A time to "give back" to those who have made our travel experience. Your ideas please.

[admin]

As we all know this is a very difficult time for many, many people. In addition to the financial, social & health hardships we are experiencing, as avid travellers we are now also unable to enjoy the "privilege of travel" which many of us have experienced over the years. Tough as this is for us, let's spare a thought for the many people who have made this all possible. And in particular, the less-privileged who would ordinarily make a meager living by providing the essential services to us 1st-world travellers. People like the porters on the Inca trail, waiters in Fiji, street vendors in Bali, local guides in Africa etc. They have been an integral part of our travel experience, and now with no travellers they have zero income and no way to feed their family. This got me wondering...

... maybe there is something we, as a travelling community, can do to assist these people at this desperate time. I know that charities exist, but I thought that we could use our 1st hand experience to directly target this disadvantaged and often forgotten about group. I was thinking about setting up an AFF "Privilege of Travel" Fund (or similar name). Our members will be asked to make a small donation (say $10) to this fund which would then be distributed directly and fully to the chosen group. No middle men/women.

I realise that there are many potential (and equally deserving) groups and there may be issues with getting all the funds directly to the targeted group, but I'm hoping that we can use our collective wisdom to come up with something. I'm leaving this thread open so feel free to discus the concept, but if you can identify a specific group which you think we should target AND you know of a trusted and reliable way to get funds to that group, please message me (admin) with your specific idea. The moderators and I will review these suggestions and then hopefully come up with something suitable.

Thanks

 

[luxury-lizard]

I certainly like the idea of directing help to those groups/persons you suggest without middle-men etc . There are so many I cannot think of one that I would single out - but am willing to kick-the-can for any chosen by AFFs.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Great idea.

A couple of thoughts though. What is the end objective? To provide limited emergency relief in the time of CV-19, or to look beyond that and try to break the cycle and prepare communities to source income away from tourism?

If the latter, something like micro-finance seems to pay dividends. Set families up with sustainable businesses which means the parents can work, the children can go to school, and in theory, life improves.

If it's a short term endeavour, getting funds to those who need it can be an issue. I wonder if there is some benefit exploring one of the travel companies who engage in sustainable tourism and supports the communities in which they operate? Purely as an example there is this from intrepid: Responsible travel | Intrepid Travel

They probably have the means, and maybe the will, to directly deposit funds at the local level, and into a workforce directly supporting tourism. There are other companies with similar ethics, and of course due diligence would be required!

 

[UP4014]

There are so many good causes I need to give that part of it some thought.

On the cash raising part, without knowing how many mambers AFF perhaps we can contribute a small amount each for 3 months. $10 is the price of one beer in Sydney that I can’t have anyway. Even a smaller amount over a period.

Count me in.
Matt

 

[Happy Dude]

One of my oldest buddies is a caddie on the European Tour and is doing this in his beloved Thailand:

Help raise £12000 to feed up to 400 starving people every day in Thailand for the next 4 months. – JustGiving Crowdfunding

Iʼm raising money to feed up to 400 starving people every day in Thailand for the next 4 months.. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.

bit.ly

 

[Matt_01]

If this gets off the ground I will be more than happy to contribute.