This month’s 50+Fabulous theme is “Choices.” And, of course, travel is all about choices: “What is the best deal I can get for my business trip?” “Where do I want to spend my next vacation?” …
My friend Teddi, who recently joined the ranks of 50+, pointed out to me that there is another travel choice–going on a journey to give back. Her doctor does this every few years by going to a country where good medical care is not available and providing health services to women and children there.
According to an article on MSN travel, http://travel.msn.com/Guides/article.aspx?cp-documentid=385826, Surveys conducted recently by Orbitz, Travelocity and the Travel Industry Association of America confirm that consumers are becoming more interested in vacations with a volunteerism aspect, also known as “voluntourism.” Baby boomers are the largest segment of the population to combine volunteerism with vacations according to Global Volunteers, http://www.globalvolunteers.org/, as cited in USA Today. The most well-known person to do this is Oprah with her South African school for girls.
My friend Sacha is about to embark on a giving back trip to Brazil to visit two girls whom she has sponsored through the Christian Children’s Fund (CCF). Sacha has been sponsoring one girl for more than 15 years and recently adopted another girl. The first one, Samia, is now 18 and is leaving the program and getting married. The second one, Maria, is 7 years old. The monthly sponsorship amount pays for their education, healthcare and other basic necessities that they lack in these poor remote rural villages in Brazil. They don’t have running water, electricity etc.
The purpose of Sacha’s trip, which is a group tour, is for her and others to visit their sponsored children and their parents, and learn about other CCF projects/programs. The money for the trip is considered and treated as a donation to CCF. This trip is also a Study Tour in which they will visit Fortaleza, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, and the coastal city of Salvador de Bahia, which is the center of Afro-Brazilian culture.
Whether you travel to a faraway place to give back to our world or simply walk to your local school to tutor children, knowing you are making a difference is a choice that makes all the difference.
If you have traveled to give back, please post a photo with a sentence or two about it on the 50+Fabulous Community forum, http://www.50fabulous.com/forum/.
Happy Travels!
Susan
