Sri Lanka has been one of those countries that has touched us deeply to the core. We have been so moved by the people and by their genuine affection.
As a woman from Canada said to us, “You can see the kindness in the eyes of the people of Sri Lanka.” They really do have kind eyes.

We have heard many stories about the Tsunami here. One surfer told us of his experience that you can read about on our post Remembering the Tsunami. We have heard many other stories as well and have been moved by the experience. We have also learned that over 50,000 people died here. Not the 30,000 that we first read and heard about. 1200 people were killed just up the road trapped in a train.

Tourists in the Tsunami

Eeva and Seerpa

We didn’t think that we would meet any foreigners that were here during the Tsunami.
But as time has gone on, we have met many that were here, and Eeva Kankainen, a lovely retiree from Finland shared her experience with us.

Here is her story and what she and her friends did to help.

Most people love this country and come back year after year. Eeva is no exception. She has been coming to the island for 14 years and has made great friends.
She had just come in from and early morning swim when the Tsunami hit. She wasn’t on the beach for long, because her Sinalhese friend was going to be here soon. But she was hot and went for only a quick dip in the ocean before running up to have a shower.
She remembers saying to a lady in the water that she can’t stay for long, she has friends coming.
When she got out of the shower, it was once again one of those surreal moments that we have heard so much about.

Nobody knew what was going on.

She heard the noises of destruction at one moment and then at the same time she heard her neighbour yelling to her that her company had arrived in a light and friendly voice.
They were 25 minutes early and had just come up the stairs.
The next minute everything was destroyed.
They were high up. I didn’t get from her what floor she was on, but she said, that if her friends weren’t coming to see her that morning, she would not be alive today. If her friends had not been early, they would not be alive today.

Incredible Luck.

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After the Tsunami, she stayed in Sri Lanka for three months to help.
Many of her friends from Finland stayed to help as well.
This group of people that we met so briefly for only a few days, are the most giving crowd we have ever met in our lives.
They got together and tried to decide what they could do to help more.
After working with Sabitha Amit (a Monk and principal at a local school) for some time, Maria and Pentti Oskal Kangas came up with an idea to open a school for orphaned, handicapped and mentally challenged children.
Lotus Hill is the organization and it is run by a private group of people from Finland.
Eeva and her friends were kind enough to invite us to come up for a visit.

Arriving at the School

When we pulled up in our Tuk Tuks, the children were so happy to see us. One little guy came out with his drum pounding it and immediately took my hand dragging me to meet his teacher and show me his room.
Another guy latched on to Dave and wouldn’t let go. Dave carried him around forever right up until snack time when one of the teacher finally had to pry him away so that he could eat.

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Oscar and Maria founded Lotus Hill, but Oscar was quick to tell us that Eeva raised half of the money to buy the land by organizing her friends back home to come up with the money.
It costs 300,000 Euro to run the school every year and while it is expensive, they say that they are managing just fine with their friends and contributors in Finland.
Many people donate 5 to 10 Euro a month and they have enough for now.

Oskall and Maria Founders

Oscar is a bit of a celebrity in Finland. A famous philanthropist in the country and he sends monthly updates to supporters to let them know how the project is going. He has a keen business sense and uses his influence to keep the program going.

Life for handicapped in Sri Lanka

Being there for us, was heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time.
These children would otherwise be hidden in their house from society. Parents feel that they need to hide them and protect people with disabilities. They have no quality of life. Maria and Oskalla have given them hope.

We saw this first hand at Adams Peak when people of the restaurant that we ate at teased a poor man that was obviously mentally challenged. We yelled at them to stop and they did. They seemed embarrassed, so I hope they will think twice when they see him again.
We later saw the man being harassed by the police. They were throwing his bottles into the ravine. I yelled at them. (Dave tried to stop me because you just don’t yell at police in this country, but I couldn’t help myself) The police just laughed and told me he is a madman. I yelled back the he is a human being, not an animal. I was seeing red and I would have fought tooth and nail. I don’t think the police were embarassed or learned their lesson. They will go on wielding their power.

Progress

These boys have hope, that this man will never have.
One boy was very aggressive and afraid when he first came to the school. He would hit and punch, and now he smiles and holds hands.
Another only came and drew lines on a paper, now he is drawing flowers and rainbows.
One boy is making place mats and weaving them by hand. He is developing his skills to be a carpet maker and he was so proud to show us his work. They played a game of cricket and one of the boys was quite a talent with the paddle.

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The list goes on with their development.

The Staff

It is a dedicated group of individuals that work there. An 87 year old woman that they call grandmother works there to take care of the baby that was dropped off by its mother. The baby has down syndrome and she is there to change him, watch him and love him. She is his surrogate mother.
There are 2 women and a man that work there. They have a difficult job. I don’t think that I could do it. These boys can be a handful and to take care of 15 children with disabilities, feed them, teach them and stay with them has got to be very difficult.

The Staff and Students

Facilities.

The school has classrooms, lunchrooms, a medical room, dorms and a kitchen. It sits high on a hill surrounded by green pasture. It is airy and bright and happy. They have their rooms and clean bathrooms, they have balls and toys and of course drums.
They play and laugh and live.
The founders are beautiful people. Oscar said “we are not rich people, but we make it work”
We would have to say that they have certainly made it work and have changed the lives of these boys forever.

Today’s post for our Giving Back Series comes to us from our good friend Narayana Reddy aka Nani.  Nani has the biggest heart of anyone we know and it is an honor to call him our friend.  Whenever we speak with him, we are inspired to become better human beings.  He is always there to give anyone a helping hand and is never too busy to assist a person in need.  People hold him in such high regard that they named our a cycling group after him ReddyRiders.

An activist, advocate and founder of the charity Bicycles Crossing Borders, Nani is a true humanitarian.  His compassion is contagious and I am sure that his cause and words will move everyone to give more to people in need.

It is so fitting that we are posting this article as we fly away to India, Nani’s homeland.  He can inspire us even as we leave to the other side of the world.

Cycling is Such a Great Idea – But Can Everybody Have a Bike!!!

Cycling is such a great utilitarian activity many of us take it for granted. And there are people that have one or two bicycles for each different kind of activity. A commuter to get to work and run errands, a road or racing bike for the weekend pleasure rides, a bike for touring, and oh… did I mention a bike for all the off-road bushwhacking.

Many of us are so fortunate, living in an affluent society like Europe or North America, to find so many bicycle stores and other suppliers of bicycles in every neighbourhood. Yet we fail to realize how lucky we are to be  able to buy a bike for under two week salary or for the cost of five or six months of transit passes.

Ever since my childhood, I used to think that a simple two wheeler can be an equitable possession for all the people around the world. Unfortunately it is not. Many of us simply don’t know how hard it can be for a person living in most parts of the third world to have access to a simple two wheeler. People who earn about one-tenth of our hourly wages in a whole week will have to pay the same price as we do to buy the same bike in their places. It is simply not fair.

Here comes “Bicycles Crossing Borders – Bicicletas Cruzando Fronteras” (BCB)

So, in an effort to do a small part to rectify the injustice, in the year 2000 a small number of us gathered into a small organization, had a meeting, brainstormed and founded the BCB and had this organization incorporated. It was a lot of work particularly for me. With some hard work, we got enough funding to kick start the project. We were also very lucky to get a free warehouse to collect and store the bicycles. It was pretty easy through all my contacts to get into an agreement with the most powerful local organization in Havana, Cuba the “Office of the Historian of the City of Havana” to help set up a bike shop, train the people and provide the necessary services to the cyclists of Havana. Thus was a small part of my dream realized.

It would be great to help all the poor people in the world. But we are a realistic bunch and are aware that it is an impossible task. However, we are open to help others to start up their own projects, and in fact offer help a small group of people from Sierra Leone.

Cuba was our chosen land, since I had lived there and have made the necessary contacts and it is a place, with little or no corruption to deal with. Bureaucrats are very pleasant, easy to meet and deal with.

January of 2001

In that month our project site was inaugurated in Old Havana by the Canadian Ambassador. It was a grand store in the prominent historical building, which once used to be a cigar factory. Marble flooring, a bronze statue in the middle of the hallway and big windows and our project had almost 500 sq. Meters of space.

It is sad that in Toronto on any given day, we can see bikes being discarded in the trash, or rusting in people’s backyards or just thrown into other kinds of waste-streams. It is extremely sad that such a thing should happen to a useful item, when one can have them repaired or just give it to some poor soul that does not have the means to buy one.

Through living in many places of the Southern Hemisphere I have made many personal experiences and seen the hardships people face to move from place to place in overcrowded pick-up trucks or minivans, or just cramped between their goats, chicken and other livestock. And I find it deplorable that people in our societies have lost the value for useful material.

In many countries, due to lack of sufficient schools even very young kids walk long distances to schools. My own experience was of walking a distance of upto 5 Kms each way to schools right from grade one. Owning a bicycle in our family was unheard of. We only knew walking everywhere, to run errands, to the local market, to the far and few medical dispensaries (as small clinics were called those days) and other places. Of course there was a local transit, but who could afford it.

My experience of living in Cuba in the middle of the worst economic crisis of that land from 1991 to 1993 called ‘Periodo Especial’, a land that has been made to suffer already through an unjust US blockade since the revolution, opened my senses to more issues and problems that one people can face not entirely due to their own making.

During those years in Cuba, people would wait for hours and hours for the very few functioning buses to get to work, to visit family or whatever. Even if they would manage to board an overcrowded bus, it was never assured that they would arrive at the destination. The buses constantly broke down and caused unlimited pollution.

Cheap Chinese made bikes, the Flyeing Pigeon etc., distributed to the people at a cost of $4 and $6, paid in installments would break down on their very maiden voyage. It was very hard to get them repaired. There were simply no spare parts or skills available.

Re-Use instead of discard

BCB’s idea is to lower the number of bikes ending up in the waste stream. We like to collect them instead and ship them down to Cuba and other places. This will easily cut down our over-burdened landfill sites and cut down the toxic materials getting into our water-table.

Many organizations have been shipping bikes to Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean etc. In Cuba I have been asked by many officials, why some organizations ship useless and rusty irreparable bicycles, which they end up having to discard into scrap metal.  This is a sad situation. One has to understand that “if we cannot repair something here, they cannot be repaired in other places”, in Cuba or wherever. The main reason being, that there are no bicycle repair shops and spare parts and appropriate tools are simply not available.

Bicycles Crossing Borders differs from others

At BCB we believe strongly in empowering the local people. Our goal is to “not only provide them with repairable bicycles, but also the skills, tools and parts to repair them”. They can be independent one day only by this means. Otherwise we will only create a total dependency – not a good cause after eliminating colonialism.

I am always very proud to tell people of our successes. But success does not come easily. This success comes thanks to our volunteer force, who are always ready to come out and help with the collection of bicycles and shipping and other work. Our volunteer friends and I are always proud to say also that we spend very little money on managing the project in Canada. We don’t have any staff, office etc., and all the work is accomplished by our volunteers using virtual means.

Over four years, in our first “Bicycle Repair and Service Facility” in Old Havana:

• we trained 22 women and 9 men in bicycle technology
• we shipped 7000 bicycles
• we shipped almost 4000 boxes of new and used parts
• our project site included one master mechanic work bench and
• four service stations
• tools worth over $20,000 were supplied

Among our other achievements:

• bicycles were distributed to all the local postal workers in Old Havana
• 100 good quality bicycles were dedicated for renting out, so the local shop could achieve financial independence
• our shop in Old Havana also stored and serviced bicycles for one Spanish and one German tourism companies, thus generating revenues

The Bicycles Crossing Borders starts a second phase of the project

The BCB would like to draw on the successes of the first phase, learn from the mistakes made and establish a similar but expanded project in a smaller city. By setting up such a project BCB hopes to be of greater service to the rural public.

Per capita cyclists in rural areas of Cuba far exceed those Havana. Almost 70% of the people seem to use bicycles as their principle mode of commuting. At present the rural folk in Cuba do not have any access to bicycle repairs or parts necessary for repairs. At the same time there is a lack of knowledge, tools and expertise to carry out such tasks. The first bicycle shop set up by BCB happens to be the only full-fledged bicycle repair and service shop in Cuba.

But Cubans do feel the challenges of going all the way to Havana for service or parts. Yet some Cuban service technicians do come to Havana from as far away as Bayamos to pick up parts at the BCB shop once every three months.

There is a need for a bicycle service and repair shop in smaller towns:

Each time I see a cyclist in Cuba struggling with the load on the bike, in the heat and up the hill, it disturbs me and I want to do whatever I can to help out. Worse even and I feel heart-broken when I see horses used in smaller towns to haul people instead of the engines of a bus, and these horses are malnourished and the owners beat them to run faster. It is just painful.

For the past two years, our group at BCB is working hard to set-up a central repair and service facility in Baracoa, Province of Guantanamo in early 2010. Guantanamo City, Bayamos could be next. At a later date, there will be also a “mobile workshop” that can visit outlying towns and villages on set dates, which will be announced by radio and other print media. A parcel delivery van will be converted to carry parts and tools and a couple of mechanics can visit a set number of villages on a regular basis. This would provide the badly needed support to the rural folk in terms of repair and service, that they can otherwise not get anywhere.

Project Scope:

A dedicated building in Baracoa will be renovated and the shop set up there. Potential candidates will be selected and trained in bicycle technology by local experts, who will be drawn from our previously trained and experienced technicians. By the fall of 2010 our new shop in Baracoa will be serving as many cyclists as possible.

“Volunteer Builders” an NGO from Oakville, Ontario have joined forces with BCB. Both of our groups hope to go down to Cuba with about 30 volunteers to help renovate and rebuild the dedicated building within about two weeks into a “modern bicycle repair facility”.

Environmental impact in Canada:

A project involving recycling bicycles has twofold effects on the environment in Canada and thus in accordance of the Kyoto Protocol. Each time a bicycle is recycled substantial amount of metal and poisonous items are removed from the trash. At the same time, it is proven that each bicycle added to the roads of Canada reduces GHGs by an average of 4 metric Tonnes per year, if only the cyclist commutes an average of 5 Km each way to work daily.

Environmental Impact in Southern Countries:

One of the main goals of BCB is to remove bicycles going into the waste stream as much as possible. Our goal is also to help the impoverished people elsewhere with a better means of commuting, thus contributing to the reduction of GHGs. However, it is also an important factor in alleviating poverty by means of creating employment. BCB aims to provide skills in a field totally ignored otherwise, thus providing better opportunities for employment and increase sustainability, productivity etc.

Challenges of the project:

If only BCB had the full power, we could achieve more. But, like everything else, it is only human to err. And we have learned from our mistakes and we like to move on to provide better projects wherever we can.

One of our greatest challenges have become getting the funding. I get emails on a daily basis from people from across Canada and occasionally from even the US offering us the bicycles. But not many people offer us the money. We need money, money to buy tools, to support the volunteers that come out to help for an entire day sometimes. Offering them lunch is the least thing we could do. And unfortunately for us, the shipping gets more expensive all the time. Cuban ships don’t come to Toronto anymore and thus we have to ship the containers to Halifax. The road freight alone is expensive. Just imagine paying almost $6000 for a 40’ container.

CIDA could help small projects like ours. But no, they like to help bigger projects in other places. And their conditions are out of this world. And of course some of our biggest supporters, the trade unions are weaker these days, thanks to the conservative politics of Canada.

I find it also very interesting, that I can get free storage space for collected bicycles in Amsterdam, Berlin or Chicago (notice the a b and c of the cities). Many of my friends in those cities have offered me to move there and work out of there. But Toronto is my home and it has been proven very hard to find a free storage space in our great city.

Can somebody out there please help us. Please help us with funds and help us find a space close to the local transit, here in Toronto, so that I and my friends who are mostly cyclists can get there easily at all hours and any weather condition.

Social benefits:

If past experience is any proof, we hope to draw on the successes. Most definitively there will be

• better awareness of the environment, the reduction of  the  GHGs  and the need for better use of bicycles, if we can effectively install a project and achieve our goals.
• Direct benefits to the project would be that several highly skilled professionals will emerge in a field, hitherto totally ignored by the society.
• Indirectly, some of the people that do undergo training may leave to establish their own shops elsewhere to service the cyclists.
• As with our past experience, there can be satellite and subsidiary sectors involved in providing service to the project and the public, thus gaining an economic sufficiency.

Supporters and Patrons of BCB:

BCB has had generous support from several sectors of Canadian society. During the past several trade unions and businesses have offered strong support to the project. Many individuals have supported us with money, free time and moral support.

The prominent trade unions that have pledged their continued support are: United Food and Commercial Workers of Canada, Communication, Energy and Paper Workers Union.

Among the businesses the Urbane Cyclist – a Workers’ Cooperative of Toronto have been our strongest supporters since the beginning. Others that have come up with sporadic support are Duke’s Cycles and various others. Bayview Cycle have collected bicycles for us. Canadian Tire stores at Keel and St. Clair have helped us by providing tools at their cost prices. In the recent years my employer the Mountain Equipment Cooperative has provided with donations of returned and other material. There have been many individual donors and highly skilled volunteers, who have pledged their continuous support.

Our recent collaborators, the Volunteer Builders are very enthusiastic and show tremendous energy to go to Cuba and help us renovate the building in Baracoa. Now all we need is sufficient funds and many of the material for the reconstruction of the project site in Baracoa, the tools and parts for the bicycle shop and training of people.

But it will be totally fruitless, if I end this without acknowledging the support I have received over the years from all the volunteers, many of whom have become my dearest friends. Without their physical and moral support, the project would not be where it is today. These are the greatest volunteers I have seen in my NGO years of the past 25 years in Toronto.

• To find out more about Bicycles Crossing Borders visit their website at http://www.bikestocuba.org/
• To see how you can get more involved email Nani at chittar99@yahoo.com
• To donate  send a cheque payable to:
• Bicycles Crossing Borders
  c/o Urbane Cyclist,
  180 John Street, Toronto, ON M5T 1X5

I was Born in Bangalore, India. Was skillful in languages and mechanics from a very early age and always wanted to be an engineer. So, I learned German and was fluent in it pretty fast, like I was fluent in Hindi, Urdu etc., besides my mother tongue Telugu and our provincial language Kannada.
Went to Germany at an early age and studied engineering in Berlin. While living there also worked in a couple of companies and traveled, mainly ‘hitch-hiking’ to many parts of Europe and even to risky areas such as the Basque region. Later, fulfilled my passion for the Maya and Inka cultures by traveling extensively in Central America and many parts of South America. Also, gained and learned a lot by living voluntarily in parts of Guatemala, Nicaragua where I was always among the peasant folk and worked on projects. Also gained some real life experience living in a rain forest in Costa Rica for six months. Later, I spent two years in Havana, Cuba and worked with some of the best Cuban designers and helped them with Graphic design on Macintosh computers.
Cycling and working with bicycles has always been a passion. Also design pedal powered machinery. But most of all, it has been my ambition and a passion to empower people in whatever fields that I am competent in. In Toronto I have been working on bikes quite a lot and also do a lot of charitable repair work for those that cannot afford it.

As the time of our travels draws near, we want to reflect on our giving Back Series.  The diverse stories that we gathered over the past couple of months have been inspiring and touching.

It is a reminder to us to be more responsible in our travels and to revisit these incredible stories.  For those of you who are new to our blog, it gives you the chance to meet some fascinating travelers that have given back to the world while they explore it.

We were grateful for everyone’s contributions and we learned a great deal about different ways that one can contribute to the communities that they visit.

We hope that you are as moved by these stories as we have been

Our series was kicked off by a fabulous post by Keith Jenkins of VelevetEscape. He talks about Ngwena Glass in Support Local Art and Help Communities Thrive. It is a company in South Africa that promotes and stimulates the local economy.  They help people in poor countries learn a new skill and contribute to poverty alleviation whilst embedding in them a greater awareness of the environment.

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Marina Villatoro of the TravelExperta tells a touching tale about her time volunteering at ARCAS Guatemala in ARCAS Guatemala – a One in an Only. It is an organization that takes care of endangered animals and rehabilitates poor creatures rescued from horrific conditions of black market trading.  Not only does she fall in love with the animals that she helps, but she falls in love with the country and her future husband.

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Shannon O’Donnell of ALittleAdrift talks about her time in Nepal Teaching Young Monks. It is a post that has made us look forward to our upcoming trip where we may take some time to give back there as well. It is an excellent article talking giving first hand information as to what one can expect when they volunteer and how it can enrich our lives while making a great difference to the young boys that touched her heart so deeply.

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A friend of ours from right here in Toronto has started her own charity and is making a difference at a grassroots level.  Rebecca Sweetman Founder and Executive Director of The Paradigm Shift Project bridges the gap between local communities and NGO’s from developing countries by filming and documenting their needs.  She then can help to find suitable donors to partner with. Read more at This Global Citizen is making a difference.

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You don’t have to be a regular world traveler to make a difference. Teresa Wilson shared her experience volunteering for the first time in Nicaragua, A First Time Volunteer Experience.  Having never left the continent before it was a huge leap of faith and took courage to decide to go to a remote village and build a school and help a community in need.  She has since started blogging about her thoughts and wellness at TheWellnessInYou

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Erin Courtenay of Global Volunteer Network stopped by to talk to us about her organization in Make a Difference with Global Volunteer Network. They have 25 projects all over the world working closely with local community organizations. From building schools to providing emergency food supplies they work with the communities to provide them with the resources they need.

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In Villas Tranquilas: A Vacation Property Gives Back, Courtney and Tom talk about how this resort is leading the pack in resorts caring about their surrounding communities. It is an eco-friendly complex that has helped to rebuild the local elementary school and has even partnered with the conservation Alliance to protect endangered wildlife. When people stay at VillasTranquilas, they can feel confident in knowing that they are supporting the local community.

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Sarah Van Auken of Volunteering Global, told her story  in Volunteer Global a Valuable Resource. She talks  about starting a wonderful site that researches host organizations around the world providing prospective volunteers with up to date information on types of work, openings, accommodations and costs. It is a site that every person interested in volunteering at home and abroad should visit and join.

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Akila and Patrick from The Road Forks offered to write about their time at Ranthambore National Preserve in India. We are so looking forward to going to India next week and will definitely be stopping by this Amazing Tiger Sanctuary.  They offered great information and wonderful photo’s to boot!

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One of the most interesting posts that we received was from Daniela Papi of Pepy Ride. She runs an educational non-profit organization and also a small adventure tour company too which funds the NGO in part. She is skeptical of the impact of tourism and NGOs and talks to us about the Impact of Tourism and NGO’s and how she justifies having her hand in both.

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Tendai Sean Joe, Founder of The Trail of Hope Foundation is taking on an epic journey riding a motorcycle from South Africa to Europe to raise awareness about the suffering of children around the world.  A former street child, now an international advocate for disadvantaged children and youths he is truly an inspiration to us all. Read about his story at The Trail of Hope: A Motorcycle Journey

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Adrian Reif of Friendly Planet Blog challenges all Bloggers to give back in Your Own Two Hands. He donates half of all of his revenues to people in need. He mixes his adventures with giving back and has managed to meld his two loves in life, travel and making the world a better place.

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We have loved running the Giving Back While Traveling the World Series and hope to keep it going while we are on the road.  While it won’t be happening every week, we would love to feature a traveler monthly that is making a difference out there.  We have made a vow  to give back as much as we can in our up coming travels and we thank everyone for showing us all of the unique ways that people can travel responsibly while enjoying their adventures around the world.

As Tracy from Thirsty Boots said to us, “An Adventure is amazing, but it is better when you are making a difference” Sorry for the paraphrasing Tracy, I couldn’t exactly remember your profound works:)

Today’s post comes to us from Adrian Reif from Friendly Planet.  He is doing wonderful things combining his two passions, travel and making the world a better place.   I love this post so I won’t make you spend any more time reading my words. Enjoy what Adrian has to say.

Your Own Two Hands

“I’m gonna make it a brighter place. I’m gonna make it a safer place. I’m gonna help the human race…with my own two hands.”
- Ben Harper, With My Own Two Hands (listen if you haven’t heard it before)

“Will we in the West realize our potential or will we sleep in the comfort of our affluence with apathy and indifference murmuring softly in our ears?”
- Bono, in foreward for The End of Poverty

Let’s start with a quick thought experiment. It’s simple. I want you to stop reading for 15 seconds and pretend that you were born in another country, somewhere less developed – Peru, Bangladesh, Zambia, Haiti. Now, imagine what your life would be like today.

• Would you have the same comforts?
• What would your education have been like?
• Where would you be working? In the family shop? Roaming the streets?
• Would you be alive?

I wasn’t born in Bangladesh. I was born in a developed country as a member of the racial majority. I’ve had amazing parents and friends who have always supported me. I’ve received educations among the best in the world – both practical and academic [not that I exhibit it ]. I have the opportunity to travel! And I’ve realized at a young age that happiness stems from being a good person, not making stacks of money. I humbly say all of this, but I say it to point out a basic assumption – that I’m one of the luckiest people in the world. I’ve lived a life a sheer joy. I have everything I could ever want (or reasonable access to it). If you ever hear me complain, slap me – hard. Life is good.

A sad reality is that billions of people face the consequences of bad luck – they don’t have the same opportunities you and I have. Should ‘luck’ continue to determine how their life plays out? As Bono says in his foreward for Jeffrey Sachs’ The End of Poverty,

“We can be the generation that no longer accepts that an accident of latitude determines whether a child lives or dies – but will we be that generation?”

My Basic Argument

Consequently, my fortunate life leads me to believe I have a responsibility to help others seek the same. I want them to have what I have, to experience what I’ve experienced. That’s it – I have no great ethical or philosophical argument to prove my point. It just feels like the right thing to do. And it feels good.

The Beginnings of a Lifetime Wanderer

In 2005, I traveled to Guatemala as a member of my university’s Alternative Spring Break for a week of volunteering. It was my first international trip – an eye-opening and addictive one. We swam in volcanic lakes and hot springs and survived on cheap, delicious foods. The main goal of the trip was assisting Primeros Pasos Medical Clinic, a clinic giving basic health care to rural, impoverished school children. We repainted a building, built makeshift soccer goals from 2x4s, taught a lesson on brushing and flossing teeth, and played lots of soccer with children. Here I began to realize that everyone has the same basic needs, but not everyone has access to them; and to opportunities that could improve their quality of living.

Children Playing in Laos Village

The adrenalin of immersing in a foreign culture, receiving the warm hospitality of the people, witnessing miraculous landscapes - it was addictive. And I was hooked on travel. But my interaction with the children helped me take my new wanderlust mentality a step further. I knew I could not consciously continue to travel without returning the favor. I set out to design a way to travel that was not only enjoyable, but also helps to enrich the lives of the people who would enrich mine.

Launching Friendly Planet - The Intersection of Passions

Friendly Planet was a tangled web of thoughts for many months after leaving the States in January 2009 to travel. While fighting for sleep one night, the ideas swirled so intensely in my head that I finally sat up at 2am and mapped out Friendly Planet. It seemed like I’d finally found a way to combine some of my passions: being a responsible global citizen, wanderlust travel, and entrepreneurship. Its a chance to share my travels, but also give back while I travel. Similarly, I wanted people back home to be able to give half-way across the world while raising awareness for issues we rarely give thought to back home. In the spirit of Ben Harper’s song, it’s how I use my own two hands, but I hope it also shows that each of us have a unique way to give back.

At Friendly Planet, we talk about:

• Being responsible global citizens
• Wanderlust travel stories, tips, and advice
• People, companies, and ideas changing the world

Here’s the cool part – and most rewarding for me. We give 50% of ALL revenues away to non-profits or needing souls each month in the countries traveled through. It’s a small ‘thank you’ – thank you for allowing me to experience your culture and landscape, for pointing me in the right direction when I was lost (which happens a lot!), for opening your home, for teaching me how to smile.

Another goal is to build a small business that does good while making money, in turn flipping the assumption that capitalism and being a responsible corporation are opposing ideas. They are not. In the future, the most successful companies will see the world around them not as something to fight against, but as a partner that will fruitfully give back the more they give to it.

The Fruits of Travel

Tsering Family in Manigango, Sichuan, China

At the beginning of August, I made the first donation from Friendly Planet. I had just spent three grueling weeks working my way down western Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, near the Tibet border in China. While strongly controlled by the Chinese government, the Tibetan communities and villages provided an immense experience different from the rest of the country. The landscape was captivating – snow-capped mountain peaks, lush river valleys, and endless grasslands pocked with nomads’ tents and shaggy black yaks.

The only thing more captivating is the greeting smile of a Tibetan. Thanks to them, I learned to truly smile.

During a random and supposedly short stop in Manigango, a half-kilometer long Tibetan town, I was invited to home of three Tibetan boy monks after a chance acquaintance. There, their father, Gongga Tsering, and his wife welcomed me with open arms and stuffed my belly with endless bowls of home cooked food. We could only communicate through a small Tibetan-English schoolbook I had picked up a few days earlier and hand (and body) gestures. We spent hours pouring through that book pointing at phrases. One night after dinner, one of the boys pulled out an old Michael Jackson DVD and put it in. Gongga attempted an impersonation and one of the boys tried to moonwalk. Here I am in a remote village in western China sharing the joy of MJ’s tunes and energy! Yet, I had to somehow communicate to them that sadly, MJ’s heart had failed not to long ago – news they hadn’t received.

Later, Gong Ga insisted [by pointing to the phrase "Don't refuse"] that I stay with them instead of the hotel. I ended up staying in their beautiful Tibetan home for 2 nights. The boys took interest in learning some English. Each morning, they’d grab the book and begin practicing, consulting me when they needed help with pronunciation or reading, and would end the night by practicing phrases in their bedroom. By the end, they could say “good morning” and several other greetings, which I could return in Tibetan. Gong Ga wanted to buy the book from me for his sons, so when I left, I gave it to them as a gift. It was the least I could do…

Clicking on Donate

After an experience like this, I wanted to give so much to the Tibetan people. Thanks to Friendly Planet readers, we were able to donate over $50 to Machik.org, a non-profit that works to empower people on the Tibetan plateau through education and job training. Even though $50 is a small amount, clicking the “Donate” button was met with a rush of adrenalin knowing that we could, in some small way, improve life for someone. It amplified the joy of my time in western China.

Over the last month, we’ve also been able to give $60 to Green Watershed, an organization based in China’s Yunnan Province where I spent 2 weeks that deals with water management for ethnic tribes and has done wonders to fight the impending damming of China’s rivers. Their Executive Director is surveilled closely by the Communist Party, which let’s me know he’s doing something good. Recently, we purchased over $80 in books from Big Brother Mouse, an organization in Luang Prabang, Laos dedicated to making reading fun for Lao children and giving many children probably their first book ever. After spending a little time teaching English here and meeting with Sasha, a retired American book publisher and BBM’s founder, I purchased over 60 children’s stories to take with me during a 2-day trek into the countryside. As we stopped in the last village, school wasn’t in session so my trekking guide introduced me to the teacher, who dutifully inventoried the books with a few other parents and thanked me. Interestingly, other adults curiously picked up a book or two and began to intently read through, probably the first time they’ve seen a children’s story on a page! Also, the trek was guided by Tiger Trails, a local guide service known for its “sustainable tourism.” About 30% of the trek cost goes into the Village Development Fund for the rural villages we passed through and is only used for infrastructure improvements. If I’m going to hike through their back yards and rice fields and sleep in their villages, I’m going to make sure they get a good chunk of the money!

After China, I’ve spent the last month and a half in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. For August and September, Friendly Planet will be making donations to Green Watershed, an advocacy organization in China’s Yunnan Province, and Agir pour les Femmes en Situation Precaire (AFESIP), an organization working tirelessly to help women and children who’ve been or might be affected by sex trafficking in Cambodia.

After only 3 months, Friendly Planet has given away over $100 from ad-based revenue alone (i.e. readers clicking on ads to support the site). Another anonymous donor (even though I don’t solicit donations) has contributed $500 to be distributed over the coming months.

“Books for Laos” Campaign

Big Brother Mouse Books

Just like traveling, contributing to Friendly Planet continues to surprise and energize me. I recently learned about Big Brother Mouse, an organization that is increasing literacy in Laos by creating and distributing fun and educational children’s books. I’ve heard spectacular reviews of this country, but it continues to be one of the poorest in the region. Since I will be spending October in Laos and doing some work with Big Brother Mouse, I’ve decided to launch a small “Books for Laos” Campaign. For $250, we can sponsor a book party where Big Brother Mouse staff will go out into a village, teach 80-100 children how to use the books (probably their first ever books), and leave them with a small library. So, Friendly Planet will be giving all revenues for October up to $125 along with another $125 match to support this project. It’s an ambitious goal for such a small site, but I believe in the power of people.

Many people want to volunteer abroad and help communities around the world but they often wonder if the organization that they have chosen is working for the greater good. Why do volunteer projects charge thousands of dollars to have you come out to lend a helping hand?

Volunteering Global is a wonderful site that researches host organizations around the world providing prospective volunteers with up to date information on types of work, openings, accommodations and costs. It is a site that every person interested in volunteering at home and abroad should visit and join. 

Not only does it offer valuable information regarding NGO’s, it also is an informative travel resource that I will be sure to visit regularly in the future.

Is volunteer travel a selfless or a selfish act?

On one hand, you’re serving a community that needs an extra push, but on the other, you’re traveling at your leisure to a destination of your choice.

Type “volunteer vacation” into a search engine and jot down how many hits you get. Now look at the first page of results and note how much those trips cost. Wait – they cost something? You’re willing to give your time and effort to a community project, but you’re expected to pay? And at $1,000 for a week, they’d better give you backrubs and ice cream, because your airfare isn’t even included.

This is what I encountered four years ago as I looked for a summer project. It was confusing and frustrating; these groups assumed volunteers had disposable income.

Accommodations in Costa Rica

After a month of researching, I came across a small group in Costa Rica.

They charged $6.00 per day for housing – not “other fees” that weren’t specified, and expected their volunteers to take their work seriously. They didn’t make turtle monitoring look glamorous; they emphasized that this was tough, physical labor, and we shouldn’t expect an immediate payoff. This was what I wanted: To know that I was giving my time to an organization that depended upon and respected its volunteers, rather than the payments the participants made.

About Volunteering Global

At the encouragement of my parents and friends, I compiled a list of every volunteer vacation I found, and wrote down where they worked, what they did, and how much they charged. Rather than taking a volunteer trip that summer, I built what now is Volunteering Global, a website dedicated to educating people about service opportunities worldwide.

Because I was a full-time college student, a teaching assistant for three classes, and a part-time work study employee off campus, Volunteering Global had a slow start. Research was relegated to the end of my fifteen-hour work day, but you know what? It was relaxing and inspiring to read reports from people in the field, to find another tiny group that taught children learn how to read, and to slowly realize that I wanted to turn volunteer support into my career.

So what’s the status now? Well, I make about 35 cents per day from advertisements, but I am more excited than ever about Volunteering Global. In the past five months, I turned a dreary little HTML site into an interactive one that’s engaging for its visitors. I’ve researched more than 600 international volunteer groups, narrowed the list down to 338, many of which you won’t find on other volunteer sites, and posted individual pages for each one. I created a membership option, where users can create blog entries and post in the forums, and in July, I released my first monthly newsletter. There’s even a general travel advice section to the site, and I post daily educational blog entries about statistics, safety, individual volunteer programs, and more. While it’s not my career yet, I’m confident that I’ll find a way to make this work my life’s focus.

The Volunteers

The best part of Volunteering Global is meeting the world travelers I strive to help. Here’s a story from Allison, who worked with Habitat for Humanity last year.

“…We arrived at a small light blue house owned by a young mother of six. As our group gathered outside to greet our house foreman, we got a sense of what we would be doing this day. Our foreman confirmed that we would be painting the interior of the house and preparing the floors for tiling the next day. After a brief speech, we grabbed our tools, paint and safety glasses and went to work. David, Elio and I started masking off the kitchen area and cabinets so we could paint the walls and windows. Others spread out throughout the home, picking their niche to paint.  Most of the day was spent painting. To pass the time, at one point someone mentioned Broadway tunes. We all started singing songs from our favorite shows. Then it turned into an 80’s one hit wonder name that tune fest. We had such a wonderful time and before we knew it, the interior was complete, the floors were scraped and we had extra time to plant trees in the front and side yards.”

And here are some pictures sent to me from Ruth, who worked with the Earthwatch Institute in Costa Rica and Mongolia – she’s traveling with them again to Kenya this November.

Volunteers working in Costa Rica

Taking a Break in Mongolia

Selfless or Selfish?

Now to come back to the original question. This, above all, has been the determining factor in how I’d like to operate my site. I don’t work on behalf of any group, and I don’t have an ulterior motive – I’m here to educate you, and it’s up to you to decide what to do with it.

I mentioned cutting 270 programs from the original 600. It’s because I want volunteers to see the “little guys.” They’re not popular groups, you won’t find them mentioned in travel articles, and they certainly won’t show up in the first 20 pages of a Google search for “volunteer vacations.” These are the organizations that prove they’re helping their community, and who, like that turtle monitoring group, depend upon and respect their volunteers. Participants’ living expenses are comparable to that of locals, and the establishments are up front about where the money goes.

Giving one’s time to help a community that one has never visited, or even knew existed before, is one of the most selfless acts I can think of. Yes, we start the search for an exciting destination, and even fantasize about being the Superman of an entire community. But when we travel on the project, we find something more. The experience of connecting with others across the world, knowing that we’ve come together to help people we’ve never met – that’s something we’ll forever take with us, and something we’ll always encourage others to experience.

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Sarah Van Auken is the creator of Volunteering Global, a website that teaches individuals about international service and general travel. She currently lives in Washington, D.C., where she works full time in returned volunteer support.

If you’d like to join as a member of Volunteering Global, please click here — you’ll be able to post in the forums, create your own blog entries on the site, receive the monthly newsletter, and more.

Volunteering Global Scholarship Fund is awarded to a high school senior who demonstrates commitment to community service. To contribute visit  http://www.volunteerglobal.com/node/679

For More information about Sarah and Volunteering Global follow her on

• Twitter: @VolunteerGlobal
• Facebook
• Blog (updated daily)

Previous Articles from our Giving Back, Travel the World and Make a Difference Series;

• Villas Tranquilas: A Vacation Property Gives Back by Courtney and Tom Marchesani of  Villas Tranquilas
• Make A Difference With The Global Volunteer Network byErin Courtenay of Global Volunteer Network
• Nicaragua, A First Time Volunteer Experience by Teresa Wilson of The Wellness is You
• This Global Citizen is Making a Difference by Rebecca Sweetman of The Paradigm Shift Project
• Teaching Monks in Nepal by Shannon O’Donnell of ALittleAdrift
• ARCAS Guatemala – a One in an Only by Marina Villatoro of TheTravelExperta
  
• Support Local Art and Help Communities Thrive Keith Jenkins of Velvet Escape
• Giving Back, Travel the World and Make a Difference

Villas Tranquilas is a vacation rental property that is doing absolutely wonderful things for its adopted community. Located in Beautiful Qupeos, Costa Rica, it is an eco-friendly complex built with the utmost respect to its environment.  It has helped to rebuild the local elementary school and has even partnered with the conservation Alliance to protect endangered wildlife.

Please enjoy this post about a business that is not only succeeding in the tourism industry, but giving back to its community and giving travelers a chance to join in on the great work being done there.

Global Travel Slump Won’t Keep Villas Tranquilas Giving Spirit Down

• By T & C Marchesani

Ecotourism.  Sustainable tourism.  Charitable tourism.

Villas Tranquilas supports many eco-friendly practices.

New terms and new ways to combine an exciting and educational travel experience while giving back to the people and terra firma supplying the destination.  Nuances separate these new approaches to vacation travel but their essence appears similar:  an experience borne of mutual respect between traveler and destination and an attempt to exchange, to give as well as receive.  Destinations for such tourism are typically fragile ecosystems and goals include educating the travelers while making a low impact on the environment and local culture.  In addition, such tourism strives, in conjunction and partnership with the locals, to give back to the destination community in the form of time, monetary donations, and infrastructure improvements.

While the global economic downturn may be affecting private aid in terms of total dollars, some travel/tourism businesses continue to offer partnerships with their clients and the indigenous peoples to the benefit of all. Villas Tranquilas, a Costa Rica Vacation Rental Property is one such company that offers adventure travelers several opportunities to practice these new brands of tourism.  Villas, centered in Quepos, Costa Rica, is a collective of 16 town homes built on an old banana plantation site nestled within remnants of the rainforest.  The development was constructed without removing a single tree or clearing any new ground using local materials and local labor.  Villas has put several initiatives in place to reduce their impact on the local ecosystem, to foster endangered species, and to work in partnership with Quepoans on local infrastructure projects.

Attempts to reduce environmental impact include partnerships with Nature Air, the world’s first carbon neutral airline, as well as installation of energy saving appliances and fixtures in the townhomes.  Villas also aims to become certified by Costa Rica’s Certification for Sustainable Tourism this year.  In addition, by joining the Titi Conservation Alliance, Villas is attempting to help restore the endangered mono titi (red-backed squirrel monkey).  These monkeys frequent the villas’ grounds during early morning raids of local fruit trees.  Finally, one VT owner, Penny Williams,  instituted a program to aid the local Quepos School, just down the road from the town homes.

Ms. Williams, a founding member of Villas Tranquilas, set out to give back to the community she joined with the development of VT back in 2006-2007.  Canvassing local residents, she heard of the plight of the Quepos School.  It is a traditional elementary school with approximately 200 children ranging form preschool age to sixth grade.  The school had no books or basic materials, no printer for their computer, broken walls, leaky ceilings, and bathrooms without doors.

Quepos school before

Quepos school before

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Penny, a resident of San Diego, CA, brought together about 50 donors to raise money for school materials and for volunteers to mobilize to Quepos and repair/rebuild the school.  Some of these donors were from local California communities.  Ms. Williams’ team researched what repairs were needed and mobilized the volunteers to effect them.  They brought in four contractors and hired an additional three form local Costa Rican firms.  The teams rebuilt broken walls [old hallway photo & new hallway photo], repaired the exterior roof structure, and gave the entire building a much needed coat of fresh paint.

quepos school after

quepos school after

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But in addition to these traditional fund raising models, Ms. Williams spearheaded a program to combine travel to Villas Tranquilas with charitable donations and, more importantly, investments of time and interaction with the children of the school.  Individuals booking Villas Tranquilas have an option to be part of a cultural experience by going to help the school.  They receive ideas of what supplies the children need as well as an opportunity to meet the English teacher and deliver the supplies.  They may also share a project with the children or spend time with them after delivering the games, books, pens or paper.  Since VT caters so well to family travel, these opportunities often result in interaction between the children at the school and the children visiting from other countries.  The children can play together and learn from peers about life experiences very different from their own.  Such interactions are key to fostering mutual understanding between nations.

Says Ms. Williams, “People don’t really know how to incorporate something like this into their vacation, but when given the opportunity, many people are more that happy to help.” In addition to the Quepos School project and their sustainable tourism efforts, Villas Tranquilas continues to explore ways to partner with people of Quepos/Manuel Antonio for the mutual benefit of Quepoans, the Costa Rican ecosystem, and the travelers anxious to experience and learn about both.

To find out more about Villas Tranquilas, ways that you can contribute or to book an eco friendly vacation to Costa Rica visit their website VillasTranquilas.com

Follow them on twitter at villasmgmt

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Previous Articles from our Giving Back, Travel the World and Make a Difference Series;

• Make A Difference With The Global Volunteer Network byErin Courtenay of Global Volunteer Network
• Nicaragua, A First Time Volunteer Experience by Teresa Wilson of The Wellness is You
• This Global Citizen is Making a Difference by Rebecca Sweetman of The Paradigm Shift Project
• Teaching Monks in Nepal by Shannon O’Donnell of ALittleAdrift
• ARCAS Guatemala – a One in an Only by Marina Villatoro of TheTravelExperta
  
• Support Local Art and Help Communities Thrive Keith Jenkins of Velvet Escape
• Giving Back, Travel the World and Make a Difference

The Global Volunteer Network is an organization that I can fully support. They have 25 projects all over the world working closely with local community organizations. From building schools to providing emergency food supplies they work with the communities to provide them with the resources they need.

After reading Erin’s post and doing further research on the Global Volunteer Network, we are inspired to look into their organization more closely and possibly volunteer with them during our next trip abroad.

Thank you Erin for inspiring us to help and for sharing these incredible experiences with us all!

Global Volunteer Network – What It’s All About

Peru Culture

I love my job, and I feel so lucky to be able to say that.  There’s no doubt, it’s a fantastic personal experience to take part in a volunteer program abroad, and through my work I feel even more privileged to be involved in and stay connected to our partner projects and volunteers each and every day.

Whether they are helping to build a school in Peru, providing nutritious meals for orphans in Vietnam, or teaching English in Kenya I am inspired and motivated daily by our wonderful volunteers and our in country partners.

My name is Erin Courtenay and I am the Communications Coordinator for Global Volunteer Network (GVN). GVN offers volunteer service opportunities in community projects around the world and currently operate in 21 countries throughout South America, Africa and Asia. Over the past 7 years we’ve built up strong ties with grassroots organisations and placed over 11,000 volunteers.

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As well as being a staff member of GVN, I am also one of those 11,000 volunteers! I first bumped into GVN back in 2007 when I was looking do some volunteering.  I took part in the Vietnam Orphanage Program and spent my time doing arts and crafts and English lessons with children, teaching English to adults in the community, and cuddling, changing and feeding babies.  I met the most welcoming, genuine and kind people during my stay in Vietnam and enjoyed getting to know the precious children and their individual personalities immensely.

Another Big Meal for Kids in Vietnam

I guess this is one of the major reasons why I decided to get involved with GVN in the first place as a volunteer, as I wanted to be sure that the benefits were felt directly by the community I was working in.

The Big Picture

Volunteering abroad offers a unique experience that may otherwise be inaccessible to a tourist.  You have the opportunity to fully immerse yourself in a new country and culture and really get to know the community you are volunteering in.

Paige, who volunteered in Kenya with her husband, cherishes their story of making new friends on their walk to work.

‘Our walk to St Paul’s is about 15 minutes along the dusty road (think central Australia) directly in front of the farm. There are 5 or so different groups of children along the way who greet us every morning and afternoon with waves and the chorus, “how are you?” Which sounds more like, “howareyouhowareyou,howareyou?”  They run out and grab our hands and walk with us for 20 meters or so. Sometimes we have stickers for them, sometimes lollies and sometimes balloons. They are so excited each time they see us (whether we have a gift for them or not), and call us Muzungu, which means “white person”. When we finally make it to the orphanage we are covered in dust and quite hoarse, but we love it all the same.’

At GVN we are inspired by the words of Gandhi “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”  I can honestly say that I have seen time and time again how one person can make a difference in the lives of those in need.

Through volunteering you can make a personal contribution and connection to the people by contributing to community aid projects in areas such as education, caring for children, health care, construction and conservation.

As well as providing benefits to our host communities, volunteering will provide you with fantastic travel and life experience, facilitating personal growth and inter-cultural awareness and understanding.

Feel the Love! Meet Your Students; Ghana

We recently heard the following from Minna from Denmark, a repeat volunteer in our Ghana Teaching Program.

‘The first thing any Ghanaian will tell you when he or she first meets you is “you are welcome!” Never have I met such warm and kind-hearted people! Teaching was so much fun and my kids made me so proud every single day. They are so smart, always happy and so excited that you are there as a volunteer.

I went to Ghana to make a difference in the lives of others, but as it turned out, Ghana and Ghanaians rather made a huge difference in my life. I walked away with a whole new outlook on life, as a matured and wiser person and most importantly I walked away with the greatest friends in the world and a whole new family.’

Minna in the classroom with a few of her students.

There’s no better way to gain a broader world perspective.  In today’s world isn’t inter-cultural friendship, understanding, sharing and learning something that we could all benefit from?

People Just Like You

I love the fact that our volunteers come from all walks of life, they are all ages, and all have different backgrounds and passions in life.  The absolute best travel stories come from our volunteers and they provide such a great insight into what can be gained from a volunteer experience abroad.

I remember a really sweet journal entry by Elizabeth, who volunteered for 6 weeks in our Nepal Health Education Program.  Elizabeth was reflecting upon her time spent in Nepal and had these words of wisdom for her readers.  I feel these words could apply equally to any one of our volunteer programs around the world.

‘I think I’m a different person than the one who left for Nepal 3 months ago…or at least a changed person. And I think that’s the best thing I could have hoped for.

Some things Nepal has taught me (in no particular order):

• - hot showers and flushing toilets are luxuries that should not be taken for granted
• - you can survive on an absolute minimum of clothing and no washing machine for months
• - you can always give something, even when you barely have enough for yourself
• - we need less than we think to be happy: simple food, a roof, family, and a generous heart
• - talk to strangers…we’ve gotten too used to passing the world by without smiling or saying hello
• - it is possible for religion to permeate every aspect of life in a peaceful and beautiful way
• - people who have very little are often the kindest
• - flexibility is a virtue
• - we should accept dirt as one of our closest friends
• - personal space is a luxury
• - immersion in a new culture has taught me more than any amount of education ever could’

At GVN we are inspired by the words of Gandhi “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”  I can honestly say that I have seen time and time again how one person can make a difference in the lives of those in need.

You too can make a difference by volunteering abroad to help communities in need.  For more information on how to get involved today please visit our website: www.volunteer.org.nz

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Erin in Vietnam

Erin Courtenay: Communications Coordinator, previously Asia Programs Coordinator

Initially, I came across Global Volunteer Network (GVN) in the same way any of our volunteers do.  Having just completed a University degree in International Relations I was searching for practical experience and a challenge.

Through hours of searching online looking for the right opportunity to match my availability, the region I wanted to visit and my budget it was the Vietnam Orphanage Program which spoke to me most.  I was drawn to it!

After returning from Vietnam I knew that this was something I wanted to become involved in for the long term.  My first step was to apply for a job at GVN (over 2 years ago) and the rest as they say, is history!

Links:

If you’d like to read more exciting stories from our volunteers around the world, check out our journals page here: www.volunteerjournals.org

The GVN Blog: http://globalvolunteernetwork.blogspot.com/

You can also join us on facebook and twitter.

Previous Articles from our Giving Back, Travel the World and Make a Difference Series;

Nicaragua, A First Time Volunteer Experience by Teresa Wilson of The Wellness is You

This Global Citizen is Making a Difference by Rebecca Sweetman of The Paradigm Shift Project

Teaching Monks in Nepal by Shannon O’Donnell of ALittleAdrift

ARCAS Guatemala – a One in an Only by Marina Villatoro of TheTravelExperta

Support Local Art and Help Communities Thrive Keith Jenkins of Velvet Escape

Giving Back, Travel the World and Make a Difference

Currently in Europe, Shannon was kind enough to take time out from her exciting adventures to contribute to our series; Giving Back, Travel the World and Make a Difference. She spent a month in Nepal teaching young Monks and has definitely inspired us to follow her lead and do something similar in our upcoming travels. I am sure that after reading her beautiful post on her time in Nepal, you will feel the same too.

Teaching Young Monks in Nepal  by Shannon O’Donnell

There’s one question that crops up with seemingly every new person I meet along my travels: What’s my favorite country? The simple answer, Nepal. Though there are several countries that have touched me, really it’s the people along the way who have impacted me the most; they have shared with me moments, view points and perspective and altered my perceptions of the world.

• “At this point, as I look back on my volunteering opportunity in Nepal, I cannot even imagine my trip without having taught at the monastery”

My love for Nepal really comes down to my volunteer experience at a small monastery nestled in southern hills of the Kathmandu Valley. I feel that I touched a much more honest part of Nepal through my four weeks actively creating relationships with the Nepali people and giving back in a very identifiable and needed way by teaching English to young monks.

The decision to volunteer in Nepal was both purposeful and a bit random. Before leaving on my trip I felt compelled to find volunteer opportunities along the way but I was a bit put-off by the costs and how bureaucratic and profit-driven so many of the organizations appeared. And though I ended up not loving the organization I chose, I haven’t for one minute regretted all of those hassles because, in the end, I was given such a wonderful gateway into Buddhism and the Nepali culture.

I was very overwhelmed when I first arrived at the monastery because I had just no clue what to expect for the next four weeks and everything went very quickly. Within minutes of shaking hands with the administrator at the school I was soon chasing along as a shadow of another volunteer for my first day of classes. We walked through the door of the Level III class and a chorus chairs scraping across the floor as the boys stood up was soon overpowered by a resounding “Gooooood morning, Miiiiiisss,” the elongated chant echoing out of every boy in the room.

Just those three words are one of my favorite memories. I felt instantly a part of the monastery. That’s all it took. This was my greeting five times a day, six days a week for four weeks and every single time it never ceased to make me feel warmly welcomed, appreciated, and a vital part of their small community. Some of the boys recited the greeting by rote while others were quite earnest and genuine in their greeting, actively attempting to catch my eye for a personal acknowledgement and smile.

I really had no idea what to expect from my volunteering experience and there was a niggling fear before I started that my time and efforts will somehow be wasted or not needed. Thankfully, that wasn’t even remotely the case. The boys were so appreciative and generally enthusiastic about learning English and I actively felt that my presence was not only needed, but appreciated.

I believe that English has become an entry-point for developing countries into higher paying jobs and better living conditions in many cases. Volunteers are so invaluable because they expand the boundaries and borders of the world for these children and native English speakers are able to correct pronunciation and our true mastery of the language is integral at the higher levels. I actually instructed the Level VIII students on some really advanced grammar that one of the monks needed for entry into a University he was applying to just a month after I left (just found out he got in!).

The mission behind the monastery really sold me on it all. Manjushri Dechen is quite small, roughly 45 boys ranging in age from five to twenty years, and the students have been plucked out of poor, remote areas of Nepal where they may have never seen the inside of a schoolroom and are given a unique opportunity to live at the monastery.

The boys are given food and board and, above all, an education. The idea behind the monastery is to raise the education level of the country and lift the rural areas out of poverty. And although some of the boys continue to live the monastic life once they leave the school, others return to their rural villages as householders and bring with them an education and the opportunity to develop and educate their own local communities.

At this point, as I look back on my volunteering opportunity in Nepal, I cannot even imagine my trip without having taught at the monastery. Before I got to the monastery I was actually unsure about the decision to spend four weeks there teaching – that was a pretty big chunk of my trip and I feared that I would have been bored by the end. Not even remotely the case!

I was so sad that I had already booked my flights out of Nepal. I was actually actively looking for a way to stay at the monastery longer – even considered dropping the plans for my trek through the Annapurnas! There is not one trace of regret in the decision to volunteer and I found it endlessly rewarding – a two way street really because I learned a lot about Buddhism from the older students while also really feeling like the boys responded well to not only my English lessons but the focused and complete attention of an adult. I was there for them, wholly, so they had my attention if they wanted it during breaks, tea time, and even after classes.

My experience was actually so positive that it’s now a key part of all of my future travel plans. I’m heading to South America next spring and I fully plan to locate an orphanage or some sort of organization that can use my time and skills.

The boys at the monastery, with their impish grins, running noses, and enthusiasm for Dr. Seuss have such a special place in my heart. Volunteering is about giving back to the local communities and doing your part to actively contribute and help advance poor and developing regions but there is a more selfish reason to do it all too: it’s just good for the soul.

About Shannon

Shannon is currently on the final leg of a year backpacking trip around the world; her travel blog, A Little Adrift, shares stories, pictures and videos from the road. Though her former life as an actress in LA is calling to her she plans to stay on the road for another year or two (with breaks!). Follow her blog or connect on Twitter @ShannonRTW.

Previous Posts from the Giving Back Series

Arcas Guatemala A One in an Only Marina Villatoro of The TravelExperta
Support Local Art and Help Communities Thrive Keith Jenkins of VelvetEscape

I know that you will enjoy Marina’s beautiful story as much as we did.

ARCAS, Guatemala -  A One in an Only!

Every move we make in our lives is based on a decision. That decision can be of minor importance, or like in my case the one that changes the path of my life forever.

When I hopped on a bus to take me from Belize to Tikal, Guatemala I had no idea what was awaiting me!

The ride was about three hours and quite uneventful. I arrived to Tikal, the Mayan ruins late in the afternoon and prepared myself for the trek into the ruins to catch the sunset. Since I was on a backpacking budget, I decided to sleep in the campground that was both for tents and little built wooden cabins.

While getting my key from the Guatemalan worker, some guy came out of the only tent in the whole place and started watching me. Finally, he made his way over. I thought I would be stuck hearing another Latino make stupid remarks at me, instead his conversation captured me immediately. He accompanied me through the one kilometer trail that takes you into the center of the ruin. Along the way, we not only got to know a little bit about each other, but we bumped into every possible form of wildlife native to the area.

We ended up talking into the wee hours and even went to check out the sunrise together.  As he said his goodbyes to me he invited me to visit him in a place called ARCAS where he was getting his veterinary practical to complete his studies. Since my agenda was WIDE open, and I really wanted to see him again, I said, why not!

The following day from Flores, Peten I caught the boat that takes you to the other side of Peten Lake to a dock which is the main entrance to ARCAS. At this point, I knew very little about the place only that they take care of endangered animals and that they rely on volunteers to keep afloat.

I never volunteered a day in my life, nor had any interest to. Yet, when I stepped off the boat something magical took hold. The pathway leading to the actual center was in through the thick of the rain forest, yet inviting and calm. I was greeted by my new friend and a bunch of backpackers that I have already met while traveling the Maya Route through Mexico.

I arrived in time for lunch and we all sat around a large round table eating homemade food.  Afterward, I joined them on their duties which was feeding and cleaning after the animals.

It turns out, these animals are rescued at the borders in the thick of the jungle where the black market for exotic birds (the Scarlet Macaw and Green Parrot) is alive and well. These poor animals, which come by the truckloads, here are found smashed to the bottom of suitcases, shoes, inside pants, map containers and a slew of other horrific, yet creative, ways. By the time they arrive to this center they are half dead yet are welcomed with open arms.

That is what my new Guatemalan friend did, he took care of the sick, trafficked animals. However,  they are not the only ones! The Peten jungle is notorious for poachers and hunting is just as much of an epidemic. The most popular animals to be saved are spider monkeys, ocelots, margays, coatis, and gray foxes which are just a few that find their way over here.

I had one afternoon in the company of these animals to know that I want to do more. I immediately signed up. You can do a week at a time, but no less. The week cost me $90 which included a comfy bed, three wholesome meals and the run of the beautiful grounds with others just like me. Plus, I got to hang out longer with my Guatemalan friend!

Every morning, we’d wake up at 6 am and go to feed the animals. We would each get a designated area, i.e. monkeys, cats, birds, or nocturnal animals. This would change for every shift so we would each experience the animals. Afterward, we’d all eat and exchange great backpacking stories before the cleaning of the cages shift began.

Let’s just say, that the cleaning was the least exciting part of the day. You first had to wash out their poop, and animals poop can really smell. Plus, you entered into these already traumatized animal’s territory. This has resulted in quite a few poo throwing contests and also some mild biting, but on a whole it wasn’t too painful.

The best part of the day, was definitely the feeding! With my big connection and the growing bond with the Guatemalan vet student, I got to feed the babies (very few people got to do this:). Some of the animals arrived with wounded mothers who couldn’t feed them or orphaned animals that were found and brought here. I had the rare opportunity of holding a teeny tiny spider monkey that still had its eyes closed, an ocelot who couldn’t have been older than 3 weeks and baby birds that still didn’t have their gorgeous feathers.

I ended up staying for two weeks. Not only did I fall in love with this unique establishment and the only one in all of Central America of its sort, but I ended up falling in love with the Guatemalan, who I have been married to for the past six years now. We are planning on taking our son back when he is a little older so he can enjoy this place as well.

If you are traveling through Central America and have an extra week to really get immersed in something special, please make sure to check out ARCAS.

Instead of giving you the full explanation of what they do and stand for, I figured I would use their words taken from their website:

What is ARCAS?

ARCAS is a non-profit Guatemalan NGO formed in 1989 by a group of Guatemalan citizens who became concerned as they saw their precious natural heritage – especially their wildlife – rapidly disappearing before their eyes.
It was originally created for a very specific and urgent purpose: to build a rescue center to care for and rehabilitate wild animals that were being confiscated on the black market by the Guatemalan government.
Since its establishment, the ARCAS Rescue Center has grown into one of the largest and most complex rescue centers in the world, receiving between 300 and 600 animals of more than 40 species per year.

ARCAS’s objectives are:

• To strive for the conservation, preservation, protection and research of wildlife;
• To rescue, rehabilitate and reintroduce into their natural habitat wild animals seized from illegal traffickers;
• To promote and assist in the creation and management of protected habitat areas for wild animals;
• To support tropical wildlife veterinary medicine and research;
• To reproduce and re-introduce endangered wildlife;
• To raise awareness among Guatemalans and visiting tourists about the need to conserve natural resources through a program of education and information dissemination;
• To develop and promote economic alternatives in rural communities to the unsustainable consumption of natural resources.

Bio

Marina has been living in Central America for over 7 years and her site Travel Experta is all about traveling in Central America. Marina loves to help people plan the perfect vacation to this amazing part of the world! You can sign up for her RSS feed and join the fun on her facebook fan page and follow her on Twitter at @MarinaVillatoro.

Previous Giving Back Travel the World and Make a Difference Posts

Support Local Art and Help Communities Thrive Keith Jenkins of Velvet Escape

Plan Canada, Cycle Through Africa and Raise Awareness – Dave and Deb- About Us

Ngwenya Glass, Making a Difference

A few years ago, I was walking around Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront when I stumbled upon a little shop selling beautiful glass figurines. I started talking to the lady in the shop and I felt really inspired by her story of the origins of the figurines. Ngwenya Glass is indeed an incredible story. In 1979, a Swedish non-profit organisation ‘Swedish Aid’ started a project in Swaziland to educate and provide jobs to poor Swazis whilst instilling in them a greater awareness of the environment.

Courtesy of Ngwenya Glass

The Swedes decided to start a glass-blowing project, at the time a skill that was totally unheard of in this part of Africa. They brought the machinery with them, built a factory and trained the locals in the art of glass-blowing. The factory’s biggest talents were sent to Sweden for further training. The organisation also provided classes to the local communities, teaching them the importance of the environment. School children were encouraged to scour the countryside for used glass bottles. These bottles were then recycled and used to create gorgeous glassware. Within a year, the factory was producing 100% recycled, beautiful glass figurines and tableware that became very popular, especially in South Africa.

Courtesy of Ngwenya Glass

In 1981, the Swedes handed over the factory to a Swazi developmental corporation. Unfortunately, the factory stopped production several years later, until a South African family bought over the operations in 1987. The Prettejohn family, who were avid collectors of Ngwenya Glass, picked up where the Swedes left off and restored the factory to its former glory.

The original glassblowers were brought back, environmental awareness campaigns were restarted and children were encouraged to search for glass bottles again. Other eco-friendly projects were initiated such as collecting rainwater from the factory’s massive roof, recycling engine oil to fuel the factory’s furnaces, and recycling newspapers for packaging the glassware.

Courtesy of Ngwenya Glass

In addition, the factory contributes to its community by helping with small building projects and sponsoring the local football team. The factory also founded a wildlife conservation fund, the Ngwenya Rhino & Elephant Fund, which helps endangered species in the Mkhaya Reserve in Swaziland. The fund has since become the most successful wildlife conservation fund in Swaziland.

With help from master glass-blowers from Sweden and the Netherlands, Ngwenya Glass also organises annual glass-blowing workshops to introduce new techniques and skills to the local glass-blowers. The results are amazing: the new products feature European glass-blowing techniques with an unmistakable African flair.

Courtesy of Ngwenya Glass

Ngwenya Glass is a great example of how one can help people in poor countries learn a new skill and contribute to poverty alleviation whilst embedding in them a greater awareness of the environment. I’ve visited many eco community projects around the world but the Ngwenya Glass story is one that I found particularly inspiring, probably because I’m a big fan of projects that stimulate and promote local arts and crafts. I have yet to make the trip to the factory in Swaziland though it remains at the top of my list of things to do on my next trip to South Africa. I can’t wait!

Additional information provided by Ngwenya Glass:

Our Mission Statement is ‘to advance the welfare of the local community by employing them to produce the best quality handmade recycled glassware in the world in an environmentally sensitive manner employing as many people as is economically viable in a safe and healthy green country environment, and to encourage all people to be aware of their HIV status’.

In line with the above all our glass used is recycled bottles and we are melting in the region of 15 tonnes per month.  Our large factory roof is used to catch rain water which is then used in our production area and toilets.  We have created a recycled engine oil project that is used as fuel to heat our furnace and melt the glass, which, prior to us collecting the oil was discarded into rivers and landfills (by the companies concerned).  We also use old newspapers for our packaging of the glass, approximately 18 tonnes per annum.

In addition to the above we are a member of WFTO and COFTA.

Keith Jenkins runs the inspiring and informative travel blog velvetescape.com He has traveled the world visiting over 60 countries on 6 continents. Read about his journeys from the jungles of Malaysia to the deserts of Jordan, from the Alps to the Andes and from New York to Hong Kong. We have become great fans of Keith and his “velvet escapes” visiting his site regularly to see what new destination he will explore each day and what tips and insider information he will give to his readers.  You can follow Keith on Twitter at twitter.com/velvetescape