Volunteer Travelers Climb Kilimanjaro While Sending Orphaned Children to School
Volunteer with MAD in Tanzania
Adventures Within Reach (AWR) and Make A Difference (MAD) have partnered up to provide an opportunity for travelers to enjoy adventures such as climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, wildlife safaris, scuba diving and beach exploration while making a difference in the lives of disadvantaged children at orphanages and schools.
Make A Difference (MAD), a non-profit international organization based out of Ketchum, Idaho helps support and run orphanages and schools in Africa and India. Volunteers from around the have joined them in their mission to help empower disadvantage children and youth. Volunteers can choose between living at a volunteer guest house near the foot of Kilimanjaro or with host families while helping with the daily activities of the children, including teaching them about HIV/AIDS, Malaria and sanitation, literacy, gardening, fitness, jewelry making, construction and more. Volunteers can stay for at least one week and up to six months or more.
Once a year, MAD sponsors a charity climb up Kilimanjaro. Climbers are encouraged to raise donations to support the orphanage as well as raise awareness for the project in their home area. Each climber has the goal of raising $365 to sponsor one child from an orphanage in Tanzania. It only takes a $1 a day to feed, uniform and educate one of the children a year. AWR who has been handling treks and safaris in Tanzania for 9 years will handle the logistics of this year’s climb. AWR donates 5% of all Kilimanjaro treks and safaris booked via MAD to the project.
“Many of our travelers want to do more than just be a tourist when they visit a new country. By volunteering, they give back to the local people where they are traveling. They make personal connections and are changed as a person after this experience. We are excited to join up with Make A Difference to make it easy for travelers to be effective in the community,” remarked Robin Paschall, Founder of AWR, an adventure travel company in Boulder, Colorado.
“We couldn’t be more delighted to work with such a well experienced travel company such as, AWR. They are well respected in both the USA as well as Africa. We greatly appreciate their desire to give back. Now you can go on holiday and know that you are making a difference both in your life as well as the lives of those in need, “ stated, Founder of MAD, Theresa Grant.
Make A Difference helps empower orphaned children and youth. They do this by providing programs and services that focus on education, health, job skill training and income generating activities at orphanages and community schools.
Adventures Within Reach offers treks and cultural tours to Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Peru, Ecuador and Galapagos, Tibet, Bhutan, and Nepal. AWR sends thousands of people each year on their dream adventure. For more information about specific packages and prices, contact Adventures Within Reach at 303-325-3746, or visit http://www.AdventuresWithinReach.com/media/
For questions about volunteering for Make A Difference visit their Web site at: http://www.MakeADifferenceNow.org/
info@MakeADifferenceNow.org
208.309.2100
FACTS TO NOTE FROM UNICEF:
Children out of education worldwide: 121 million
According to UNICEF, 26,500-30,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.”
Around 27-28 percent of all children in developing countries are estimated to be underweight or stunted. The two regions that account for the bulk of the deficit are South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Based on enrollment data, about 72 million children of primary school age in the developing world were not in school in 2005.
Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.
Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen.
Infectious diseases continue to blight the lives of the poor across the world. An estimated 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, with 3 million deaths in 2004. Every year there are 350–500 million cases of malaria, with 1 million fatalities: Africa accounts for 90 percent of malarial deaths and African children account for over 80 percent of malaria victims worldwide.
For the second year in a row, Adventures Within Reach (AWR) was designated as one of the “Best Adventure Travel Companies on Earth” by National Geographic Adventure.
