, contact us at istoki-center@mail.ru

and send us Scholarship Application form.

Again, please, help us to inform the community about this future Gathering as widely as possible - send this letter, please, through your networks, for those who work in this field or would like to work. Or you can give us e-mails if we miss somebody for sending this information.

This is all the organizational information for today.

For any questions and suggestions, please, feel free to contact us at istoki-center@mail.ru

Come and enrich our circle during councils, discussions, finding the ways for future, dialogues, workshops, ceremonies, singing, dancing, excursions

and just sitting together on our Earth.

How else we can support your choice to be present at the Gathering with the title

“Inviting the world”?

Waiting for you with love, Kateryna and Georgiy

5th Intercontinental/International Gathering of Wilderness Guides
September 17 - 23, 2012, Ukraine

Dear Friends,

Less than one and a half years are left before the 5th Intercontinental/International Gathering in Ukraine.

Our main efforts have been in the sphere of organizational issues – place for the Gathering, agreements with local authorities, solving of technical issues. And despite all our efforts these issues are not being solved as quickly as we want. At the same time we can guarantee to you that this event will happen! Because for us and for you it is an important event.

Maybe some of our difficulties are connected with our desire to make this event very special, exciting, awesome. But the possibilities don’t always agree with our desires. So we decided to change the process. We now are focusing our efforts in the sphere of ideas, questions, and interests about the work we do. We are trying to move from the North to the East.

Previous Gatherings were devoted to meeting with each other, becoming part of the movement, coordination with each other, learning about each other. We honored elders. Elders were invited and recognized by a younger generation of guides. Elders gave a mantle to youth. What is the next step? Who will the younger generation invite, and how will they invite them?