Visionary Philanthropic Traveler: Marc Gold and 100 Friends Project

Marc Gold interviewed by David Chamberlain

Marc Gold's 100 Friends Spring 2007 Newsletter
National Public Radio on Philanthropic Travel
Globalization of Empathy: Marc Gold

Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Worldwide and the Philanthropic Travel Foundation are excited to partner with Marc Gold's 100Friends Project. The Exquisite Safaris mission is to educate and inspire travelers to become philanthropic travelers, engaging and supporting humanitarian projects like The 100 Friends Project while they enjoy our luxury philanthropic journies.

The 100 Friends Project is a small, informal grassroots project dedicated to helping people in Third World Countries facing myriad ... all problems. Marc Gold collects the donations and then personally distributes those donations while he is traveling in Asia and Africa.

Philanthropy on a Shoestring by Clay Scott
I met an interesting man the other day. His name is Marc Gold, and he travels around the world giving money away. He's carried out his one-man mission in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Vietnam, The Philippines, and elsewhere.

Mr. Gold is not wealthy, as far as I know. Most of the money he distributes is donated by friends and acquaintances. And the sums he gives away are fairly modest $20 here, $100 there. Still, there is something profound about his brand of under-the-radar, freelance philanthropy.

"You can accomplish so much with so little," he said. "And you can do it face-to-face, one on one."

When Marc Gold was 6 years old, he said, he vowed that his life had to be about something, that it had to have a purpose. When he was in his thirties he revisited that boyhood vow, and decided he was coming up short.

"I was forced to give myself a pretty low grade," he said. "I really had to rethink how I was living my life, and what I was accomplishing."

Gold went to India and volunteered with Mother Teresa. Later, in Darjeeling, he met a woman suffering with almost unbearable pain in her ears. He managed to find an ear-nose-and-throat specialist a couple of hours away, and one dollar's worth of antibiotics cured her. For another $30 Gold was able to get the woman a hearing aid.

"She let me flip on the switch to turn the hearing aid on," he said. "The look on her face, when she realized she could hear again, transformed me. It was a revelation. $31 had turned this woman's life around."

Gold returned to the U.S., compiled a list of 100 friends, wrote a letter describing the poverty he had seen, and asking them to help. That first fundraising effort netted $2,200, which he distributed in India.

"I didn't really have a plan," he said, "especially at first. I was like a cat following a string. Except in my case the string led to people who needed help. Maybe they needed a few chickens, or a sewing machine, some medicine, or a few dollars for building materials. Those things may not seem like a lot, but, believe me, they can change someone's life."

That first trip was in 1989. Since then, Gold has made 15 more trips to India, three to Afghanistan, and many more to several southeast Asian countries. This year he plans to visit Mongolia and Borneo; next year Rwanda, Malawi and Niger. His business card says he is the director of the 100 Friends Project, though he admits it is pretty much a one-man operation.

"There are many great institutions and aid organizations out there doing great work," he said. "But I don't want to be an institution. I don't want to have staff meetings, and bureaucracy, and paperwork. I go where I want, and do what I want, and make decisions on the spot about where I think I can help. With me it's simple: you give the money to me, I give it to people who need it, I report back to you."

Each year Gold has managed to raise more money. Last year he brought in $80,000, and this year he's shooting for $100,000. That would be a record for him. Still, he knows that, in the world of foundations and aid organizations, even that amount is pitifully small.

"But that's not the point," he told me. "This is not about solving the world's problems single-handedly. It's not as if there were only two choices: to either help every person in the world or do absolutely nothing. There's a third choice, and that is to do whatever you can do. OXFAM can't eliminate world poverty, and neither can the U.N., and neither can Bill Gates. But we can all do what we can do. And that's what matters."

Clay Scott is a veteran, well-traveled reporter who lives in Helena.

Learn More:
Understanding Philanthropic Travel
Fast Company Magazine on Philanthropic Travel
Philanthropic Traveler funded High School opens near Victoria Falls, Zambia
The Fable of Stone Soup
My First Philanthropic Travel Experience
Affluent Parents Dedicated to Instilling Philanthropic Values in their Children
Giving while Living: The Deeper News About the New Philanthropy
Dr. Jeffrey Sachs on the Strategic Steps Out of Poverty
Are We Talking about Philanthropy Yet? No, We Are Not

Philanthropic Travelers:
Marc Gold's 100Friends lead Philanthropic Travelers in Asia, Africa & South America
Milton & Fred Ochieng: Philanthropic Travelers
Jane Kaye- Bailey: Philanthropic Traveler
Richard Branson: Philanthropic Traveler
Angelina Jolie: Philanthropic Traveler
Oprah Winfrey: Philanthropic Traveler
Palm Beach Life Magazine: Philanthropic Travelers

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Visionary Philanthropic Travel

Vietnam by David Chamberlain

Visionary Philanthropic Travel: Be the Change
Exquisite Safaris introduces a powerful new intention for your next international luxury experience: Peace, love and the luxury of understanding.

Our mission is to facilitate your international philanthropic family legacy. Create your personal foreign policy while enjoying the richest luxury experience on the planet: creating a world we all want. As a visionary philanthropic traveler, you will engage our non-profit partners to initiate or support a humanitarian project while you enjoy a philanthropic luxury adventure of a lifetime.

Socratic Moments, Emotional Endorphins and your next Honeymoon.
For instance, one Exquisite Safari client asked us what could be done with a $10,000 donation in Zambia," a destination she wanted to visit with her family. We suggested building a primary school. Nine months later, she brought her family to celebrate the opening of the school and they received the blessings of the village elders.

Her children met the village's children who, for the first time, could attend school. Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel blends luxury and philanthropy, personally transforming traveler and host while creating sustainability -Cache and Cash.

Exquisite Safaris creates opportunities for travelers to engage in whatever way feels most powerful to them -tax breaks available. All we ask is that you be willing to commit at least morning or afternoon during your next luxury travel experience with the intent to meet some of the most inspirational and culturally diverse people in the world. Once we've seen each other up close, we realize we're not that different after all.

Private Travel sans group travel
You are safely at choice each and every moment. Exquisite Safaris are private guided experiences -just you, your partner, kids, grandkids and a seasoned professional local guide, new vehicle and driver.

Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel
Heart to heart: there is no better introduction to a foreign culture than to be the vip guest of a humanitarian outreach project that has earned the respect and gratitude of the local community. Our seasoned professional guides interpret and share their local secrets, cultural traditions, history and natural wonders while you enjoy luxury accommodations, sophisticated cuisine, life affirming philanthropic engagement and of course shopping.

Blending luxury and philanthropy we channel your generosity and sensitivity to sustain people in dire need of clean water to drink, schools and medical clinics worldwide.

The Exquisite Safaris philanthropic mission is to include a visit to a humanitarian project into every private, guided luxury safari we custom create. The resulting personal introductions create cross cultural friendships that generate trust, respect, and generous donations which sustain grassroots humanitarian projects worldwide.

Learn More:
Understanding Philanthropic Travel
Fast Company Magazine on Philanthropic Travel
Philanthropic Traveler funded High School opens near Victoria Falls, Zambia
The Fable of Stone Soup
My First Philanthropic Travel Experience
Affluent Parents Dedicated to Instilling Philanthropic Values in their Children
Giving while Living: The Deeper News About the New Philanthropy
Dr. Jeffrey Sachs on the Strategic Steps Out of Poverty
Are We Talking about Philanthropy Yet? No, We Are Not

Philanthropic Travelers:
Milton & Fred Ochieng: Philanthropic Travelers
Jane Kaye- Bailey: Philanthropic Traveler
Richard Branson: Philanthropic Traveler
Angelina Jolie: Philanthropic Traveler
Oprah Winfrey: Philanthropic Traveler
Palm Beach Life Magazine: Philanthropic Travelers

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Visionary Philanthropic Travelers: Milton, Maurice and Fred Ochieng

VIDEO: Milton Ochieng in Lwala, Kenya

Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Worldwide has partnered with Milton, Maurice and Fred Ochieng. In just one morning or afternoon you too can experience the success of their efforts. The Lwala project is in a close proximity to the Great Migration on the Serengeti Plains, fishing Lake Victoria or climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. 10% of our profit from your private guided flying safari and your spare change go directly to support their work.

Exquisite Safaris Visionary Philanthropic Travellers and partners: Fred and Milton Ochieng interviewed by David Chamberlain.

Who are you, where do you come from, what are you attempting to accomplish.
My name is Frederick Otieno Ochieng and I am the 3rd born in a family of 6 children. My brother Milton Oludhe Ochieng is currently in his 3rd year of medical school at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine whereas I am in the 1st year class. We all grew up in Lwala, a rural village without running water or electricity, in Nyanza province of Kenya. To get to see a doctor, one walks 5.5 miles down an unpaved road, then waits for public service vans, matatus, to take them on a bumpy 20 mile ride to the nearest government owned hospital. The lack of health facilities at times had tragic consequences. We vividly remember how one time, a pregnant mother who developed complications during labor had to be hauled in a neighbor's wheelbarrow to try to get her to the paved road then to the hospital, passed away en route. The body of the baby and the mother were returned to a wailing village by the same wheelbarrow. While growing up, we were always aware of the lack of health care in our village and surrounding communities. Both Milton and I got interested in medicine. With inspiration from a cross-cultural service trip to Nicaragua during his undergraduate years in Dartmouth College when they built a medical clinic, Milton was inspired to start a clinic in our village during his first year of medical school. He consulted via e-mail and phone with my ailing father, Mr. Erastus Ochieng. He spoke with me about the vision. In early 2005, while he and my father worked on the plans and details, he asked me to begin fundraising for the clinic. During a Navigators Northeast Conference at the end of January 2005, I gave an address to students and staff from some 13 colleges and universities who raised $9,000 for the clinic. Unfortunately, along the way, we lost both our parents to AIDS. Beloved Margaret in January 2004 and Erastus in May 2006. My eldest brother Maurice Omondi Ochieng has taken over the role of the coordinator back in Lwala, working with the community members. The vision has gathered momentum. We hope to see patients early April 2007. Now we need funds and partners to sustain the running of the clinic.

How do two brothers in a remote village in Kenya get scholarships to Dartmouth and attend medical school at Vanderbilt?
My mother taught in primary school and my father taught Chemistry and Biology in secondary school. They both valued education; they acquired loans to send us to good boarding schools and instilled in us good discipline. Milton was the 1st to qualify for admission to Alliance High School, the oldest and probably the finest high school in Kenya. I joined him a year later. In his 3rd year, he was one of the 2 students selected to represent Alliance High School on an exchange program with Brooks School, Andover, Massachusetts. He met Alliance alumni who were attending Harvard, MIT and other colleges in the U.S. The capable advisors and fellow students guided us through the test and application process. We both gave up our chances to attend medical school in Nairobi University for liberal arts training at Dartmouth College in the U.S. The need-blind admission policy offered a unique opportunity for a wonderful education for both of us. Getting into medical school is especially tough for an international student given the narrow selection of schools that admit them. However, Milton, a Biochemistry major, was later accepted into Yale, Vanderbilt and Dartmouth Medical Schools. Warm weather for his tropical soul, a full tuition Deans Scholarship, amongst other things drew Milton to Vanderbilt. A Biophysical Chemistry major, I got in after taking a year off to do chemistry research at Dartmouth, fundraising and conducting a needs assessment survey for the clinic. Looking at how far we have come, we are always heartbroken to reflect upon the countless sacrifices our parents made for us to get educated, yet neither of them ever witnessed our college graduations nor ever got to see the country where they had faith to let their children go to learn.

What challenges do you face starting and managing a medical clinic in a remote village in Kenya while attending medical school in Nashville, TN?
Medical School is very involving and intense. It is tough staying on top of the material you cover, making time to exercise and play soccer, let alone fundraising, and designing a functional clinic thousands of miles away. Poorly developed communication infrastructure in the village makes it tough to connect and frankly, quite frustrating. My brother Omondi has to travel to Rongo town 9 miles away to charge his cell phone. Due to the 8 hour time difference, we try to call either early in the day or late at night here in the U.S. We are but novices. There are lots of complex decisions that we have to wade through.

How would you describe the current need for medical, educational and basic infrastructure in Kenya?
Very urgent, especially referring to medical services and basic infrastructure. There are many more educational facilities around. However, with the HIV/AIDS pandemic, TB, malaria menace, just to mention a few, there is need for a more robust health network. Unfortunately, some recent changes may not be beneficial. Mandatory retirement at the age of 55 for physicians and the fact that young doctors right out of medical school are no longer assured of assimilation into the field are two examples of recent policy recommendations.

What's your vision for the future of Lwala/Kenya?
To provide affordable health care to thousands in a rural setting.
To address and reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS.
To improve maternal and child health.
To improve the education of youths in Lwala and introduce microfinance projects.

How often do you travel back to Lwala?
Once a year, as school schedule and money allow. This year, due to the opening of the clinic, we may get to go home twice.

What went through your mind the first hours you arrived in the United States? What would you expect would go through the mind of a philanthropic traveler the first hours they arrived in your village?
Coming into the U.S., everything was suddenly bigger than what I was accustomed to. The tall buildings in Boston as we landed in Logan Airport were impressive. Then coming into Dartmouth during orientation, the amount of food at different stations to welcome the 1st year students baffled me. Food back at home was tightly controlled. I had to whisper to Milton to check if we had to pay for the food. A philanthropic traveler who arrives in the village is likely to be met with smiles from locals. Unpaved bumpy roads, latrines (outhouses), lack of running water, paraffin lamps at night, seeking refuge under mosquito nets and waking up to loud cockerels in the morning all prompt a philanthropic traveler to compare comforts back at home to the village.

Do you feel that having a philanthropically inclined traveler visit Lwala would inspire them to become more or less involved in the projects success than merely reading about it on the internet?
Seeing this part of the world is such a great experience and such a wonderful opportunity to see how people in a completely different area of the world lead their lives. You get a glimpse of the infrastructure and the milieu and can thus be more involved in the project success.

Would philanthropic travelers be welcomed by the citizens of your village?
They would be warmly welcomed by the villagers. Many of the preceding guests have had positive relationships with the villagers via their interactions. Above all, the villagers welcome and trust our friends since they trust that we are positively representing them abroad as good ambassadors.

What are your feelings regarding the potential of philanthropic travel to connecting people at the heart and create a world of compassion?
I think that people who travel gain an invaluable experience and a better understanding of many issues facing the people in areas different from their own. Consequently, one becomes a better citizen of the world. Combining philanthropy with an exposure to a completely different way of life benefits both sides, given the right attitude and expectations. What a unique opportunity to appreciate a place and be involved in important issues facing its people.

What is your passion beyond the project?
Soccer, Volleyball, Basketball amongst other sports.
Medicine and Healing.
Faith, family and friendships.
Music and movies.

Who is your favorite comedian?
Bill Cosby

What kind of world do you want to live in?
A world where people care for one another and actively seek to love their neighbor as themselves.

Learn More:
Understanding Philanthropic Travel
Fast Company Magazine on Philanthropic Travel
Philanthropic Traveler funded High School opens near Victoria Falls, Zambia
The Fable of Stone Soup
My First Philanthropic Travel Experience
Affluent Parents Dedicated to Instilling Philanthropic Values in their Children
Giving while Living: The Deeper News About the New Philanthropy
Dr. Jeffrey Sachs on the Strategic Steps Out of Poverty
Are We Talking about Philanthropy Yet? No, We Are Not

Philanthropic Travelers:
Milton & Fred Ochieng: Philanthropic Travelers
Jane Kaye- Bailey: Philanthropic Traveler
Richard Branson: Philanthropic Traveler
Angelina Jolie: Philanthropic Traveler
Oprah Winfrey: Philanthropic Traveler
Palm Beach Life Magazine: Philanthropic Travelers

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Conscience: Philanthropic Travel

Thinking on the alp in Savognin, Switzerland

I carve out a small space, a nest
Of sorts and lie my conscience down to rest.
As a gift it bears little resemblance to
The madness around me, those who think
They know everything, those who despair

My own absurd, hesitant presumption is hope.

I watch the osprey hunt the harbor at dusk,
It soars and glides to a frantic wing-beat
And like an acrobat hangs in mid-air
As flashes of silver scales below
Signal time to make a precision dive

My own hesitant presumption is hope.

As an infant flails, wails, loss of womb,
Its wet, loud, pronouncement -I am here
My conscience, not newborn, nor single-Minded
like the Fish Hawk, hears the cry
Of the wounded heart.

My own presumption is hope,

Even as deadly fog shrouds the backstage
It is no match, these awakenings are legion,
New dimensions of spirit and soul
Rise from sweet hearth and beloved earth,
Feminine and Divine

My own hope
Lies Mahler's 1st, from minor to major,
From darkness to Frere Jacques. So rise
Tired traveler, renew, seek secret places,
The great percussion of possibilities within.

Peter Karoff
July 2006

H. Peter Karoff, a member of Synergos' Board of Directors and the founder and Chair of The Philanthropic Initiative (TPI), has produced a paper Open Source Philanthropy -- Social Change in a Flat World which looks at new models of collaboration in philanthropy. These models, which are characterized by transparency, openness and interdependence. Looking at the broader "open source" movement in the world of technology, Karoff asks if the lessons and potential of that movement are applicable to philanthropy and concludes with "a hopeful 'yes,' qualified only by how open we ourselves can be."

Learn More:
The The One's Who Do: Visionary Philanthropic Travelers
Family Office: Philanthropic Travel
World Travel Market London: Luxury Travel with a Conscience
Travel Philanthropy: Creating Peace
The Fable of Stone Soup
Understanding Philanthropic Travel
Approaching the Omega Point: Philanthropic Travel
Travel Connoisseur Magazine on Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Worldwide
Fast Company Magazine on Philanthropic Travel
PersonalLifemedia.com on Philanthropic Travel
Philanthropic Traveler funded High School opens near Victoria Falls, Zambia
My First Philanthropic Travel Experience
Affluent Parents Dedicated to Instilling Philanthropic Values in their Children
Giving while Living: The Deeper News About the New Philanthropy
Dr. Jeffrey Sachs on the Strategic Steps Out of Poverty

Philanthropic Travelers:
Visionary Philanthropic Traveler Marc Gold 100 Friends Project
Visionary Philanthropic Traveler Chellie Kew
Milton & Fred Ochieng: Philanthropic Travelers
Jane Kaye- Bailey: Philanthropic Traveler
Richard Branson: Philanthropic Traveler
Angelina Jolie: Philanthropic Traveler
Oprah Winfrey: Philanthropic Traveler
Palm Beach Life Magazine: Philanthropic Travelers

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Thinking so you don’t have to…

Learn more:
Traveler Funded School Victoria Falls, Zambia
Understanding Philanthropic Travel
Angelina Jolie: Philanthropic Traveler
Teresa Williamson: Philanthropic Traveler
Oprah Winfrey: Philanthropic Traveler
Jane-Kaye Bailey: Philanthropic Traveler
Karen Jacobsen: Philanthropic Traveler
Personal Openings and World Travel
The Fable of Stone Soup
Giving while Living: The Deeper News About the New Philanthropy
Affluent Parents Dedicated to Instilling Philanthropic Values in their Children

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DivineCaroline: Philanthropic Travelers

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Survey: Would you take a Philanthropic Vacation?

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