Thursday, October 21, 2010
One of the founding principles of Terra Incognita Ecotours is that we are committed to “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.” But just exactly what does that mean, and how do we accomplish this lofty goal? One way we ensure our trips help conserve the local environment and improve the well being of local people is by identifying partners in each of our destinations and providing these partners with financial and technical support. On occasion we can even provide in-kind contributions to these partners. One example of this is our recent donation of a free Gorillas in the Mist Trip for two to the Akilah Institute.
GED DESCRIBING THE GORILLAS IN THE MIST TRIP AT THE EVENT
The Akilah Institute is a dynamic new leadership and hospitality institute for young women based in Kigali, Rwanda. The young women, many of them orphans of the 1994 Genocide, receive financial aid in order to complete their education, which will allow them to lift themselves and their remaining family members out of poverty. Our donation to their recent Metropolitan Safari event based in Tampa, Florida, was featured in the Live Auction and the winning bid was for $11,500. So Terra Incognita Ecotours brought attention to the tremendous work of the Akilah Institute; we also demonstrated our commitment to raising the living standards of the local people in Rwanda by indirectly providing them with $11,500 for scholarships, and we will now be sharing the magic of Rwanda with two new travelers, Tim and Debbie Bonsack, who were the successful bidders in the Live Auction.
GED, GISELE, ONE OF THE YOUNG RWANDA STUDENTS AT AKILAH, AND DENA LEAVENGOOD AT THE METROPOLITAN SAFARI EVENT
The Metropolitan Safari to benefit the Akilah Institute, which raised a total or $79,840 during that Tampa event a few weeks ago, continues to travel across the USA raising funds for scholarships in Boston, Providence, Philadelphia and Washington DC. Get info about one of their events in your community Read more about the Akilah Institute