My name is Andreas Augustin and I’ve been living in Kyrgyzstan since January 2012. After working more than three decades as a successful violin maker in the Black Forest region of Germany, I decided to pass on my experience to young people in Central Asia.

My goal is to give young people skills so that in the future they are better able to provide for their families. Most of the young men in Kyrgyzstan leave their homeland to work in Russia. Some even turn towards extremism. In collaboration with Crosslink Development Intl. I built an apprentice workshop. Currently I am training six young boys – ages between twelve and fourteen – in woodcarving and wood-art skills. They come to the workshop five days a week after school. In the four hour slots I spend with them in the afternoon it is a joy to see their enthusiasm and eagerness to learn and develop their craft.

Thank you so far for listening and helping us to improve the life of this young generation, giving them a sign of hope.

The goal of the curriculum is to train and empower the students to become entrepreneurs who start their own independent family businesses. The training is handson and besides the artistic craftsmanship with wood, the teenagers also learn how to tackle ecological problems holistically.