Adventures in Humanitarian Tourism
Attit Patel for Gap AdventuresThe Women’s Weaving Project, just outside of the Sacred Valley in Peru, part of Gap Adventures’s Community Development program.Related: The Accidental Activist, Sean Penn
What began as a generational drive to “give back” spawned an addition to the travel lexicon: voluntourism. By the mid-2000s, many hotel chains were offering affluent boomers an opportunity to drop in and do good for a day — but with little real effect on those in need, and almost no sustainability. Then came the Indian Ocean tsunami, and Katrina, and Haiti, and an emerging segment of tourism gained momentum. Now a handful of companies offer trips that could be called “extreme voluntourism” or “urgent response travel,” many of them requiring a two-week commitment and tangible skills. One such outfit, Gap Adventures, said it had seen a 100 percent increase in bookings. But the idea of “volunteer vacations” has been met with controversy: many not-for-profits say that the logistics of putting people on the ground disrupt the flow of care, and that fly-by-night foreigners are stealing long-term jobs from locals. These eight organizations are challenging that perception. They work with grass-roots groups in their host countries, placing travelers in orphanages, land reserves and developing communities from the Gulf of Mexico to Haiti and China.
Gap Adventures
Gap runs 19 trips that could be described as “Peace Corps light.” The one- or two-week tours focus on helping local communities develop sustainable economies. Whenever possible, tour leaders hire local guides and have travelers spend the night in local homes so that the money remains in the community.
Top Trips Project Brazil places volunteers in the Rocinha favela in Rio de Janeiro for 15 days to assist at a day care center with children 6 years and younger. Community Development in Peru sends volunteers to build efficient traditional cooking stoves and work in a women’s weaving co-op near Cuzco.
Gap runs 19 trips that could be described as “Peace Corps light.” The one- or two-week tours focus on helping local communities develop sustainable economies. Whenever possible, tour leaders hire local guides and have travelers spend the night in local homes so that the money remains in the community.
Top Trips Project Brazil places volunteers in the Rocinha favela in Rio de Janeiro for 15 days to assist at a day care center with children 6 years and younger. Community Development in Peru sends volunteers to build efficient traditional cooking stoves and work in a women’s weaving co-op near Cuzco.
Micato AmericaShare
The nonprofit arm of the luxury safari outfitter Micato arranges groups with specialized skills to volunteer in Mukuru, a slum on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. Regular safari travelers can also take a one- to two-day trip to volunteer at schools and orphanages.
Top Trips Micato recently hosted 10 optometrists and 23 volunteers from Indiana participating in the Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity mission in Nairobi. In five days, the outfitter said, more than 3,000 children and adults were provided with free or low-cost eye exams and corrective lenses at temporary clinics.
The nonprofit arm of the luxury safari outfitter Micato arranges groups with specialized skills to volunteer in Mukuru, a slum on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. Regular safari travelers can also take a one- to two-day trip to volunteer at schools and orphanages.
Top Trips Micato recently hosted 10 optometrists and 23 volunteers from Indiana participating in the Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity mission in Nairobi. In five days, the outfitter said, more than 3,000 children and adults were provided with free or low-cost eye exams and corrective lenses at temporary clinics.
Elevate Destinations
The recent disasters in Haiti and the Gulf of Mexico gave birth to Elevate’s urgent-response program. Volunteers sign up to get a glimpse of what public service is all about, and the company hopes that they continue to donate.
Top Trips Three trips a year to Haiti engage volunteers in a project to rebuild orphanages in the Port-au-Prince and Jacmel areas. While Haitians are hired to do the bulk of the labor, travelers support them in a variety of tasks, including mixing concrete, moving rubble and teaching computer skills to children.
The recent disasters in Haiti and the Gulf of Mexico gave birth to Elevate’s urgent-response program. Volunteers sign up to get a glimpse of what public service is all about, and the company hopes that they continue to donate.
Top Trips Three trips a year to Haiti engage volunteers in a project to rebuild orphanages in the Port-au-Prince and Jacmel areas. While Haitians are hired to do the bulk of the labor, travelers support them in a variety of tasks, including mixing concrete, moving rubble and teaching computer skills to children.
Tribewanted
In this sustainable-community experiment, “tribe members” commit to one month (on average) of sleeping in basic accommodations and helping locals in developing villages around the world with many services, like microfinancing, tree clearing and building construction.
Top Trips Tribewanted has just added a trip to Sierra Leone. The group’s best-known project is in Vorovoro, Fiji, where volunteers plant and tend gardens, feed animals and help with construction projects.
In this sustainable-community experiment, “tribe members” commit to one month (on average) of sleeping in basic accommodations and helping locals in developing villages around the world with many services, like microfinancing, tree clearing and building construction.
Top Trips Tribewanted has just added a trip to Sierra Leone. The group’s best-known project is in Vorovoro, Fiji, where volunteers plant and tend gardens, feed animals and help with construction projects.
Global Vision International
An organization with 3,000 volunteers and multiple offices worldwide, Global Vision runs trips specializing in education, wildlife preservation and sustainable development to more than 30 countries.
Top Trips In Madagascar, travelers can work alongside villagers to help preserve endemic species in rural areas, plant trees, promote fuel-efficient stoves and educate residents about the environment. Volunteers can also assist in the construction of a research station.
An organization with 3,000 volunteers and multiple offices worldwide, Global Vision runs trips specializing in education, wildlife preservation and sustainable development to more than 30 countries.
Top Trips In Madagascar, travelers can work alongside villagers to help preserve endemic species in rural areas, plant trees, promote fuel-efficient stoves and educate residents about the environment. Volunteers can also assist in the construction of a research station.
Habitat for Humanity’s Global Village
Habitat for Humanity rebuilds poor communities and those devastated by natural disaster. In the past 25 years, Global Village, its volunteer program, has placed 70,000 volunteers alongside locals to help build more than 10,000 houses. Most alumni remain active as donors.
Top Trips For the first time in five years, Habitat is going back to Senegal in June to build affordable housing on the outskirts of Dakar. It also has a disaster response program to get able-bodied workers on the ground in Chile, the Gulf Coast and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, among other areas affected by natural disasters.
Habitat for Humanity rebuilds poor communities and those devastated by natural disaster. In the past 25 years, Global Village, its volunteer program, has placed 70,000 volunteers alongside locals to help build more than 10,000 houses. Most alumni remain active as donors.
Top Trips For the first time in five years, Habitat is going back to Senegal in June to build affordable housing on the outskirts of Dakar. It also has a disaster response program to get able-bodied workers on the ground in Chile, the Gulf Coast and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, among other areas affected by natural disasters.
Global Volunteer Network
Global Volunteer Network has placed more than 14,000 volunteers in 22 countries in the last nine years. Travelers must sign up for a minimum of one week to work in orphanages, schools, refugee camps and animal shelters, taking on projects like teaching H.I.V. and AIDS awareness, assisting in wildlife conservation or construction.
Top Trips As part of the Organic Farming Project in Uganda, tourists help teach raised-bed and double-dug farming as ways to maximize the soil’s potential. They also explain techniques of water conservation, composting and recycling. The company also places English speakers as aides in Vietnamese high schools and colleges, where the teacher-student ratio is often 1 to 50.
Global Volunteer Network has placed more than 14,000 volunteers in 22 countries in the last nine years. Travelers must sign up for a minimum of one week to work in orphanages, schools, refugee camps and animal shelters, taking on projects like teaching H.I.V. and AIDS awareness, assisting in wildlife conservation or construction.
Top Trips As part of the Organic Farming Project in Uganda, tourists help teach raised-bed and double-dug farming as ways to maximize the soil’s potential. They also explain techniques of water conservation, composting and recycling. The company also places English speakers as aides in Vietnamese high schools and colleges, where the teacher-student ratio is often 1 to 50.
African Conservation Experiences
With 10 years of experience in eastern and southern Africa, this outfit selects projects that focus on the long-term sustainability of wildlife but can also have a big impact with the help of short-term volunteers.
Top Trips The Zingela Predator Conservation trip in the Limpopo Province of South Africa sends guests out to track hyenas and leopards using telemetry and GPS devices. Other programs involve working with elephants, dolphins and whales, as well as helping locals understand the importance of wildlife to their economies.
With 10 years of experience in eastern and southern Africa, this outfit selects projects that focus on the long-term sustainability of wildlife but can also have a big impact with the help of short-term volunteers.
Top Trips The Zingela Predator Conservation trip in the Limpopo Province of South Africa sends guests out to track hyenas and leopards using telemetry and GPS devices. Other programs involve working with elephants, dolphins and whales, as well as helping locals understand the importance of wildlife to their economies.
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