It’s not every Christmas Eve that one finds oneself in the remote village of Cusco, Peru stirring up vats of Peruvian hot chocolate and handing out mug-fulls to the local street children. But that’s exactly how Ari and Jennifer Zainuddin spent their holiday last year. Participants of Project Machu Picchu, a two-week trip organized by G.A.P. Adventure’s Planeterra Foundation, the couple’s vacation combined volunteering with sightseeing and an arduous trek of the Inca Trail.

Trips with purpose

Sometimes referred to as voluntourism, these trips are experiencing a rise in popularity. It seems more and more people are choosing to supplement their love for sightseeing with an opportunity to volunteer and/or fundraise. “People are becoming more socially and environmentally conscious and it’s trickling down into their travel choices,” explains Liz Manning of Planeterra.

People may also want to see their donations at work, says Jon MacIndoe of Me to We, a social enterprise that grew out of, and works in partnership with Free the Children. To accommodate those initial requests, the organization began operating small-scale tours in 1999 and now runs trips for close to 2,000 people every year, mostly youth, but adults and families are represented as well. Families like Lynda Kurylowicz, her son, and her sister, who travelled to Kenya in 2007. The experience, she says, was transformative. “When you go there and smell it, see it and taste it, it can’t help but change you.”

Some trips are more personal and based less on volunteering and more on fundraising. With his mother suffering from MS for years, Ralph Cochrane was committed to finding a way to raise a million dollars to fight the disease. An avid traveller who backpacked around the world, Cochrane also wanted to share the amazing sights he’d seen with others. “I wondered how I could fulfill on the promise to raise a million,” he explains. “Walks are one thing, but people who have capacity to do a lot more, what could they do?” he recalls asking.

After partnering with the MS Society and bringing on board Leah Cournoyer, an expert in event planning, he initiated the MS Climb, challenging expeditions that raise significant sums in the process. Last year, the inaugural 12-day event saw 23 people successfully climb Machu Picchu – and raise $155,000. This year they’re adding another destination: Kilimanjaro. And with demand growing, they may even add a third. Cochrane couldn’t be more pleased. “It’s amazing to be able to take something that was bad news in our family and change it into something that is good news and share this experience with people,” he says.

What moves you?

As for the motivation of participants, with ages ranging from late 20s to 50s, some are attracted by adventure and striving for something bigger than themselves. For others, it’s more personal. But common to all, says Cournoyer, is the desire for a big challenge – spiritually, mentally and physically.

Kurylowicz’s desire was to provide her son with a larger perspective, “As North Americans, we’re so privileged; I feel we have a responsibility to show our children what the rest of the world is like and that not everyone is as lucky as we are,” she says. Watching her son help build schools and play soccer with Kenyan youth was an immeasurable experience, but the payoff extended well beyond. “I think I benefited as much as he did,” she concludes.

As for the Zainuddins, avid volunteers who’d been mutually dreaming of Machu Picchu, the idea of mixing pleasure with giving back was one that warmed both their hearts. Aside from handing out hot drinks on Christmas eve, the travellers also volunteered their time at a local drop-in centre for kids and enjoyed a homestay in a farming community. “It allowed us a real hands-on experience into what their lives were like,” says Ari. “And they [community members] took a lot of pride having us there and learning about our lives too; it was a real meeting of cultures.”

Community engagement

It’s the type of cross-cultural connection and sensitivity that Planeterra organizers are aiming for. Focused on community development through tourism, some of the trips the foundation offers are strictly volunteer-based, others – like Project Machu Picchu – also include sightseeing, and still others are one or two-month programs for students or people on career breaks. “We can accommodate everyone,” says Manning. Similarly, participants run the gamut, from younger and older singles to families and couples.

“The importance is to make sure local communities and people involved in the projects are really benefiting and it’s not just a money-generating business,” Manning explains. It’s also important to create opportunities for people to feel like active participants and to create something sustainable, she adds, using, as an example, stove-building projects in Project Peru, which take a week to complete but serve long-term, vital communal purposes.

Lasting impact

There’s also the hope that participants will be impacted for the long term. For Cochrane that means the physically demanding experience gives climbers a greater perspective of what MS sufferers go through on a daily basis. Me to We, meanwhile, is creating a movement, a lifestyle change, though a number of fundraising initiatives, including a music label and clothing line. “We find that with a lot of kids and families, the real journey begins when they get back home and have a new perspective,” says MacIndoe. “We hope they’re able to live out the Me to We lifestyle, focusing less on themselves and more on their family and community at home or globally.” That certainly was the case for Kurylowicz and her family. After returning from their trip, her son organized fundraising efforts at his school, while she became more involved with Free the Children programs. “We got to touch first-hand and see the benefits of the work done there; that makes you want to do more,” she says.

Organizational benefits

As a separate financial entity, Me to We doesn’t draw on any of the Free the Children funds to operate its trips, with the goal of its many projects bringing the charity’s administrative costs down to zero. “It’s a work in progress,” admits MacIndoe. As for Planeterra, thanks to its association with G.A.P Adventures, all of Planeterra’s administrative costs are covered by the organization. “One hundred percent of every donation we receive goes directly to the project,” says Manning. Moreover, if inspired travellers wish to make a donation upon returning from their trip, the amount is matched by G.A.P. Such was the case for the Zainuddins, who donated some of the $2,400 they raised from a fundraiser at their home to Planeterra.

MS Climb asked each climber to raise a minimum of $7,700 for Kilimanjaro and $5,250 for Peru. Of the $155,000 raised last year, 82.5% went to the MS Society. “The sole purpose is to raise money for MS,” affirms Cochrane. Not surprisingly, organizers and volunteers donate their time and creative energies to help with things like the website and marketing material. “We built a great community of supporters who’ve taken us on as their way to contribute to the community,” says Cochrane. “But they’re also getting a great trade-off; people say it’s the most amazing thing they’ve done in their life.”

What’s next?

So where does the future lie for voluntourism and its organizers? While the initial idea was to raise $1million with one trip a year for five years, thanks to growing demand, the plan for MS Climb has changed. Now the hope is to add an additional trip to the roster each year. And, says Cochrane, the 2010 itinerary includes Everest Space Camp, and they’re also looking into the Great Wall of China.

Me to We is seeing pretty steady growth as well. “This is just the beginning,” says MacIndoe. “We fully anticipate continuing to grow based on the interest expressed by the kids.” Always looking for ways to improve and reach out to new groups, Me to We introduced an exciting new initiative: a tree orchard in Kenya to offset the carbon emissions associated with travel. Volunteers care for the trees, which are then replanted at schools they’re building, to be cared for by students thereafter.

Planeterra is looking forward to meeting its growing demand as well. The most popular trip remains their 15-day Project Costa Rica and its sea turtle conservation efforts. Another interesting project involves volunteering at a tourism training institute in Tanzania. With a new director and website this month, Manning claims with confidence, “This will be a big year for us; we’re taking things to the next level.”

As for the participants, the impact has certainly been far-reaching. “I found it amazingly fulfilling and foresee this being something that Jennifer and I will continue doing for the rest of our lives and probably turn into something bigger every year,” says Ari Zainuddin.

Meanwhile, Lynda Kurylowicz says she’s already planning another trip for her family with Me to We. “It was worth every penny. It was the best possible gift I could have ever given to my son and to myself.”

Elisa Birnbaum is a freelance journalist, producer and communications consultant living in Toronto. She is also president of Elle Communications and can be reached at: info@ellecommunications.ca.

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