| In 2008, my husband Dave and I embarked on a | | | | We met with the people at Plan before our trip and |
| 12,000 km cycling journey through Africa. We had | | | | set up tours at various projects in Africa. We made |
| been avid adventure travelers in the past, but this | | | | sure to stop in to see the work that is being done |
| time we wanted to make a difference while seeing | | | | first hand. This gave a personal meaning to our cause |
| the world. | | | | and put a face to what we were riding for. |
| For this journey, we chose to ride for a cause. There | | | | After our visits, we posted photos and stories on |
| are many charities that travelers can help to raise | | | | our website and wrote articles for a national |
| awareness for. Established organizations have the | | | | newspaper here in Canada. The publicity that Plan |
| resources to reach millions of people, and your help in | | | | received from us was far more useful than anything |
| raising funds can make a huge difference on entire | | | | we could have done on our own. When people read |
| communities. | | | | our articles, they were directed to our blog where |
| It is extremely easy for a person to contribute | | | | they could read more about Plan and donate to the |
| effectively to these causes. All it takes is a little | | | | cause. We reached thousands of people outside of |
| extra legwork before leaving home. | | | | our circle of friends and family and truly made a |
| Before we left for Africa, we designed a website | | | | difference with very little effort. |
| giving an overview of our cause containing a "donate | | | | As a traveler, you are free to choose from strong, |
| now" icon. We hired a publicist and found some | | | | established charities that focus on issues in the |
| television and newspaper coverage. We developed a | | | | countries you visit. For our next travel, we may |
| strong following of people before we even left the | | | | decide to go with another organization. Because not |
| country. We held fundraisers and friends were eager | | | | all charities are in all countries, someone different may |
| to give to Plan because for one thing, they were | | | | be more suited to our next adventure. |
| supporting us. Their friends were taking on an | | | | Making a difference while traveling is easy. It costs |
| enormous task and it was a unique idea that actually | | | | nothing extra to choose a cause that you believe in |
| made people want to come out and give. | | | | and takes up very little time. It can be extremely |
| We had several NGO's to choose from that do | | | | rewarding to actually see a project at work and it will |
| incredible work in Africa. Many amazing charities are | | | | make your travel a valuable and rewarding |
| making a great difference to the people. For this trip | | | | experience. |
| however, we chose Plan Canada. Founded in 1937 as | | | | Most people write about their travels on a blog |
| Foster Parents Plan, it has become one of the world's | | | | anyway, so why not add a cause to your site. Give |
| largest development organizations. We were drawn | | | | your readers some useful information regarding the |
| specifically to Plan because of their commitment to | | | | countries that you visit. Even if only a few give to |
| empower the people through education. Working at | | | | your charity, you have already succeeded. You have |
| the grassroots level, they teach communities to walk | | | | given a few more dollars to your organization that it |
| away from poverty and become self-sustainable. | | | | didn't have before you sent people their way. |