No matter where you go in the world, seek to leave it just a little better than you found it. I am not naive enough to think that I am going to change the world one vacation at a time, but that certainly isn’t going to stop me from doing my part.
Voluntourism isn’t a new concept to me, however, it certainly isn’t an option that jumps out at you during a quick internet search of a tropical paradise. While searching for excursions in the Caribbean, I came upon Pack for a Purpose.
According to the Pack for a Purpose website, since 2010 travelers have packed over 281,417 pounds of donations to over 60 countries. I am proud to say that we added an additional 60+ pounds of school supplies to the islands.
As a school teacher myself, I understand how frustrated I get towards the end of the year when the office tells me that we are out of glue sticks, and they are not replacing them. I cannot imagine the frustration of not having basic school supplies on a daily basis for my students.
Even though our tour operator did not participate with Pack for a Purpose at the time, I saw no reason that we could not bless a local school while on our journey. I asked around my community for a few used duffle bags to fill so that I could just leave the bags behind as well. A few generous community members also added to the supplies we had purchased at the store as well.
Before leaving home, I had Buddy and Buggy split the supplies equally into their two duffle bags. This allowed them to feel connected to the mission. In the future, I would consider having them take a more active roll in possibly raising funds for the supplies, and selecting the items we would pack.
I also plan to keep this mission in mind as I do my back to school shopping. It pained me a little to pay a dollar a piece for spiral notebooks when I know in the fall they will be on sale for a quarter a piece. Planning ahead will help me stretch my giving budget a little further.
If education is not your passion, Pack for a Purpose has several categories with communities benefited all over the world. You can choose from Education, Health, Child Welfare, Animal Welfare, and Socioeconomic Development.
Since education happens to be my passion, Angel from Caban Excursions chose a local government-run school for us to visit. He went in first and talked to the Head Master, and she welcomed us in. (Angel kindly provided translation between us because sadly despite many years of classes, my Spanish is poor.) She showed us the small backpack with a handful of essential supplies that each student enrolled receives from the government. She was looking forward to using the supplies we had brought as incentives for both students and teachers.
It was quite hot, and also exam week. Students were arranged in classic desk-row seating, but outdoors so that if they were lucky, could catch a subtle breeze.
We visited a first, second and third-grade classroom, and brought with us a few of the school supplies for each classroom. Having had taught Kindergarten for many years, I tossed in a few canisters of play-dough into the bag. This was an instant hit! As we were walking out of the school, the third-grade teacher already had the students huddled around a small table, while she opened the few canisters she had been given.
One of the most precious moments of this trip was after seeing the watercolor paints, we even got enthusiastic hugs from one little boy, who jumped up for the ambush and then quickly returned to his seat.
Even though my kids are young, I hope that this experience will stick with them as a reminder that no matter where you are in the world, education is the key to opportunity.
Your donation does not have to be 2 giant duffles full of school supplies. If you have even a little space left in your luggage for a few things, I would bet that if you asked your tour provider if they would be willing to find a community that would benefit from your generosity, I can’t imagine they will say no. (And by all means, if they do, please send me an email so that I can avoid doing business with them!) You may not always get to visit the schools or communities that you are helping, either due to time constraints of your tour, school calendars, or privacy regulations but you will leave knowing that you have done a little part to change the world.
