Travelling Positively
Hilary Bradt
For some years we have actively promoted Giving something back as an extension of responsible travel. However, as one author points out, this suggests that we've taken something in the first place, and since we believe that travel is – or should be – a force for good right from the start, we feel that Travelling positively sums up our ethos more accurately. Positive travel may begin with the decision to visit emerging destinations rather than heavily touristed holiday spots, and develop through checking out local charities that need your help. For many years Bradt authors have included these in their guidebooks, but Kate Humble's website stuffyourrucksack.com brings an up-to-date listing of all organisations needing 'stuff' brought out to them.
We are proud to have been involved with this project, and I can say from first-hand experience that it works. I've just returned from a trip to Namibia, where my group of eight assembled much-needed items to deliver to an after-school children's centre. We can honestly say that the afternoon spent with these delightful children was one of the highlights of the entire trip. We would not otherwise have learned about the struggle to improve the lives of severely deprived youngsters, nor experienced the gratification of knowing that we'd done our bit to help. For some photos from this visit, click here.
For the last ten years or so my Madagascar guidebook has described the work done by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd at the Centre Fihavanana. The centre works with the poorest of the poor, mostly streetkids and their mothers. This year I put out a plea for hand-knitted baby clothes and the response was overwhelming. A steady flow of travellers “stuffed their rucksacks” with baby clothes (actually most took large extra bags) and all have written to me to say how inspiring they found their visit. Here's one of the letters:
Dear Hilary,
I've just returned from Mada after having spent an amazing two months there. I managed to visit the Centre Fihavanana twice during my stay, once at the very beginning and once on my last day in Mada. Both occasions were memorable for different reasons: on the first I dropped off the donations of baby clothes with Soeur Jeanette and she was so happy with them. The second was such an amazing experience as I managed to get to the centre in time for both morning classes and lunchtime. I took along some books and games as another donation, and got shown around the different classrooms after having a very long chat to Soeur Jeanette about the different problems the Malagasy faced, especially having the new generation start life on the streets without food or education. I was so impressed by her determination and the work that she has implemented in the centre, but also by that of the Malagasy nuns who work there.
The classes of kids were impeccably behaved: you would never guess that the children sitting in front of you with their hands clasped on the tiny desks, dressed perhaps not in the latest fashion but nevertheless clean in clothes and shoes, not uttering a single sound despite the fact that there was no teacher in the room – only an appointed guardian or "responsable" (a child from the class) – were some of the poorest people not only in Madagascar but in the world. It was really mind-blowing to think that it was only with the nuns of the Soeurs du Bon Pasteur's help that these children could read and write, and more importantly, eat.
Most memorable of all was lunchtime at the centre, where seemingly hundreds of kids ranging in age from 4 to 18 packed into the enormous Salle St Joseph and queued up to get their rice and leeks. I helped serve up the rice to the kids (actually rather a tough task – it was the sticky rice and was difficult to get the right amount for each portion!) and watched amazed as every child sat down on the mats spread out, bowl and spoon in hand, and waited for everyone to be ready until they said a prayer and then started to eat. I really don't think you could train any British child of 4 years old, no matter how polite, to do this: the fact that these children had not had any food for at least 12 hours since they last came to the centre and still had the patience to wait for everyone else to be ready, speaks volumes about the people of Madagascar, no matter how poor.
Isobel Spaven-Donn
Three other charities that have benefited positively from inclusion in Bradt Guides are the Joliba Trust in Mali (www.jolibatrust.co.uk), where a traveller has recently financed the construction of a much-needed well; the Rwandan Youth Information Community Organisation in Rwanda (www.rYico.org), which has received far more tourist visits and support as a result.
Positive travel encompasses a whole mindset. It's about setting out into the unknown despite your fears. That's just what Anne Axel did. She wrote to me in 1994 from the USA asking my advice on her plan to cycle alone through Madagascar. She was only 25 and her mother was understandably worried. I said "Just do it; you'll never regret it".
So she did it, and sent me her diary, some of which I quoted in the guidebook. I paid tribute to her courage: “What I admire so much is that she did it despite her fears and anxieties, and that she travelled so well, so perceptively and so happily.”
Last week, after a gap of 10 years, I received another letter from Anne who told me: “Since that time I've been back to Madagascar a total of five times. I completed my Master's research here in 1998 and I am now finishing my third field season of my doctoral research. I've had the great fortune and pleasure of developing and leading a study abroad program here for undergraduates at Michigan State University. As you can see, I love it here as much as I did when I first came in 1994! In 2004, I received a fellowship from the US Department of Education to learn Malagasy. I wouldn't say I am fluent, but I can carry on conversations and get around very well. I find I'm having a much more enjoyable time here now that I can speak the language.”
In 1994 Anne had a choice: confront her fears and do what she really wanted to do, or stay safely at home. Is there any question that she did the right thing?
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Hilary Bradt
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Making a difference
Janice Booth (co-author of Rwanda)
"Many of today’s travellers are increasingly keen to build some kind of relationship with the country they are visiting, whether by remaining involved with it after the end or their trip or by making some deliberate contribution while they are there. They want something deeper than a superficial visual impression.
As you travel around, in whichever continent, you’re virtually certain to come across poverty and hardship in a variety of forms. Life for the poor in both cities and rural areas may prove to be harsher than you’d imagined, the shanty-towns more squalid and the street children more disturbing. Your reaction may be a mixture of shock, sadness and often guilt. The imbalance seems unjust, and the scale of the misery daunting. Why do some have so much and others so little? And why, often, does there seem to be a kind of lethargy about tackling the problem? The reasons are complex, rooted partly in culture, partly in ignorance and poor education, partly in foreign exploitation, partly in natural causes, partly in the perceived impact of new technologies, partly in the human character – the list is long.
So, where can we as travellers fit in? Isn’t it enough that we’ve shopped in local markets, paid local guides, stayed in locally run guesthouses and bought local handicrafts? Aren’t the big charities and governments dealing with ‘development’ as such? Have we as individuals got anything to offer (apart, obviously, from our hard-earned cash, which we don’t necessarily want to throw away into such a bottomless gulf of need) that can really make a difference to the vast, teeming, vibrant, contradictory, maddening and stunningly beautiful continent that is Africa, or Asia, or Latin America? Wouldn’t it be easier just to go home at the end of our trip without becoming too involved? Maybe we all have different answers. Below are just a few suggestions in case you need a starting point.
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Janice Booth
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Local choices
Of course shopping locally and using the services of local people are ways to contribute. Buy souvenirs from the craftspeople who made them rather than via middlemen who will siphon off profits, and shop at small street vendors rather than big supermarkets. Don’t bargain to a price below what is reasonable; the difference may be the price of a drink to you but the price of a whole family meal to the vendor. Stay in locally run accommodation rather than foreign hotel chains. Use the services of a local guide, or a child who wants to help, and pay a fair rate. Bring with you only those supplies that you know you won’t be able to find on the spot, and buy the rest in local stores and markets.
Education
In any developing country, education is the key to the future and is highly valued. Whether among smartly uniformed pupils in modern city schools or among ragged rural children crammed into makeshift classrooms, there’s huge enthusiasm for learning. If you have spent time in a village and got to know some of its inhabitants, why not donate pens, crayons and notebooks to the local primary school? It’s easy to buy stationery in local markets. Ask to be introduced to the schoolteacher, so that he/she can receive and officially distribute the gift. Offer to spend some time in the school, being questioned by the children about your home country. If an adult language or literacy course is running locally, offer to drop in on that too and let the students talk to you. You’re learning about their country, so why not introduce them to a bit of yours? Anyway, it’s fun!
If you have connections with schools back in your home country, consider whether it might be possible to set up a link. If the local schoolteacher wants to stay in touch and you feel able to take on correspondence, agree to this – but do warn him/her that mail can be very slow and sometimes gets lost. Maybe someone nearby has an email account. If you decide when you get home that you’d like to sponsor a child or student, the international organisations arranging this are easy to find via the internet. And education is a gift for life.
A warning: travellers often collect up pens/biros at home beforehand and bring them over to donate – but, in this case, please check that they work and have plenty of ink before handing them over. To an impoverished rural child, a new pen is a huge and thrilling gift. He/she is so proud and happy – and then so bitterly disappointed when it stops working after only a few hours. It would have been better never to have received it. (Also see Begging, below.)
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Alan Dart's prototype of the knitted lemur which is raising money for street children needing surgery
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In the village
As you pass through – or stay in – small towns and villages, you’ll come across various development projects run by local charities, missions or NGOs. If these interest you, make a note of the contact details – once back home you may be able to organise fundraising or other support. This is development ‘on a human scale’ – a water pump, a well, a school, an orphanage, a village hall, a plot of farmland – so that the local organisers will appreciate your individual interest as much as you enjoy being personally involved.
While you’re driving, cycling or hitching, you may also spot wooden signs beside the road advertising various schemes – new housing, irrigation, co-operatives, agriculture – and giving a contact address or phone number. Jot them down: you never know what may be useful later. If you felt drawn to a village or a community but didn’t manage to get details of any current activity there, it’s worth doing an internet search for its name when you get home – try various spellings, just in case – as this sometimes produces unexpected leads.
Volunteering
Maybe you’d like to return to the country to work as a volunteer. Two UK organisations among several are Voluntary Service Overseas (www.vso.org.uk) and International Voluntary Service (www.ivs-gb.org.uk), and an internet search for organisations using volunteers will provide many more possibilities – including short-term positions, which may involve anything from teaching English to unskilled manual labour. If teaching English appeals, why not take a short course in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), whether at a college near you or through one that offers distance learning. Find them via the internet, for example on www.tefl.com. One offering courses by post or email is the UK-based Global English (www.global-english.com), which has students worldwide.
A way to volunteer without leaving home is via the Online Volunteering Service (www.onlinevolunteering.org). It’s managed by the United Nations Volunteers Programme (UNV), which is the volunteer arm of the United Nations. Volunteers need computer/internet access and some relevant skill or experience, for example translation, research, web design, data analysis, database construction, proposal writing, editing articles, online mentoring, publication, design...etc.
International charities
The big international charities are colossal, and it can be hard to remember that their work does reach down to benefit the poorest at grassroots level. It’s particularly hard to believe – although it’s true – that they need our small donations! Most of them don’t deserve their reputation for spending too much on administration, and they respond magnificently to disasters such as the 2004 Asian tsunami or the Pakistan earthquake. If you want to make a general donation you could do far worse. They advertise extensively, so check their ads and their websites to see which best meets your interests. If it’s wildlife that appeals to you, then you’ll already know about the Worldwide Fund for Nature – WWF – which works just about everywhere and has had some remarkable conservation successes (www.panda.org). Its projects and activities involve local people as well as the flora and fauna among which they live.
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Baby Adrien, suffering from hydrocephalus, who has been successfully operated on from funds raised by knitters
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Smaller charities
Nowadays the smaller international charities are amazing in their range and variety – whatever you want to support, you’ll find it somewhere. The few lesser-known ones listed below are small enough to have a personal approach but large enough to make a useful impact. They’re only a tiny sample of the many available.
Computer Aid International (www.computeraid.org) Since starting up in 1998, it has shipped over 75,000 PCs to more than 100 different countries. Over 45,000 of them have gone to educational institutions and the rest to community organisations working in fields as diverse as HIV/AIDS, environment, human rights and primary healthcare. Donations of funds and computers are welcomed, plus (in the UK) volunteers with technical skills to help check and refurbish used machines.
Good Gifts Catalogue (www.goodgifts.org) This novel idea enables you to support development schemes while remembering friends and family at anniversaries, Christmas etc. For example you can buy a ‘Goat for Peace’ for your aunt’s birthday; it’ll be delivered to one of the schemes providing goats to poor families in Africa, and you’ll get a card for your aunt explaining the gift. That’s just one of many possibilities – including bicycles for midwives in Cambodia, books for village libraries in India and emergency shelter kits for use by disaster relief teams. Many other charities now operate similar schemes of their own.
Practical Action (www.practicalaction.org) Formerly the Intermediate Technology Development Group, founded in 1966 by the radical economist Dr E F Schumacher, Practical Action works to show that correctly chosen technologies can help people to find lasting, appropriate solutions to poverty, and that a small-scale approach can bring results that benefit whole communities long into the future. It enables poor communities worldwide to discover how new but simple technologies, adapted in the right way and using accessible materials, can improve their lives.
Send a Cow (www.sendacow.org.uk) This very hands-on little charity provides not only cows but also goats, chickens and other small livestock on a self-help basis to poor families and individuals (widows, orphans, youngsters supporting their siblings) so that they have a means of livelihood and hope for the future. It gives training in livestock rearing and organic farming, and access to low-cost veterinary and advice services. Projects are in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
Shelterbox (www.shelterbox.org) This relatively new and very practical UK charity, with offices also in the USA and Australia, provides refugees and the survivors of natural disasters with ‘shelterboxes’, each of which contains a tent, sleeping bags and cooking equipment sufficient to protect a family of ten for six months. It also provides equipment to set up temporary schools in disaster areas.
War Child (www.warchild.org) True to its name, it works with children suffering the effects of conflict – currently in (among others) Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia, Burundi, Chechnya, DRC, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Iraq, Kosovo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Sudan. As the charity asks: ‘You can take a child out of war, but how do you take the war out of a child?’
WaterAid (www.wateraid.org.uk) This well-established charity is dedicated to the provision of safe domestic water, sanitation and hygiene education to the world’s poorest people. Current activities are in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
Begging
However or wherever you travel in the developing world, you’re virtually certain to encounter beggars. How you handle the problem is a very personal matter. Just remember that the ‘visible’ misery of those thrusting their hands out to you as you pass is not necessarily any worse than the ‘invisible’ misery of those suffering silently at home; so a donation to a relevant charity (for the homeless, or the orphaned, or the disabled, or the abandoned...) is likely to mean that your money is used more effectively. But sometimes it’s hard to walk on by.
If you decide to give cash on the spot, then do look the person in the eyes, smile and say an appropriate ‘good morning’; being given a coin is probably far less of a novelty to him or her than being treated like a human being. (And prepare for the onslaught as others nearby spot that you’re a soft touch and suddenly materialise.)
Just occasionally you can turn begging into an encounter that’s pleasurable for you both. Many children do it from habit and would much rather be playing; so, if you turn it into a game, they’ll remember the fun of it far longer than the handing over of a coin. Also try learning ‘What is your name?’ in a few appropriate languages. The effect is astonishing, on someone, whether child or adult, who’s used to being ignored or pushed aside. Even if you only learn their name, tell them yours and then say goodbye, you’ve lifted them several rungs up the scale of humanity – and again, that’s what they’ll remember. Or if you’re refusing to give, then use their name politely as you say ‘no’. In fact this is a great way to connect with children at any time; by using their name you give them dignity, and they respond.
Do bear in mind the damage you can do by giving little gifts (coins, sweets, pens, toys, cookies or whatever) to a child or youngster who comes up and begs, however cutely. If the begging bears fruit (and if the gift isn’t immediately grabbed by a bigger child), he/she will start to pester all visitors, some of whom may react aggressively. Or begging may appear more profitable than going to school.
Before you travel
If you’ve room in your luggage for a few extra items, check website www.stuffyourrucksack.com, to see whether there’s a local charity, school etc at your destination that would be grateful for some practical gifts. Or you could check SOS Children’s Villages on www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk; they have orphans’ ‘villages’, health centres and other projects in over 100 countries (they are listed under the ‘Sponsorship’ link), where gifts of children’s clothing, stationery, games equipment, footballs etc are welcomed.
At the end of your trip
Here’s a final chance to be useful. Don’t take home that T-shirt you probably won’t wear again, that half-full bottle of baby lotion, that soap, that pen, that pad of paper, that length of string, that torch, those spare batteries... collect them up and give them to a local charity. Organisations looking after the homeless or running children’s homes can turn pretty much anything to a good use. And then you’ll have more space in your bags for all those bulky souvenirs that you couldn’t resist.
Tourism and change
Developing countries need the foreign currency that tourism provides, but the benefit isn’t purely financial. Tourism also affects inter-ethnic or international relations, and cultural interaction. Ecotourism is still a relatively new concept in many areas, but will develop as education and understanding spread. Nor is our visit a one-off, complete in itself; the behaviour of any tourist can affect the welcome given to those who follow after, which in turn can affect their reaction to the country and thus the extent to which the country benefits from their visit. We’re all interlinked.
Tourism as an industry can cause positive change by offering the hosts new markets, new sources of employment, new tools for development and a new knowledge of the world. However, that’s not to say that travellers should aim to cause change themselves. The old adage about taking nothing but photos and leaving nothing but footprints still makes sense. We travel to experience different countries and different people – and, ideally, to see them as they are, rather than as we (outsiders) feel that they should be. It’s easy to criticise the unfamiliar. We’ve probably all asked exasperatedly ‘Why on earth don’t they - ?’ at some time or another, but in the end that’s much less useful than an interested ‘Why do they - ?’. There’s often a good reason.
Of course there are countries where visitors may feel they should ‘give something back’ by pushing for necessary change, generally in the field of human rights, but it’s important to be accurately informed. Organisations such as Human Rights Watch (www.hrw.org), Amnesty International (www.amnesty.org), the Anti-Slavery Society (www.antislavery.org), the Fair Trade Foundation (www.fairtrade.org.uk), the Minority Rights Group (www.minorityrights.org), Tourism Concern (www.tourismconcern.org.uk) and for conservation issues the Worldwide Fund for Nature (www.panda.org) are among the many sources of information available, and offer ways to contribute after returning home.
And finally...
Whichever way we travel in developing countries, we are always going to be seen as ‘the rich’. We may or may not decide to remain involved at the end of our visit. We may or may not be able to teach, or donate, or sponsor, or volunteer, or otherwise share the life of the country and its people. However, it’s good relationships and good interaction between individuals that are the key to just about everything in the end, and here we do have one very positive component to offer. We can offer ourselves, and our own genuine interest and friendship. At least in that, if in nothing else, we can ‘give something back’."
If you would like to make any comments, please email us at info@bradtguides.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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Anne Bishop, a visitor to Madagascar, hands over a bag of baby clothes to Sister Jeanette
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