help where it's needed
Team Intrepid's Great Gorilla Run
In addition to our regular support of more than thirty Community Projects around the globe, The Intrepid Foundation has been able to make some special 'one-off' grants in the last six months:
Myanmar (Burma) - In the aftermath of cyclone Nargis last year, a good friend of Intrepid Travel went to Myanmar in September and visited many of the people Intrepid worked with during our operations there in the late 1990's. He has helped distribute AU$3,000 amongst several of the neediest of Intrepid's friends:
- Ko Wai Lin, or 'William', started out as the manager of the Phyo Guesthouse and after attending guide school, William worked as an Intrepid leader for three tours. Tragically William was killed in January 2008 in a hit and run accident. Apart from the personal loss to his family and friends he was the bread winner of his family.
- Mr Joe at Pyi Guesthouse - the business has struggled to stay open with political unrest, travel boycotts and now natural disasters keeping visitors away. Our donation will help Mr Joe establish a simple teashop from which he and his family hope they can eke out a living.
- The Yoma, our 'home base' for many years in Myanmar has had very little business and is trying hard to keep afloat. The rooftop restaurant was destroyed by the cyclone but is slowly being repaired. Staff have mostly been laid-off or salary reduced to keep them employed. They are likely to close, so our donation has been distributed amongst the staff.
Tanzania - The Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project is a marvellous initiative of the International Mountain Explorers Connection, a non-profit organisation whose mission is to promote responsible and sustainable connections between travellers and the people of the developing mountain regions of the world. In Tanzania they do a fantastic job working to improve the conditions of the many thousands of porters that work on Mt Kilimanjaro, through education of porters, tourists and operating companies, through the support of clothing and equipment loans and through offering English language and first aid classes in order to motivate and empower porters. We have given a AU$2,500 donation towards the continuance of this very important life-saving work.
Africa - The Gorilla Organisation works internationally to help save the world's last remaining gorillas in the wild, by funding small grass-roots projects run by local African partners that tackle the real threats to the gorilla's long term survival. We have donated AU$2,500 towards their work, partly as an encouragement to the many Intrepid staff and travellers who participated in the Great Gorilla Run around London, in their gorilla suits of course, and raised a considerable amount of money for the Gorilla Organisation's work.
Sincere thanks to everyone who has donated to The Intrepid Foundation and therefore helped us support these, and many more, worthwhile projects.
mountain highs for kylie
Kylie and the kids of Kiau
Fancy two years living and working amongst exceptionally friendly people in a village at the foot of Borneo's majestic Mt Kinabalu? Well Australian Kylie Whyte did, and now she's immersed in teaching English and learning Malay, Dusun and all sorts of traditional and modern aspects of the Dusun way of life.
Intrepid Travel has had a long association with the Kiau community. Since the mid 1990's our travellers have enjoyed the opportunity to visit an ethnic village, make friends with the very hospitable local people and learn of their lifestyle and culture prior to visiting Mt Kinabalu National Park and climbing the mighty mountain. Our mountain guides come predominantly from Kiau and when we climb they add so much to the experience by sharing their knowledge of the flora, fauna and geology and the legends of their ancestors.
For years we have asked our friends in this relatively poor community, can we help them in some way to improve their quality of life. The repeated reply has been 'teach us English'. The reason being that this empowers them to get jobs, or better jobs, in tourism in the region - as mountain guides or workers in the restaurants, accommodation and in the other services that this popular national park has on offer. This also greatly helps supplement their relatively meager income as subsistence farmers.
We started this program in 2003, and due to the great success early on, Kylie is now our third teacher placed in the community through our partnership with Australian Volunteers International. Kylie is quite multi-talented and she writes this week "I've started music classes, and had the first one on Saturday. It's great to be teaching music again, although people here are such natural musicians that all I have to offer really is information on how to read music and rhythms. I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying being in a place where everyone sings and most people play instruments. Most people are self-taught, and the standard of guitar, bass and drum playing is fantastic!"
To help support this great project please go to our Intepid Foundation website, where your online donation will be hugely appreciated.
joining forces in cambodia, laos and peru
Living Heart is helping Peru
The Intrepid Foundation is always on the look-out for new ways to support local communities. In recent months we've joined forces with three community projects in Cambodia, Laos and Peru...
Cambodia - Ptea Teuk Dong (PTD) in the Battambang region is a refuge for street families and female victims of abuse. Here they are fed, clothed and have access to medication, education and housing. PTD provides opportunity for families when all else seems lost.
Each year PTD assists approximately twenty street families and thirty young women. The families receive up to twelve months training that includes vocational skill-building in agriculture, sewing, weaving, food preparation and furniture making. The centre also provides basic education for children. After completion of the program, these families are given a plot of land with a small wooden house as well as start-up capital and supplies for a small business. The women also have the opportunity to learn skills in sewing, weaving and food preparation while receiving psychological and legal counseling.
Laos - Peuan Mit means 'Friends', and friendship is what it provides to street children in Vientiane. Peuan Mit works with up to 1400 children every month helping them to reintegrate back into society. They support children and young people to attend public school, find employment, return to their families, become citizens of their own country, to discover their own culture and to express themselves.
Peru - Living Heart is a non-profit organisation improving the lives of the Andean women and children. Working with five communities of the Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Living Heart combines educational strategies, nutritional and health advice with family planning support and conservation education to promote sustainable development and improve the quality of life for the Andean people.
Currently Living Heart provides breakfast for children, helps schools with supplies, organises doctor visits to communities and is raising funds to repair the school roof and build a home for orphaned children and abused women.
learning to cope in xi'an
Intrepid visit Xi'an Huiling
Struggling with learning disabilities can be challenging enough, but if you don't have access to financial and emotional support it is overwhelming. Xi'an Huiling was established in 2002 to directly assist adults with learning disabilities so they can enjoy all aspects of their lives, with the same rights as other members of Chinese society.
The Intrepid Foundation is very pleased to be able to support this important project and Nancy from Xi'an Huiling writes...
"Thank you to Intrepid travellers and the Intrepid Foundation for your wonderful support for our people with a learning disability. With your donation of AU$5300 we were able to paint the whole third floor of our building which had become run down. One boy exclaimed "Oh, it's a magic change".
We also bought some sports apparatus for our 60 students: a table tennis table, a tread mill, a fitness cart, dumb bells and exercise mats. All our students take exercises every day. We make fitness plans for each student according to their needs and health condition and the teachers trained them individually. This equipment will help make exercise more effective and fun."
Intrepid travellers visit Xi'an Huiling on many of our trips in China, and if you would like to provide further financial support it's easy to donate online.
giving back to guatemala
Christmas basket gifts
As part of their trip, Intrepid travellers to colourful Guatemala stay with a local family in San Jorge La Laguna, Lake Atitlan. Intrepid created this homestay program in March last year and so far it has been a great success - both for travellers and local families alike.
During the recent holiday season, Intrepid Central America and our local contact at the village, Daniel Jiatz, in conjunction with The Intrepid Foundation, started a 'Christmas Basket' initiative. The aim being to offer gifts to the neediest people in the village - mainly widows and the elderly. In most cases, these folks are unable to participate in the homestay program and cannot benefit from the involvement because their living conditions are too basic to meet the needs of our groups.
In Guatemala, it is a local tradition to give gift baskets at Christmas time. Mostly, they are simple offerings of canned or packaged foods and drinks. In our case the baskets assembled contained basic staples such as beans, corn, sugar and a few other items. At a cost of 100.00 Quetzales (roughly US$13.50) we were very pleased to be able to contribute 50 baskets. Daniel Jiatz grew up in the community and knows the villagers personally, so we could be confident he would do the best job in choosing the most impoverished villagers and families to receive the Intrepid baskets.
Thanks to all who contributed. We appreciate your participation in sharing goodwill with the community of San Jorge La Laguna in Guatemala.
bears don't have to dance
As part of WSPA's work with Wildlife Trust of India on the dancing bear issue, WSPA has funded training for frontline forest staff that helps prevent bears being taken from the wild. The original training was held in May 2007 and this January they have held refresher training which has attracted even more participants.
This is just one part of the holistic programme initiated by WSPA and Wildlife Trust of India, which also encompasses confiscating illegally held bears and providing alternative livelihoods for dancing bear owners.
The Intrepid Foundation is pleased to support WSPA's Care for Dancing Bears project. For an insight into how this project is making new lives for people and bears, we urge you to read an encouraging story that puts this challenge into perspective on the WSPA website.
thinking outside the box
So many travellers are inspired by their adventures and choose to donate to an Intrepid Foundation project on their return home, but one traveller came up with an inventive way to make a difference.
Box Hill TAFE teacher Craig Lear decided to donate his Event Management students' time to help raise money for the Intrepid Foundation.
Craig introduced colleagues Julianne Hearn and Debra Traill to the Intrepid Foundation, who put in motion the fundraising project that would form part of the course assessment for 2008.
The students sought out donors to provide products which were later raffled and they succeeded in raising AU$1502.65. Like all donations up to the value of $300,000, this amount has been matched dollar-for-dollar by Intrepid Travel and has been distributed amongst a selection of our community projects.
Our sincere thanks to the staff and students of Centre for Hospitality and Tourism Studies Box Hill Institue of TAFE - we think you all deserve an A-plus!
how to join the intrepid foundation
The Intrepid Foundation Inc. (TIFI) is currently supporting many remarkable organisations and community projects across the globe and the list continues to grow. Every organisation benefits from our travellers' contributions and Intrepid matching donations dollar-for-dollar.
If you are interested in taking a more active role in the Foundation or simply want to offer your support, then please join as a member. Membership of TIFI gives you greater opportunity to assist with fundraising and the chance to recommend new community projects. To join, please email Anna Wade at awade@intrepidtravel.com.
share your memories
If you have your own tales of responsible travel or travelling to make a difference, then we'd love to share your story with other Travel and Change readers.
Have you been welcomed into a small community and came away richer for the encounter, shared a moment where language was no barrier, gave a helping hand to our four-legged friends, been part of a project that made a difference or given your time and gained new friends?
Tell us your own responsible travel stories and you will go in to the draw to WIN a Lonely Planet World Food guide!
Email your tales to intrepidexpress@intrepidtravel.com and we look forward to publishing your stories in Travel and Change.
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