One of the great things about being a writer and working in the travel industry is that it creates opportunity to learn about some pretty amazing people around the world who are working to influence positive change. Whether they offer innovative solutions to the planet's environmental or political problems, inspire hope in disadvantaged communities, or enlighten others with insightful reporting, I respect all of them for their ingenuity and perseverance. Below are a few associations and projects that deserve kudos:
International Villages (www.internationalvillages.org) – Wrestling the World, an American non-profit, is partnering with the impoverished community of Barut, Kenya to develop a locally-owned and operated eco-lodge. Scheduled to open in 2009, the International Village will serve as a volunteer tourism hub for travelers and a permanent job-training center for residents, offering them the education they need to break free from the cycle of poverty. The International Village takes volunteer tourism to the next level with meaningful, cultural immersion for international travelers, and a promise of real social change for the local people of Kenya.
Green Living Project (www.greenlivingproject.com) - Green Living Project is focused on documenting, promoting, and supporting successful and unique models of sustainability from around the world. Using professional media, Green Living Project promotes the projects it documents on its website and through an international Green Living Project Lecture Series launched in partnership with National Geographic Adventure, Recreational Equipment, Inc. (R.E.I.), and other strategic partners.
Alianca da Terra (www.aliancadaterra.org.br) – The Brazilian Amazon rainforest is being cleared at a rate of more than 3,000 square miles per year to make room for raising cattle. The Alianca provides ranchers and farmers who agree to preserve and rehabilitate their land with a network of buyers willing to pay premium prices for their products. In partnership with IPAM (Environmental Research Institute of the Amazon), Alianca formed a socio-environmental registry called CCS. Through the CCS, land owners receive a complete environmental assessment of their properties that helps them make sustainable management decisions that bind production with conservation.
dZI Foundation (www.dzifoundation.org) – The dZi Foundation is directly engaged in the promotion of education, health, culture and welfare of the indigenous mountain communities of the world. The Foundation focuses primarily on the small Himalayan communities in Nepal, and Ladakh and Sikkim, India. They work to provide safe houses, educational support and rehabilitation for young girls, nutritional rehabilitation homes, medical, dental, sanitation and sponsorship support, and community kitchens, and playgrounds.
Maryknoll Deaf Development Program (www.ddp-cambodia.org/) - Maryknoll DDP is one of two non-governmental organizations in Cambodia that is working to provide educational services to the deaf community. Led by Charlie Dittmeier, the DDP has been instrumental in the development of a Cambodian sign language and laying the foundation for educational and job training opportunities for the deaf citizens of that country.
Adventure Travel Trade Association (www.adventuretravel.biz) –The ATTA is a global membership organization dedicated to unifying, professionalizing, promoting and responsibly growing the adventure travel market worldwide.
Xola Consulting (www.xolaconsulting.com) – Xola Consulting provides consulting services to individual adventure tour company operators and tourism boards interested in adventure tourism development for the benefit of rural communities and the environment.
The Places In Between
“The Places In Between” is a memoir about Stewart’s experiences trekking across Afghanistan shortly after the Taliban fell in 2002 and is destined to become a travel writing classic. In a conversational and descriptive tone that makes for imaginative reading, Stewart provides fascinating insight into the everyday life of the Afghan people and excellent references to historical events significant to the area.
The Bottom Billion
Paul Collier has dedicated the last thirty years of his life to the study of African economics as director of the development research group of the World Bank and now as Director of the Center for the Study of African Economics. In his book, he clearly articulates the issues that face the world’s poorest countries that make it difficult for them to improve their situations, and offers thought-provoking proposals for how to help them.
My Path Leads to Tibet
Sabriye Tenberken, who is blind, developed a Tibetan Braille alphabet as part of her studies at the University of Bonn after learning that no such language existed. She then traveled to Tibet in her 20s to teach her Braille system to blind Tibetan children. Her inspiring memoir, “My Path Leads to Tibet” tells the story of how she established a successful Tibetan school for the blind and founded the organization, "Braille Without Borders," which continues her blind literacy mission in other countries today. She also shares humorous and insightful stories about what it is like to live as a blind person in a seeing world.
The Legend of Colton H. Bryant
This beautifully written book has a strong sense of place. Alexandra Fuller tells the true story of Colton Bryant, a Wyoming oil hand who fell to his death from an oil rig in 2006. In the past 10 years, oil and natural gas have been pumped out of the ground in Wyoming at breakneck speed, and the safety of workers has often been shoved aside in the race for quick money. Fuller sheds light on this issue while writing about Bryant, his family and friends, and their rural Wyoming lifestyle in a prose that is simply magic.
