The Globalization of Empathy
Suddenly, sundowner cocktails are interrupted as the tracker shouts “Get in the jeep-now!” Fifteen yards away, a cheetah has killed an impala -not an unusual scene in any number ofExquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel southern Africa (Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa) safari camps and lodges. So begins the southern Africa philanthropic travel experience planned by Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel to Botswana’s Okavango Delta, where huge herds range across the terrain, and other responsible travel camps, which employs Bushmen as trackers. 

The Pioneer in Philanthropic Travel
But for Pam Donlin, a former banker who traveled there last year, the most memorable moment came in the Zambian bush at the Butterfly Tree Project.

The Butterfly Tree is a UK Registered Charity (501c3) nonprofit supported by Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel, who runs a school and health center near Victoria Falls, Zambia. 

Donlin, her husband, and her two kids met AIDS orphans and gave out clothes. “If part of travel can be helping others, and can create awareness in one’s self, it’s a great thing,” says Donlin, who donated a $2,500 (upon returning to the USA with guidance from Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel) water well and educational funds. 

The trip wound up at the Royal Livingstone Hotel, where monkeys scamper through the marble lobby. You can hear Victoria Falls and see the mist from the hotel. Says Donlin: “I thought, Do I ever have to leave?”

The Give: Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel donates $250 per traveler to a local nonprofit throughout Africa, Asia, India, Europe and the Americas.

The Get: The knowledge that you are helping children receive education and clean water.

~~
Americans Helping Americans in 2009
Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel announces Americans helping Americans Philanthropic Travel (PROBONO): Leaving the Mines Behind Empowering Appalachia: May 31 to June 7, 2009 
~~

Learn More:
The Advent of Philanthropic Travel by Mark Lovett Global Patriot
NPR: Talk of the Nation Slumdog Millionaire Thursday March 5, 2009 with comments by David Chamberlain
The Globalization of Empathy: Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel
Philanthropic Journeys: Money & Soul the Great Divide? 
Financial Times/FT.com: Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travelers
What Should a M/Billionaire Give -and What Should You?
Strategic Wealth Planning Best Practice: Philanthropic Travel
Friends of Ngong Road Schools: Philanthropic Travel Kenya
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Vacationing in Generosity: Philanthropic Travel
TheGlassHammer.com Philanthropic Travelers
Your First Philanthropic Travel Experience

Philanthropic Travelers:
The One’s Who Do: Philanthropic Travelers
John Legend: Philanthropic Traveler
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Whatever the situation or problem, there is always a solution. And if you remember to look within, even as you search around you for the “right” course of action, you will be able to center yourself, clear your mind, and see that nothing has to be impossible.

The first step in overcoming any obstacle is to believe that it can be overcome. Doing so will give you the strength and courage to move through any crisis.

The second step is to make a resolution that you can prevail over any chaos. Enlist your support network of family and friends if necessary. The more minds there are to consider a problem, the more solutions can be found. Don’t discount ideas just because they seem impractical or “unrealistic,” and don’t keep searching for the “best” alternative.

Often there is no “best” choice, there is only a choice to make so we can begin moving beyond whatever is obstructing our path. At the very least, making a choice, even if isn’t the ideal one, can give you a sense of peace before you have to figure out what your next course of action will be.

If you feel overwhelmed by the scope of your troubles, you may want to think of other people who have turned adversity into triumph. We often gain a fresh perspective when we remember others who have overcome larger obstacles.

It can be inspiring to hear of their victories, helping us remember that there is always light at the end of every tunnel. It is during our darkest hours that we sometimes need to remind ourselves that we don’t have to feel helpless.

You have within and around you the resources to find a solution to any problem. And remember that if a solution or choice you make doesn’t work, you are always free to try another. Believe that you can get through anything, and you will always prevail.

Learn More:
Now is your Moment: Philanthropic Travel
For those to whom Much is Given Much is Required: Philanthropic Travel
TheGlassHammer.com Philanthropic Travelers
Vacationing in Generosity: Philanthropic Travel
Life Changing: Philanthropic Travel
Your First Philanthropic Travel Experience
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Philanthropic Travelers:
Barack Obama: Philanthropic Traveler
John Legend: Philanthropic Traveler
Teach your Children Well: Philanthropic Travel
The One’s Who Do: Philanthropic Travelers

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“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

Philanthropic Travel: Enlightened Experiences

The Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel experience integrates indigenous local culture into every personalized experience we recommend. These personal introductions create authentic cross cultural friendships that generate trust, respect, and generous donations funding philanthropic travel projects worldwide.

Free the Sun: Black Rock Solar energizes the University of Nevada Reno

Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel non-profit partner Black Rock Solar has created a 30kW Solar Array on the roof of the Joe Crowley Student Union at the University of Nevada Reno. Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel donates $25 per traveler to support Black Rock Solar projects throughout Nevada.

Why has Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel partnered with Black Rock Solar? Black Rock Solar is a non-profit with a simple goal: take on climate change, and speed the adoption curve of renewable energy by building low or no cost solar power in unlikely places.

We believe if we’re going to solve the climate crisis, everyone has to be part of the solution, which is why they are installing renewable energy at schools, hospitals, and other public buildings in places that would otherwise never be able to afford it.

CLICK HERE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION SLIDESHOW

Black Rock Solar allows the schools and medical clinics keep all the money they save to support their communities as they see fit.

Why Black Rock Solar vs. buying carbon offsets? Carbon offsets may become an important contribution to the fight against global climate change. However, the carbon offset marketplace is still developing -slowed down by a lack of transparent standards.

“It’s hard to understand how donating $20 to a carbon offset firm using their ‘proprietary calculator,’ can make it OK to drive/fly from A to B, and define it as “carbon neutral.”

Black Rock Solar has a different approach: they build solar power -lots of it, and they do it for less than anyone else, which allows them to build even more! When Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel donates cash to Black Rock Solar we know exactly where our money is going -and we can walk up to the panel we helped fund and install

.

“In concrete terms, Black Rock Solar has an unbeatable return on investment, turning every $1 donated into $15 of clean green solar value.”

Here’s how: It costs BRS around $6 to build a watt of solar power, and they can get $5 of that in rebates from the public utility in Nevada. Then they match that with $3 in donated labor value, and it turns into $6 in free green energy over the life of the system.

“Every Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel $1 leverages $5 in rebates, and $3 in donated labor, to create $6 in free energy; 1+5+3+6= $15! Try finding that kind of ROI on Wall Street these days!”

Who are the people Black Rock Solar and Exquisite Safaris help? Like ES, BRS works almost exclusively in rural areas that tend to be economically disadvantaged -and certainly off the map when it comes to high dollar renewable energy projects -but that’s exactly why we need to be there.

For decades, the only people that have had renewable energy have been either large institutions with deep pockets, or the wealthy. But as Al Gore stated July 17, 2008 we need every single part of our society engaged in the fight against climate change. By changing the face of renewable energy, we’ll make it accessible to hundreds of communities that would otherwise never consider it. After all, if Gerlach, Nevada can go green, anyone can!

Is it working?
To answer that, just check with any of the communities BRS has helped so far. To date, the solar power they have built will generate over $1,000,000 in savings for those communities over the next 25 years -money that sustains communities in ways those communities decide they need it most.

It’s that kind of impact that made People Magazine choose Black Rock Solar as one of three “Environmental Heroes” for 2008 -and they are just getting started.

Donate to Black Rock Solar!

Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel announces Americans helping Americans Philanthropic Travel (probono): Leaving the Mines Behind Empowering Appalachia: May 31 to June 7, 2009

Learn More:
Black Rock Solar: University of Nevada Reno Installation
Exquisite Safaris partners with Black Rock Solar
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comments (0) e-mail

“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

Philanthropic Travel: Enlightened Experiences

The Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel experience integrates indigenous local culture into every personalized experience we recommend. These personal introductions create authentic cross cultural friendships that generate trust, respect, and generous donations funding philanthropic travel projects worldwide.

FMR. PRES. BILL CLINTON: Well, right now it isn’t drying up. I think right now a lot of the kind of the people who do this work are inherently optimistic and deeply committed, and they see this, our Global Initiative and their commitment to the world and in America as a way of building confidence again.

MR. BROKAW: When you ran successfully for president in 1992, the unofficial slogan was, “It’s the economy, stupid.”

It’s hard to imagine, given the political and especially the financial climate that we’re all living in now that someone can say it’s about aid to Africa, stupid, or it’s about AIDS, stupid, or it’s about doing something about poverty, stupid.

Is this not going to be an issue, your great work here as the Clinton Global Initiative, in this campaign? Is it going to have to be set off to the side?

PRES. CLINTON: Well, I think the answer is it will not -it’s not nearly as big an issue for the two thirds of American people who are having trouble paying their own bills and are worried about their future.

On the other hand, I think there -the two great issues in America in this election are how to restore economic strength and broadly shared prosperity and how to restore America’s position in the world.

I think -if I were making the CGI argument in a political speech, I’d say we’re not going to have the America we want unless prosperity is broadly shared, and to do that, we have to have economic opportunity in the poorest parts of America.

And in the world, the places where America is popular today in the world, really popular, 10 countries in central and eastern Africa. Look at the Pew poll. Wildly popular. Why? Because they see us through the prism of President Bush’s AIDS and malaria programs and the work the Gates Foundation does, the work that I do, the work that others do.

So we can -this should be presented to the American people that as a part of our participation in the interdependent world, we actually make more partners and fewer enemies.

MR. BROKAW: One of the concerns that the Gates Foundation has, that everything coming out of Africa that is reported is doom and gloom, and they say there are real success stories there.

PRES. CLINTON: Absolutely.

MR. BROKAW: And the American people need to hear about that.

PRES. CLINTON: The American -first of all, I wish we could have a cessation in the use of the word Africa for just 18 months while America learns that Africa is a continent that just in sub-Saharan Africa has 48 separate countries, and that it’s not just the geography, it’s the politics, the culture, the language, everything is different, and that yes, there’s been bad news in Darfur, yes, there’s been bad news out of Zimbabwe, but you have country after country after country with very high growth rates and remarkable progress. I mean, Rwanda, genocide in ’94, 10 percent of the country dies in 90 days. Four years later, their per capita income still well under $300 a year, 10 years later, $1,000 a year.

Nearly quadrupled their per capita income. That’s the real Africa. That is far more representative of what the African people are doing and can do tomorrow than the other, and I really wish every time we talked about it -you should discuss it with your news people -whether we would mention a country.

You might say, “Oh, by the way, it’s in Africa,” but we’ve got to stop thinking of Africa as a monolith.

MR. BROKAW: Mr. President, thank you very much.

PRES. CLINTON: Thank you.

Meet the Press Video

Learn More:
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Travel Connoisseur Magazine on Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel
New York Times on Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel
Native American Elementary School gets Free Solar Installation
Exquisite Safaris partners with Black Rock Solar
Paradigm Alert: Hot, Flat & Crowded by Thomas Friedman

Philanthropic Travelers:
The The One’s Who Do: Visionary Philanthropic Travelers
Friends of Ngong Road School Nairobi Kenya: Philanthropic Travel Success Story
Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel partners in Victoria Falls, Zambia: Butterfly Tree Project
Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel partners in Ndola, Zambia with The QFund
Exquisite Safaris clients say…
Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel partners with Village Enterprise Fund in Uganda, Tanzania & Kenya

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“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 Philanthropic Travel: Enlightened Experiences The Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel experience integrates indigenous local culture into every personalized luxury trip we recommend. These personal introductions create authentic cross cultural friendships that generate trust, respect, and generous donations funding philanthropic travel projects worldwide.

Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel announces Americans helping Americans Philanthropic Travel: Leaving the Mines Behind Empowering Appalachia: May 31 to June 7, 2009

“Creating a Philanthropic Travel experience that inspires, educates and empowers both traveler/donor as well as host/beneficiaries highlighting Appalachia’s American spirit, music, crafts and the individual sacrifice that families have endured as a result of coal industry leadership in the region is only possible in collaboration with our distinguished partners.

I would like to thank The Make it Real Foundation, Appalshop, Appalachian Media Institute, Paul Corbit Brown, Appalachian Voices, iLoveMountains.org, South Wings, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and the Appalachian Artisans Center for sharing their wisdom and opening their hearts to us.” -David Chamberlain: Founder Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel
~~

Learn More:

Appalshop
Appalachia Media Institute
South Wings
Paul Corbit Brown

The Myth of Clean Coal and Reality of Mountain Top Removal
Journey to 100% Zero-Carbon Electricity in 10 Years
Exquisite Safaris partners with Black Rock Solar
Native American Elementary School gets Free Solar Installation
Paradigm Alert: Hot, Flat & Crowded by Thomas Friedman

New York Times on Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel
Global Cooling?
The Wisdom of Stone Soup

Travel Connoisseur Magazine on Exquisite Safaris

Socially Conscious Travel

Philanthropic Travelers:
The The One’s Who Do: Visionary Philanthropic Travelers
Friends of Ngong Road: Philanthropic Travelers
Exquisite Safaris clients say…

Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel is pleased to announce our humanitarian fund raising partnership with Friends of Ngong Road in Nairobi, Kenya. The Friends of Ngong Road team on both sides of the Atlantic execute their mission with professional attention to detail that is truly world class -a best practices case study in the Globalization of Empathy.“ -David Chamberlain Founder Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel

Life in Kenya is Hard
The mission of Friends of Ngong Road (the fund-raising arm based in the U.S.A) and its sister organization Ngong Road Children Association (the operating arm in Kenya) is to fund education and provide support for children living in Nairobi whose lives are affected by HIV/AIDS. Their goal is to bring hope to these children by pairing a specific child and sponsor thereby giving sponsors a direct role in these children’s lives.

The Kenya operations are based in the poor area of Dagoretti in Nairobi where they currently sponsor nearly 200 children.

Every day life is a challenge in Dagoretti, living conditions are crowded, most families live in row houses constructed of corrugated steel packed closely together. Each family shares one, or if they are slightly less destitute, two small rooms.

Clothing is hung on nails pounded into the walls. There is no running water and almost no one has electricity. Bathrooms are pit latrines shared by multiple families. Food is cooked outdoors with charcoal or wood. The streets are usually dirt and become rutted and muddy during the rainy season.

AIDS Makes Life Much Harder
For the typical person in Dagoretti life is difficult but not desperate. Life gets much tougher for children whose parents suffer from or have died of AIDS.

A meal is an uncertain event. Some days the parent or guardian can work and there is money for food. Other days they may be too ill to work and the children go hungry. There is little money for school. Public schools are very crowded and of low quality. Absenteeism is frequent for children whose lives are affected by AIDS, as they often have to miss school to take care of a sibling when their parent or guardian is ill.

Children living in these circumstances are often more quiet, less hopeful and smile far less often than the norm. They are simply surviving with little optimism about the future.

The Smiling People of Ngong Road Walking the streets in Dagoretti is fascinating. People of all ages are on the street or in front of their small one-room shops.

Many of the people around you are friendly and will smile at you as you walk by. They greet each other with big smiles and handshakes. Children run everywhere.

Goats, chickens and the occasional cow all mingle with the people even in these urban areas. There are shops selling a few vegetables, beauty salons, charcoal dealers and places to get a car battery charged to power a T.V. or radio. The occasional car bumps slowly by passing the hand-drawn two-wheeled carts full of wood, or water or something else to sell.

There is always someone interesting to greet.

The Story of The Friends of Ngong Road
The Program is based one man’s vision.

Peter Ndungu grew up in the poor areas of Nairobi. He was orphaned at 11 but was befriended by a Lutheran pastor who arranged funding for his education. Peter eventually graduated from both primary and secondary school in Kenya and went on to complete his Masters in Nairobi and Masters of Arts in Evangelism at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Peter had long nurtured a dream of helping children living in poverty to prosper through education. In 2006 he met Paula Meyer while Paula and her family were on vacation in Kenya. He told Paula of his dream and she decided to help make it reality. Friends of Ngong Road and Ngong Road Children Association were founded to turn Peter’s dream into a program to help children living in poverty. The volunteers in the U.S. and staff in Nairobi share a deep belief in the value of education and the hope it can bring to young lives.

The Manifestation of One Man’s Vision
Friends of Ngong Road and Ngong Road Children Association provide education and support for children who are affected by HIV/AIDS in Nairobi. Their objective is to give children the tools and support to improve their lives through education.

You can Make a Difference: A $750 annual gift allows a child to enter the Program and begin their education at our select schools.

1. Schooling: Tuition, tutoring, uniform, books, supplies and a daily lunch
2. Saturday Program: A day of fun activities and a wholesome meal
3. Family Support: Case worker support, food assistance and access to basic medical care

Sustaining Funds: Sustaining funds provide needs that are beyond a sponsorship (such as extraordinary health care, extracurricular activities and staff/office support)

Scholarships: Funds are needed to provide tuition assistance for children who are best served by a boarding school this includes children whose home situation has become untenable, the top-performing 7th and 8th graders as well as secondary school students whose tuition is higher than primary school costs

Value for Your Investment: Your Contribution Goes to its Intended Purpose

100% of Money Raised is Sent to Kenya:
2007 audit is available on request. Fund-raising and communications in the U.S. are managed by volunteers allowing us to send all of the funds we raise to Kenya.

89% of the Budget Goes to Direct Student Support
Kenya administrative costs total 11% of 2008 forecast freeing the remainder to be spent on direct student costs such as tuition, food as well as student and community outreach.

Focus Schools to Ensure Quality Education
Children in our Program must attend one of our focus schools. These schools were selected based on their strong academic results. Their goal is to form partnerships with a few schools so we can influence them on behalf of our children.

Food for the Family and for Students
Children in our Program receive at least one nutritious meal per day from the Program, Monday through Saturday. Sometimes this is their only meal that day. We also supply a supplemental packet of food monthly.

Community and Friendship for Students and SponsorsSaturday Program and Vacation Camp build a sense of belonging and self esteem. Children write at least two letters annually to their sponsors. In many cases a strong bond is formed between sponsor and child.

A Program Run by Kenyans, for Kenyans
All staff and volunteers in Nairobi live in or were raised in Nairobi’s poor urban communities. They understand the challenges faced by our children from personal experience.

Admission Criteria to Select Successful Students
Since space in our program is limited, we select students with the highest academic ability from a range of primary grades. After preliminary selection, we visit their home to review our expectations with the guardian. We look for a home situation conducive to study and where the child receives at least one meal daily.

Learn More:
Exquisite Safaris partners with Friends of Ngong Road
Globalization of Empathy: Philanthropic Travel
Exquisite Safaris partners with Black Rock Solar
Native American Elementary School gets Free Solar Installation
Collaboration creates Prosperity: Philanthropic Travel
Global Cooling?
The Wisdom of Stone Soup
Travel Connoisseur Magazine on Exquisite Safaris
Exquisite Safaris clients say…

Philanthropic Travelers:
The The One’s Who Do: Visionary Philanthropic Travelers
Jane Kaye- Bailey: Philanthropic Traveler
Richard Branson: Philanthropic Traveler

comments (0) e-mail

“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

Philanthropic Travel is the Ultimate Luxury

The Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel experience integrates indigenous local culture into every personalized luxury trip we recommend. These personal introductions create authentic cross cultural friendships that generate trust, respect, and generous donations funding philanthropic travel projects worldwide.

What it means to be a Social Venture Entrepreneur is evolving, but a simple definition is engaging in social value-creating activity that can occur within or across the nonprofit, government, or business sectors. While virtually all enterprises, commercial and social, generate social value (e.g. jobs, equity, etc.), fundamental to this definition is that Social Venture Entrepreneurship give equal weight to creating social value as well as personal or shareholder wealth.

Social Venture Entrepreneurship extends beyond the more narrow scope of corporate responsibility that Wikipedia defines as, “a concept whereby organizations consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, communities and other stakeholders, as well as the environment.” Social Venture Entrepreneurs, by contrast, structure their business models to have a net positive effect on most, or all, of the aforementioned stakeholders through the normal course of business. Don’t get me wrong, I applaud the efforts and good work companies accomplish with their CSR initiatives. My intention is simply to highlight the differences between the two.

The next logical question is, “Why don’t Social Venture Entrepreneurs just create nonprofit organizations?” Nonprofits are indispensable in that they help address inequity in the world in a way that socially responsible companies and/or governments are not. But the reality is, despite their best intentions and monumental efforts, nonprofits have not and cannot solve the issues they target. The resources are too limited and the problems too big.

Traditional approaches are still falling short, especially as the intensity and complexity of social problems have grown. These persistent problems seem to demand new models and new ways of thinking to crack them.

An entrepreneurial approach allows social organizations not only to maximize value from limited resources, but also to reallocate resources that would not otherwise be used to address inequity.

This reallocation, or realignment of resources is one of the big ideas behind Social Venture Entrepreneurship.” -David Chamberlain, CEO Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Worldwide

Learn More: Philanthropic Travel the Ultimate Luxury

The End of Philanthropy by Marc Benioff

HIP = Human Impact + Profit: For your company, your portfolio and your world

Global Social Engagement Advisory Services Global Social Engagement: Philanthropic Travel

Harvard Business Review Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector: Philanthropic Travel Why Corporate Social Responsibility is Good for Business and How to Distinguish Between True and False CSR.

Philanthropic Travelers: The One’s Who Do: Philanthropic Travelers

Richard Branson: Philanthropic Traveler

David Chamberlain: Philanthropic Traveler

comments (0) e-mail

“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 Philanthropic Travel: Enlightened Experiences The Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel experience integrates indigenous local culture into every personalized experience we recommend. These personal introductions create authentic cross cultural friendships that generate trust, respect, and generous donations funding philanthropic travel projects worldwide.

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“And the avarice of mankind is insatiable…for it is in the nature of desire to be unlimited, and most men live only for the gratification of it. -Aristotle

We can learn much from the Native American tradition of the potlatch. It is a tradition that values generosity above all else, and a potlatch, which is a very grand ceremony, is an exercise in giving away material possessions, food, and money. It is not uncommon for the host of a potlatch to give away so much of his own resources to his guests that he ends up with nothing. However, he can regain his wealth by attending potlatches at which he is a guest. In this way, a potlatch validates generosity and encourages the flow of resources in a community, while at the same time continually reaffirming the importance of community ties.

When we are held in a web of trust and connection, we can give generously, knowing that when it is our turn we will be supported. In this way, our whole sense of ownership becomes less individualistic and more communal. Resources are in an acceptable state of flux, moving within the community through the vehicle of the potlatch, which serves the additional function of strengthening community ties. This seems clearly preferable to isolating ourselves from one another and hoarding our resources.

Perhaps we can find ways in our own lives to create a community in which a flow of resources happens in this way, in which we support one another to be generous. We might begin by celebrating our own type of potlatch, having a dinner party and giving each guest an object that is dear to us. Or we could give everyone a little bit of money in an envelope to spend on themselves just for fun. Someone might get inspired to throw their own potlatch, and before we know it we might have a tradition that supports and validates generosity even as it creates a safety net for leaner times. In the most profound sense, that is what a community, a tribe, and family do best.

Learn More:
Exquisite Safaris partners with Black Rock Solar
Collaboration creates Prosperity: Philanthropic Travel
Daily Om
Global Cooling?
The Wisdom of Stone Soup
Exquisite Safaris clients say…
Travel Connoisseur Magazine on Exquisite Safaris

Philanthropic Travelers:
The The One’s Who Do: Visionary Philanthropic Travelers
Visionary Philanthropic Traveler Chellie Kew
Jane Kaye- Bailey: Philanthropic Traveler
Richard Branson: Philanthropic Traveler

comments (0) e-mail

“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

Philanthropic Travel is the Ultimate Luxury

The Exquisite Safaris philanthropic travel experience integrates indigenous local culture into every personalized luxury trip we recommend. These personal introductions create authentic cross cultural friendships that generate trust, respect, and generous donations funding philanthropic travel projects worldwide.

What it means to be a Social Entrepreneur is evolving, but a simple definition is engaging in social value-creating activity that can occur within or across the nonprofit, government, or business sectors. While virtually all enterprises, commercial and social, generate social value (e.g. jobs, equity, etc.), fundamental to this definition is that Social Entrepreneurship give equal weight to creating social value as well as personal or shareholder wealth.

Social Entrepreneurship extends beyond the more narrow scope of corporate responsibility that Wikipedia defines as, “a concept whereby organizations consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, communities and other stakeholders, as well as the environment.” Social Entrepreneurs, by contrast, structure their business models to have a net positive effect on most, or all, of the aforementioned stakeholders through the normal course of business. Don’t get me wrong, I applaud the efforts and good work companies accomplish with their CSR initiatives. My intention is simply to highlight the differences between the two.

The next logical question is, “Why don’t Social Entrepreneurs just create nonprofit organizations?” Nonprofits are indispensable in that they help address inequity in the world in a way that socially responsible companies and/or governments are not. But the reality is, despite their best intentions and monumental efforts, nonprofits have not and cannot solve the issues they target. The resources are too limited and the problems too big.

Traditional approaches are still falling short, especially as the intensity and complexity of social problems have grown. These persistent problems seem to demand new models and new ways of thinking to crack them.

An entrepreneurial approach allows social organizations not only to maximize value from limited resources, but also to reallocate resources that would not otherwise be used to address inequity.

This reallocation, or realignment of resources is one of the big ideas behind Social Entrepreneurship.” -David Chamberlain, CEO Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Worldwide

Learn More:
Philanthropic Travel the Ultimate Luxury
The End of Philanthropy by Marc Benioff
Global Social Engagement Advisory Services
Global Social Engagement: Philanthropic Travel
Harvard Business Review Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector: Philanthropic Travel
Why Corporate Social Responsibility is Good for Business and How to Distinguish Between True and False CSR.

Philanthropic Travelers:
Butterfly Tree Project: A Philanthropic Travel Success Story
Marc Gold’s 100Friends lead Philanthropic Travelers in Asia, Africa & South America

comments (0) e-mail

“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

Philanthropic Travel is the Ultimate Luxury

The Exquisite Safaris philanthropic travel experience integrates indigenous local culture into every personalized luxury trip we recommend. These personal introductions create authentic cross cultural friendships that generate trust, respect, and generous donations funding philanthropic travel projects worldwide.

Venture Philanthropy

In the Beginning
In 1972 my grandfather, grandmother and I visited the poorest country in the western hemisphere: Haiti. Much to my grandmother’s dismay, my grandfather decided that our adventure for the day would be exploring the countryside with a Port Au Prince taxi cab driver as our guide. After an hour driving down a dusty rutted gravel road we stopped in at a rural marketplace to experience life in rural Haiti. It was along the side of that dirt road that we had our first personal philanthropic travel experience.

Soon after the dust from our cabbie’s Toyota had settled, unclothed children, adults and their livestock emerged from the surrounding area, undoubtedly to closely examine my aqua and orange tailor made Miami Dolphins leisure suit with white leather loafers. We were surrounded by smiling faces wondering who we were and why we had stopped by to say bonjour. Ten minutes later, after just about everyone in the crowd had a chance to smile at us, touch us and make direct eye contact with us, a soccer ball flew through the air. I trapped it and quickly passed it back to my new teammate who received it effortlessly after it had flown right over the heads of several adults.

“When we are very young children we know how to feel. It’s innate. But as we lead a lifetime, we pick up so many thoughts, impressions, feelings, and ideas, that our sensitivity goes away.” -F.L. Ph.d

Connecting I bonded with the local kids and my grandparents stood side-by-side with adults from the village while the cabbie lit a cigar. My grandmother, initially fearful of the unknown, was now smiling, calmly and communicating in sign language with local women, and enjoying her experience. We all seemed to connect for those brief moments. The spontaneous transcendent events of that morning’s cross-cultural experience are still vivid today, as they were so many years before. Those few moments changed our lives.

Deja Vu During my first trip to Africa while driving between Maun, Botswana and Windhoek, Namibia I was moved to pull over at a village in a remote area of the Kalahari Desert, much to my friend Linette’s consternation. She declined my offer to join me for a walk into the center of the grass hut village and decided instead to stay in the car -with the doors locked. Ten minutes later I returned to the car with a crowd from the village: children running, mothers talking, fathers trailing the entourage, and once again soccer balls flying through the air. Linette gracefully emerged from the car with a smile and began to open the clothes intended as gifts. Captivated by everyone’s curiosity, kindness and easy laughter, Linette and I spoke of life in their village and life in our village in Switzerland and the USA. We felt our guests’ humanity and warmth, we were welcomed and felt safe as guests of the community. And, an hour later after sharing gifts of Nike t-shirts and old Levis we had agreed to deliver, two men needed a ride to their cousins’ funeral in a village 25 kilometers away. Sent off with with an open invitation to return completed with smiling faces, vigorous handshakes and waves we set off down the Trans-Kalahari Highway towards Namibia.

A New Journey While driving I realized that the seed for Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel, planted 27 years before in rural Haiti, had just bloomed in Africa. That afternoon as I drove through the Kalahari Desert with Linette and our two new acquaintances on their way to acknowledge an ending, I began again on a new journey: introducing travelers to locals with the intention of uplifting those local people and their communities through health, education and sustainable development.

Enlightened Luxury If you’re a traveler I encourage you to become a philanthropic traveler. Exquisite Safaris has developed partnerships with humanitarian outreach projects in Africa, Asia and South America: Orphanages, AIDS and medical clinics, schools, women’s entrepreneurial initiatives, and clean water NGO’s that will open their doors to you and connect you personally with the people they serve. -David Chamberlain in The Huffington Post

Learn More:

Philanthropic Travel is the Ultimate Luxury

The Huffington Post: Philanthropic Travelers

Reinventing yourself and the World: We are the New Radicals

Exquisite Safaris clients say…

In Pursuit of Emptiness: Philanthropic Travel

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Social Neuroscience: Philanthropic Travel

Travel Connoisseur Magazine on Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Worldwide

My First Philanthropic Travel Experience

The Fable of Stone Soup Understanding Philanthropic Travel

Philanthropic Travelers:

The The One’s Who Do: Visionary Philanthropic Travelers

Visionary Philanthropic Traveler Marc Gold 100 Friends Project

Visionary Philanthropic Traveler Chellie Kew

Jane Kaye- Bailey: Philanthropic Traveler

Richard Branson: Philanthropic Traveler

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“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 Philanthropic Travel is the Ultimate Luxury The Exquisite Safaris philanthropic travel experience integrates indigenous local culture into every personalized luxury trip we recommend. These personal introductions create authentic cross cultural friendships that generate trust, respect, and generous donations funding philanthropic travel projects worldwide.

Destination Philanthropy