Greenwashing to Causewashing: A Historical Perspective on the Global Travel Industry

"When we act in ways that confirm our ideals, we make the ideal our reality."

Everything they (n)ever wanted you to know about International Voluntourism.

Warning flags for consumers to consider carefully when dealing with travel philanthropy / travelers philanthropy / or philanthropic travel providers.

Greenwashing to Causewashing
Quiz your Travel Provider for transparency, accountability and honesty before you send them a deposit:

1. Be suspicious when a privately owned travel company claims to donate a percentage of their profit rather than a set dollar amount as their stated philanthropy.

2. Be suspicious when a travel company asks you to donate to their Foundation and not directly to the NGO.

3. Be suspicious when a travel company asks you to donate but does not donate in kind as a result of your doing business with them.

"Please support the travel industry's rush to embrace the marketing value of Philanthropic Travel by gently reminding them to increase their commitments to community in at least direct proportion to their marketing campaign budgets.

Historically, the worldwide travel industry has generated large profits and delivered culturally insulated travel experiences while ignoring the welfare of the local communities their clients visit.

Those greedy corporate practices excluded economically challenged communities from sharing a reasonable amount of the prosperity created when travelers visit their World Heritage Sites, enjoy their culture and recreate in their unique environments.

Today, there are old line travel companies announcing their philanthropic programs and advertising a token 'giving back,' trip (of the year) or new companies donating to charity if you sign up by X date -just so they can market to you.

Buy the Change you Wish to See in the World
Defining and demanding the full potential of philanthropic travel lies quietly in the hands of you -the enlightened consumer.

"If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito." -Anita Roddick

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Our Passion for Transformational Giving Consulting
Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel has raised over 1 million dollars since 2008; 100% has been donated to our high impact NGO partners in destinations in the USA and around the world.

1. TRAVEL INDUSTRY PHILANTHROPIC CONSULTING: CSR

2. ENGAGED LEGACIES TRUSTED ADVISOR CONSULTING

3. PERSONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRAVEL

We believe that international travel should enlighten and enrich both traveler and host, while serving as a bridge over which passes friendship, peace, ancient wisdom, technological innovation and economic sustainability.

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Anti-Violence versus Pro-Peace: Exquisite Safaris supports the US Department of Peace Initiative

"I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors." -Thomas Jefferson

The primary function of a United States Department of Peace will be to research, articulate and facilitate nonviolent solutions to domestic and international conflict. In order to establish the Department of Peace, we must understand how an American law is passed and the role of the citizen in making it happen.

TAKE ACTION
TALKING POINTS

The Role of the United States Government
There are three equal branches of the U.S. Government: Legislative (the U.S. Congress); Executive (the President); and Judicial (the Supreme Court). Our Founders deliberately established the co-equality of all three branches, as a system of checks and balances.

Congress (made of up two co-equal branches: the Senate and the House of Representatives) makes the law. The President can veto a law if he or she has the Congressional support to do so; otherwise, his or her job is to propose new laws, as well as execute laws already established. The role of the Judiciary is to assure that all laws are both made and executed in accordance with the U.S. Constitution.

Every American is represented by one House member and two Senators. The make-up of the House of Representatives is determined by population, while each state regardless of its size is represented by two Senators. There are 440 members (435 voting) of the U.S. House of Representatives, and 100 members of the U.S. Senate.

In order for a bill to become law, it must ultimately be passed by both the House and Senate, then signed into law by the President. Bills are initially introduced by a member of Congress, either from the House or Senate. Should enough votes be present in both houses, the House and Senate versions of the bill are then put into Conference Committee. In committee, the two versions of the bill are revised and blended, then put before the entire Congress for a vote. For more detailed information on how a bill becomes a law, click here.

The Role of the People
Your Congressperson and Senators are well aware they're elected by their constituents. If we don't consistently express our opinions to them - through citizen activism such as constituent meetings, phone calls and letters, as well as membership in citizen lobbying groups - then we can't complain when our opinions aren't reflected in Congressional policy-making. Our role is to tell our Representatives how we think and what we feel; our right to do so is the Constitutional guarantee that sets a democracy apart from every other form of government.

Yet our freedom is like a muscle that must be exercised or else it atrophies. There are currently several paid corporate lobbyists for every Congressional Representative.

If a corporate lobbyist is speaking to your representative practically every day, it is hardly enough for you to speak to them through the voting booth only every two or four years.

In the words of Congressman John Conyers (D-MI.), "Congress is a reactive body." The current crisis in our democracy has less to do with Congressional failure to express the will of the people, and more to do with the failure of the people to express their will in a meaningful way. In order to establish a U.S. Department of Peace, we must present a compelling case for its existence both to our fellow citizens and our elected officials. A collective desire then becomes a political constituency, with both the will and the power to affect the laws of the United States.

The Power of Citizenship
In the U.S. Constitution, our Founders established a profound yet delicate relationship not only among the branches of government, but also between the government and the people. Through our electoral system, we ourselves are the ultimate check and balance on unfettered government power. Yet as patriots from Ben Franklin to Abraham Lincoln have pointed out, Americans must be vigilant. Vital citizenship is a demanding and active role, in which we are called to take individual responsibility for our function as ultimate keepers of the democratic flame. When Lincoln said that government "of the people, by the people and for the people" would not perish from the earth, he was well aware it is up to each of us to make sure of that. No generation can guarantee freedom for generations to come.

While laws do not change overnight - nor should they – it is equally true, as written by Thomas Jefferson, that, "as (the human mind) becomes more developed (and)… enlightened, institutions must advance to keep pace with the times." Congressional Representatives have thousands of bills put before them for consideration during any Congressional session; it is only to be expected that it takes considerable effort to get their serious attention, much less their support for a particular bill. Yet surely the effort is worth it. For the Department of Peace legislation does reflect what Jefferson referred to as "progress of the human mind," presenting a new model for the amelioration of violence and the waging of peace. As such, it represents both a philosophical as well as political advance for American society.

Citizenship is not a quick fix. The American anti-slavery society was established in l833; the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in l863. The women's suffrage movement officially began in Seneca Falls, New York, in l848; women were granted the right to vote through the passage of the l9th Amendment in l920. Every serious political advance in America has taken years to achieve, and so might this one. But not that long, for advances in technology and communication provide extraordinary opportunities for the organization of a grass roots movement. Today, it is time for our own generation to respond to a great historical challenge: to interrupt the patterns of violence which threaten to destroy not only our own, but all human civilization. In the words of Albert Einstein, "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

The idea to establish a U.S. Dept. of Peace is not new, having been proposed in various forms throughout our history. It is an effort with personal as well as political, spiritual as well as social dimensions. The Department of Peace legislation addresses the political dimension of peace-creation in a crucial way, institutionalizing the interests of peace within the workings of the United States Government.

With the creation of a Department of Peace, an established voice for peace will be at the table of American power. This will be our generation's gift, should we choose to give it: to our nation, to our children, and to the progress of the human mind.

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Kindness: Philanthropic Travel

Angkor Wat by David Chamberlain

Kindness is an ideal that is easily accessible to all of us. We all know that a small kindness can make our journeys lighter and more enjoyable. Even bringing an instance of kindness to mind can put a smile on your face days or weeks later or perhaps even inspire you to share kindness with another. Though it may seem simple to the point of insignificance, many cultures throughout the world and history have recognized kindness as a powerful virtue. It may be the simplest way to experience and share all the grandest ideals of humanity. We can make the choice to act from the best place within ourselves at any time, while simultaneously recognizing the highest potential in another with the smallest of acts, nourishing the seed of hope in each soul we encounter.

In a way, kindness acts as the oil that makes the engine of our world move more smoothly and with less friction. We can still get where we are going but the ride is more pleasant, and those around us can share in the ideal world that we help to create. We are all fortunate that kindness is limitless in its supply and available to everyone.

When we act in ways that confirm our ideals, we make the ideal our reality.

Then, instead of affirming the experience of struggle and competition the experience of struggle and competition, we can shift our experience to the reality of ease and pleasurable camaraderie with the fellow citizens of the world. Whether giving way to someone in traffic or letting someone go ahead of us in line, donating money or sharing our homes in a crisis, we actively create a universe of kindness and giving with every choice we make. The smallest gesture can bring a smile to light the shadow of an unpleasant situation or remove tension from a difficult task, but it's effects can echo and extend far beyond the moment. We can be sure that we will receive a kindness in return, but giving is its own reward. Kindness expands the light within us and reaches out to touch the light in others as well, giving us all a glimpse of the glow that has the power to enlighten our world.

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Principles of Spiritual Activism

Machu Picchu Peru

The following principles emerged from several years' work with social change leaders in Satyana's Leading with Spirit program. We offer these not as definitive truths, but rather as key learnings and guidelines that, taken together, comprise a useful framework for "spiritual activism."

1. Transformation of motivation from anger/fear/despair to compassion/love/purpose. This is a vital challenge for today's social change movement. This is not to deny the noble emotion of appropriate anger or outrage in the face of social injustice. Rather, this entails a crucial shift from fighting against evil to working for love, and the long-term results are very different, even if the outer activities appear virtually identical. Action follows Being, as the Sufi saying goes. Thus "a positive future cannot emerge from the mind of anger and despair" (Dalai Lama).

2. Non-attachment to outcome. This is difficult to put into practice, yet to the extent that we are attached to the results of our work, we rise and fall with our successes and failures a sure path to burnout. Hold a clear intention, and let go of the outcome - recognizing that a larger wisdom is always operating. As Gandhi said, "the victory is in the doing," not the results. Also, remain flexible in the face of changing circumstances: "Planning is invaluable, but plans are useless."(Churchill)

3. Integrity is your protection. If your work has integrity, this will tend to protect you from negative energy and circumstances. You can often sidestep negative energy from others by becoming "transparent" to it, allowing it to pass through you with no adverse effect upon you. This is a consciousness practice that might be called "psychic aikido."

4. Integrity in means and ends. Integrity in means cultivates integrity in the fruit of one's work. A noble goal cannot be achieved utilizing ignoble means.

5. Don't demonize your adversaries. It makes them more defensive and less receptive to your views. People respond to arrogance with their own arrogance, creating rigid polarization. Be a perpetual learner, and constantly challenge your own views.

6. You are unique. Find and fulfill your true calling. "It is better to tread your own path, however humbly, than that of another, however successfully." (Bhagavad Gita)

7. Love thy enemy. Or at least, have compassion for them. This is a vital challenge for our times. This does not mean indulging falsehood or corruption. It means moving from "us/them" thinking to "we" consciousness, from separation to cooperation, recognizing that we human beings are ultimately far more alike than we are different. This is challenging in situations with people whose views are radically opposed to yours. Be hard on the issues, soft on the people.

8. Your work is for the world, not for you. In doing service work, you are working for others. The full harvest of your work may not take place in your lifetime, yet your efforts now are making possible a better life for future generations. Let your fulfillment come in gratitude for being called to do this work, and from doing it with as much compassion, authenticity, fortitude, and forgiveness as you can muster.

9. Selfless service is a myth. In serving others, we serve our true selves. "It is in giving that we receive." We are sustained by those we serve, just as we are blessed when we forgive others. As Gandhi says, the practice of satyagraha ("clinging to truth") confers a "matchless and universal power" upon those who practice it. Service work is enlightened self-interest, because it cultivates an expanded sense of self that includes all others.

10. Do not insulate yourself from the pain of the world. Shielding yourself from heartbreak prevents transformation. Let your heart break open, and learn to move in the world with a broken heart. As Gibran says, "Your pain is the medicine by which the physician within heals thyself." When we open ourselves to the pain of the world, we become the medicine that heals the world. This is what Gandhi understood so deeply in his principles of ahimsa and satyagraha. A broken heart becomes an open heart, and genuine transformation begins.

11. What you attend to, you become. Your essence is pliable, and ultimately you become that which you most deeply focus your attention upon. You reap what you sow, so choose your actions carefully. If you constantly engage in battles, you become embattled yourself. If you constantly give love, you become love itself.

12. Rely on faith, and let go of having to figure it all out. There are larger 'divine' forces at work that we can trust completely without knowing their precise workings or agendas. Faith means trusting the unknown, and offering yourself as a vehicle for the intrinsic benevolence of the cosmos. "The first step to wisdom is silence. The second is listening." If you genuinely ask inwardly and listen for guidance, and then follow it carefully -you are working in accord with these larger forces, and you become the instrument for their music.

13. Love creates the form. Not the other way around. The heart crosses the abyss that the mind creates, and operates at depths unknown to the mind. Don't get trapped by "pessimism concerning human nature that is not balanced by an optimism concerning divine nature, or you will overlook the cure of grace." (Martin Luther King) Let your heart's love infuse your work and you cannot fail, though your dreams may manifest in ways different from what you imagine.

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Global Service Program Fellowship Act: Philanthropic Travel

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Correlation of Fortunes: Philanthropic Travel

Author Robert Wright thinks the crises the human species now faces are moral in nature, and that our salvation lies in the intelligent pursuit of self-interest. In his book Nonzero, Wright argues that life depends on a non-zero-sum dynamic. While a zero-sum game depends on a winner and loser, all parties in a non-zero-sum game win or lose together, so players will more likely survive if they cooperate. This points to an optimistic future of ultimate cooperation among humans -if we recognize the game.

Well-respected for his erudition and original thinking, Wright draws from multiple disciplines -including science, religion, history and politics -in his search for big-picture perspectives on today's problems, particularly terrorism, while offering guarded hope for where we might be headed. A Schwartz Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation, Wright also hosts an interview series with celebrated thinkers at Meaningoflifetv.com.

"In this age of intellectual specialization, Wright is one member of the intelligentsia who definitely breaks the mold." -What Is Enlightenment Magazine

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Take Action for Burma Democracy

EarthRights International's Burma Project

Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel does not organize travel to Myanmar, and has never sent anyone to Myanmar. Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel has traveled to Myanmar on a fact finding mission and have supported a vetted non profit organization that brings much needed fresh water to a community there. However, Exquisite Safaris does not organize travel to Myanmar at this time.

We are asking for your help in drawing more attention to 1992 Nobel Peace Prize Prisoner of Conscience Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma's democracy movement who has increasingly become a hero to people around the world. Often called "Burma's Gandhi" or "Burma's Nelson Mandela ", Aung San Suu Kyi has been nominated for the Congressional Gold Medal -the most prestigious award given by the US government. Some of the world's most prominent leaders in governments, human rights, and the arts have won the award, including Mother Theresa, Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, his Holiness the Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King Jr, Robert Frost, and Elie Wiesel.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Here is how it works:
Legislation bestowing a Congressional Gold Medal upon a recipient must be co-sponsored by two-thirds of the membership of both the House of Representatives and the Senate before their respective committees will consider it. The process for her to win this award involves democracy. That's why we need your help!

Congressmen Joseph Crowley (D-NY) and Donald Manzullo (R-IL) have introduced a bill in the US House of Representatives to honor Aung San Suu Kyi with the award. To help give them your support, please call your members of the US House of Representatives today and urge them to co-sponsor the bill. This award will generate major international attention on Aung San Suu Kyi, and further increase global resolve for her necessary and immediate unconditional release.

Find Your Representative:
- Go to http://www.house.gov and in the upper left hand corner plug in your zip code. That should bring up the contact number for your Representative's office in DC

What to say:
- Call in and ask to talk to the foreign affairs staffer. The person who initially answers the phone is not the person who makes decisions.

- Tell the staffer that you want your Representative to co-sponsor HR 4286, the bill that will award Aung San Suu Kyi the Congressional Gold Medal.

- Let him/her know the importance of Aung San Suu Kyi and the cause of Burma is to you.

- Call as often to ensure that your Representative co-sponsors.

- If the staffer is not there leave a voicemail saying what you want and ask them to call you back. (You don't have to wait to have them call you back, you can call them again)

US Campaign for Burma

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Success to Significance: Financial Times on Philanthropic Travel?

"It's becoming clear that part of the way you manifest your identity is by your giving," he says. "Giving is the new buying - and part of how you express who you are is what you donate to." -Wally Olins

"Surplus wealth is a sacred trust, to be administered during life by its possessor for the best good of his fellow-men," he told the audience assembled at the Carnegie Library in November 1895. The celebrated philanthropist went on to predict the dawn of a day when 'the man who dies possessed of available millions which were free and in his hands to distribute, will die disgraced'. The often-quoted words of Andrew Carnegie are gaining renewed relevance for today's high net wealth individuals, as lifetime giving becomes more popular.

Carnegie's philosophy is being taken to heart by a growing number of donors, as a generation of self-made wealthy individuals seeks to engage in philanthropic activities, rather than simply leave their money to a charity or to their family in a will.

Philanthropy UK, an independent resource for donors, has noticed the trend. One of the key findings of a report the organization published in September was that more people are giving during their lifetimes, as opposed to making legacy bequests. "They want to see the impact of their contribution and to experience the joy and rewards of giving," the report's authors wrote.

Philanthropy: Self-made want to be hands-on donors by Sarah Murray FinancialTimes.com

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New York Times: Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travelers

When a Luxury Vacation Cultivates Philanthropy -Jennifer Alsever New York Times Sunday Business

Doing charity work while on vacation no longer has to mean backbreaking labor and dorm-like accommodations. A new kind of philanthropic travel lets wealthy vacationers do good works while still enjoying plush hotel suites and fine restaurants.

More luxury tour operators now offer philanthropic-minded trips to places like Kenya, Cambodia and Vietnam that incorporate visits to local schools, hospitals or wildlife centers. Travelers also go on traditional sightseeing tours and safaris that may cost $300 to $1,000 a day, not including airfare.

Even in remote African plains, tour operators pamper guests, who may stay in deluxe cottages with all the amenities. Travelers may leave those accommodations for part of their stay to visit charitable operations and get a first-hand look at how financial donations can be put to work.

"Just one person can make a world of difference for a community," said David Chamberlain, owner of Exquisite Safaris, a tour operator based in San Francisco that offers top-of-the-line services while incorporating visits to schools, health clinics and neighborhoods with hopes that clients will make a donation or become more involved. The idea is that travelers who meet the people and see how they live can become long-term, passionate donors and proponents for change.

Not surprisingly, nonprofits are lining up to become part of such tours, with the hope that wealthy vacationers may be more willing to make long-term financial commitments long after the trip is over.

For many years, international aid groups organized their own tours for big supporters. "Those people who have actually been in the field are our biggest donors," said Lisa Giaretto, managing director of the Village Enterprise Fund, a group based in San Carlos, Calif., that offers entrepreneurship training to people in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

Next July, the Village Enterprise Fund will be part of Exquisite Safaris tours of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Guests will visit farmers, tailors and bike-repair workers who have benefited from training by Village Enterprise.

Chuck Ebeling, a retired vice president of the McDonald's Corporation, had a similar goal when he took a nine-day tour of Tanzania in the spring of 2006. He paid $500 a day to stay in a tented camp where a chef prepared dinners and staff members delivered coffee at dawn. His trip inspired him to become involved in the country's wildlife conservation efforts and led him to pay $500 to help a conservation group raise a bongo, a rare mountain antelope, with the goal of reintroducing it into the wild.

Some travelers who work charity into their trips prefer to rough it alongside the people they are helping. However, "I don't just travel to help others," said Mr. Ebeling, 64. "I enjoy some of the comforts and luxuries. I enjoy seeing the world. And the experience in east Africa was eye-opening."

John Kay, the lead singer of the band Steppenwolf, came home from a luxury 2003 vacation to Cambodia so inspired that he started his own charity, the Maue Kay Foundation. Mr. Kay, who lives in West Vancouver, British Columbia, was struck by the lingering devastation from Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime, which left 1.7 million people dead in the late 1970s. He donated $50,000 to build a primary school there with its own water well and vegetable garden, and he also paid for teacher salaries, books and computers with satellite e-mail access.

Later, Mr. Kay and his wife, Jutta Maue Kay, gave thousands of dollars more to support the Gijedabung school, to protect African wildlife and to support food banks in Puerto Rico. "The old cliche that travel broadens the mind is very true," Mr. Kay said. "We were able to have a glimpse of certain things that go beyond staying in a hotel and a day excursion."

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The One’s Who Do: Philanthropic Travelers

"If you are coming to help me, you are wasting your time but if you are coming because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together." -Indigenous Saying

Are you a Philanthropic Traveler?

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