TRAVEL FOR CHANGE

Travel for Change, is a powerful, unique, and dynamic social enterprise that aims to change lives by working from a grassroots level to address community identified needs, through a simple, yet effective method of giving back. The project was co-founded by Executive Director Marthe Hallans and Kirata Group CEO Hamada Kirata.

The Travel for Change allocates funds from the tourism industry, corporate sponsors (like Kirata Group), volunteers and individual donations back into community initiatives. This is made possible by building lasting, symbiotic relationships with local communities and donor partners. Their strategic engagement includes three main pillars: Children & Youth, Environmental Conservation, and Women.

We offer skills based volunteering placements, ensuring that the needs of the organisation are matched with the skills required. The placement objectives will always fit in with the longer term objectives of the organisation. Through volunteering on our placements you know that you are creating a long term impact.

We stand out from other organisations, because we do not offer experiences that only focus on the benefits to the volunteer. After studying the sector and witnessing the positive and negative effects that different types of volunteer placements can have, we decided to apply our learning and experience to set up a responsible travel volunteering organisation.

For many voluntourism placements, the development is focused more on the volunteer than the impact of the work carried out. We strongly believe in learning as part of the volunteer’s journey, but not at the expense of the beneficiaries or partner organisation. This is why we focus on assessing the needs of the organisations we work with and matching them with volunteers who have skills that meet their requirements. By assessing the needs of the organisations on an ongoing basis, we ensure that all placements are sustainable, relevant and impactful.

Choosing the right volunteer placement for you can be the difference between just another way to spend your holiday time, and the chance to expand your world in every way possible. If you feel like you need a change of scenery, want to expand your horizons, and get exposed to a completely different way of thinking – perhaps you would benefit from a change of perspective to expand your world and re-ignite your passion.

We want to make sure that as many people as possible get the chance to volunteer their skills and make a positive impact in their field of interest. In order to make skilled volunteering more accessible, we are keeping costs as low as possible. As part of our commitment to being a responsible volunteering organisation, we are thus subscribing ourselves to transparency.

Businesses are often viewed as the culprits of social inequality, environmental degradation and economic distress of vulnerable people. But this isn’t always the case. There are now many examples where business is used for good.

The NGOs and social enterprises we partner with are always looking for skilled volunteers with business related skills. Whilst our social enterprise partner organisations use business for good, they still need to compete in the market. Receiving support from skilled volunteers with expertise in fields such as marketing, finance, design or monitoring and evaluation ensures the effectiveness and competitive of partner organisations, so that they can keep supporting their local communities in the future. NGOs can also benefit from these skills to support their organisational management.

Volunteers who join one of our skilled professional business and social enterprise related placements get the chance to:

• gain insights into local business practices or NGO management

• apply their skills to support inspiring change makers

• expand their skills and knowledge in their field

Similarly, business related internships with one of our NGOs or social enterprise offer a great learning experience for interested students, graduates or career changers, with the opportunity to gain hands on experience, take on new responsibilities and project ownership. As a volunteer for a business and social enterprise placement, no one day will be the same!