Cómo descubrí el impacto de los micropréstamos en Guatemala

La experiencia en Guatemala fue muy especial.

En principio íbamos de turismo, a conocer los lugares más recónditos del país, de la mano de nuestra amiga Myriam, que vivía allí desde hacía casi un año. Queríamos conocer sitios interesantes, pasárnoslo bien, y ver de primera mano cómo vivía nuestra amiga allí, qué amigos y trabajo tenía, y en definitiva, cómo se había montado su vida.

Myriam trabajaba en una consultora de desarrollo, y dirigía diversos proyectos de cooperación en poblados alejados en comunidades rurales. Tuvimos la suerte de conocer, ver y ayudar, aunque tan sólo fuera por un día o dos, a las personas con las que trabajaba Myriam, a quien tanto agradecían y admiraban. Para mi, que trabajo en recursos humanos fue increíble descubrir el poder de los micropréstamos en las vidas de la gente. Con un poco de ayuda y asesoría pasan a ser empresarios y a tener ingresos continuos para sus familias.

Lo que en principio era un viaje de placer, de hacer turismo y divertirnos con nuestra amiga, se convirtió en una experiencia preciosa, puesto que también pudimos ayudar y tener contacto con proyectos y gente que de otra manera hubiera sido imposible hacer.

Ya no hará falta tener a una Myriam en nuestras vidas para poder contactar con ONGs locales y ayudarlas, sino que Zuvy nos ayudará a hacerlo.

Os incluyo algunas fotos. Una recogiendo el piñón que luego transformaban en bioetanol y otra de nuestra amiga con la gente de la comunidad.

Regala una experiencia Zuvy por 50€ estas Navidades y harás disfrutar a tus seres queridos de un día único y diferente.

Zuvy propone una nueva forma de conocer las realidades locales de los destinos de tus viajes, viviendo “microexperiencias” con organizaciones y ONGs locales.

Experiencias de aprendizaje donde tienes la oportunidad de ver, aprender y aportar. Imagina que en Argentina con tu tiempo y conocimiento asesoraste a pequeños emprendedores. Que en Kenia jugaste con niños al futbol y conociste el poder del deporte en la lucha contra el sida. Que en México pudiste construir una casa para una familia. El impacto es más grande de lo que piensas.

Nuestro cheque regalo para estas navidades incluye una de nuestras experiencias durante un día y para una persona en el destino que tu beneficiario elija.

Canjearlo es muy sencillo. El beneficiario nos informa de su destino, itinerario y fechas con un plazo mínimo de dos semanas. Seguidamente, le informaremos en detalle sobre el proyecto que puede visitar, las actividades que realizará, así como todo lo relativo a traslados y bienvenida por parte de la organización.

Ponte en contacto con nosotros en info@zuvy.org y reserva tu cheque ya.

Condiciones del cheque
- Destinos disponibles a Diciembre de 2010: Argentina, Perú, México, Costa Rica, Guatemala, India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam y Kenia. Infórmate sobre nuevos destinos al canjear tu cheque.
- Válido para viajes durante el 2011
- Gastos adicionales, como transporte y alojamiento, a consultar para cada experiencia
- El 60% del valor del cheque se destina directamente al proyecto que visitas

Zuvy Effect S.L • Tel: +34 669 44 89 35 / +34 629 008 035 • info@zuvy.org

My Zuvy Experience at Dream a Dream Foundation – by Vijesh Unnikrishnan

Before I got there, I didn’t know much about Dream A Dream besides what I read on their website. I was excited nonetheless to be with an organization that worked with underprivileged children in India. Fast forward 8 hours and I experienced (1) a young, passionate team of individuals who welcomed me to be part of its mission, (2) an ambitious organization that was making meaningful and lasting changes in society.

Who is Dream a Dream
Dream a Dream, the brainchild of Vishal Tareja, aspires to fill a crucial gap overlooked by most NGO’s working with underprivileged children in India. Vishal and his team believe that it is not only sufficient to provide children from low income communities with food and education, but must be supplanted with life skills. While most of us in the 1st world unconsciously develop decision making skills courtesy the privilege of having had choices in life, even simple ones – cheese pizza or bagel sandwich, Pepsi or Coke, Wii or PS3. Children in India’s slums grow up with no choices – they eat what they are given, they wear what they are handed down. The result, according to Vishal is that these children grow up with poor decision making skills and are unprepared to start a productive life in society despite the education they are given through other NGO’s programs. Dream a Dream teaches life skills to Bangalore’s underprivileged children through simple, fun methods – Kids love art and kids love sports. Through organized after school programs which coach children in drawing, painting and professionally organized soccer leagues, children learn valuable life skills – sharing, self-worth, team building and leadership.

What I Experienced
I spent a couple of hours in morning at Dream a Dream’s office where the entire team had a group meeting with me and shared their passion for what they were doing. In the afternoon I went on field visits to a both the art programs and the soccer program. The Art program was an intimate experience where I went to an elementary school in a slum in south Bangalore. The kids were excited to see me there and couldn’t stop holding my hand and showing me their artwork for my approval. It didn’t take me long to experience how I was contributing to Vishal’s dream – these children were happy to have an adult whom they can trust and hear words of appreciation from. After this event, I spent the rest of the afternoon at Christ college grounds watching groups of children in Dream a Dream’s soccer program. The children were being coached by a professional soccer coach, they were wearing full uniforms and gear and at first sight one would not believe that these kids were from a low income community of Bangalore. This was another of Vishal’s dream – desensitizing the community to the difference between the haves and have-nots of Bangalore. Clearly, children in both these groups were experiencing something over and above what society believes it can offer them – food and basic education. Dream a Dream with its programs was teaching these children invaluable life skills by offering them a chance to do something that so many of us simply take for granted – the ability to make a choice in life. Thanks to Zuvy for enabling this experience.
If you are in Bangalore and want to experience changemakers in action AND want to make an immediate impact, checkout Dream A Dream at Zuvy. They will welcome you with an amazing volunteer experience.

Are you prepared to be a responsible Zuvy traveler?

Some time ago in the post “Do’s and don’ts during travel giving” I mentioned a document that Traveler’s Philanthropy had developed. Now, inspired by our own experience and others’ opinions Zuvy has developed its own guidelines for the Zuvy travelers. If you have never done it, “travel giving” , “community tourism”, “philanthropy tourism” is a very different kind of travelling to what you are used to and, as Zuvy, we are very concerned about training our visitors before they embark on the experience. I wanted to share with you, the main points we have identified to build what we believe in fact is “responsible tourism”. Please read below and if you have comments about the points hereafter identified we would appreciate of you could let us know.
1. Interact genuinely with the people you are going to meet. The organization’s staff devotes their lives to trying to make the community a better place. Respect their work in every level. The project beneficiaries are friendly and intelligent people that just happen to have adapted to different surroundings, but they are just like you and me!

2. Do not expect to have a big, direct impact on the organization you are visiting. You will be involved in the project activities and your assistance will be helpful to the project, but that is not the reason you are there. Remember that Zuvy experiences are designed to learn: learn about a different culture, different ways of living and realities from what you find at home.

3. Always maintain a positive attitude towards the unexpected. Anything can happen in an emerging country, including the areas you will be visiting. You may not be able to complete the agreed schedule, food and transportation may not be provided in the most convenient way, the staff member of the organization may be late to pick you up or he may fail to arrive for various reasons (e.g. he is stuck in a traffic jam, had to take a child to the hospital, etc). Zuvy is not responsible for any of this, you agree to the risk of the unexpected. In short: expect the best, but be prepared for the worst.

4. Avoid flashy clothing, expensive jewelry or watches, or anything that may promote the privilege of the tourist. People with fewer resources than you, are in many cases, much more generous and respectful than we would expect, but it is better to avoid any unforseen situations.

5. Handouts and monetary donations to the people are strictly forbidden. You will create chaos and quickly establish the assumption that tourist equals gifts. You may donate through Zuvy to the organization or to the organization directly, but never directly to the beneficiaries. Remember that the organization has been working there for a long time and has more knowledge than you of how to benefit the community.

6. Pictures and videos are allowed with extreme respect. Please ask before taking pictures especially of children. Avoid the paparazzi style and be discrete. If you want to have a lot of pictures, please ask the organization to share some of their photographs with you.

7. In kind donations are only accepted upon request from the organization. If you wish to take school supplies, medicine or clothes please check with us and we will let you know if they will be helpful to the project.

8. Respect people’s privacy. Do not peak through windows or doors. You can ask people questions, but always with genuine interest and respect. They will enjoy telling you about their lives if you enquire with a constructive attitude.

9. Talk about your experience when you get back home and share it with your friends and family. Sharing your experience is the best way for you to give exposure to the organization. Take some time to write about it and we will share it with everyone on the Zuvy website.

10. Most importantly, enjoy yourself! You have ahead of you an amazing and rare opportunity to meet new people and to learn about a different reality. Take your thoughts back home, feel inspired and transform them into action in your own community!

Cartagena (Colombia) desde fuera de la ciudad amurallada

Zuvy ha estado este verano en Colombia. A parte de aprovechar el viaje para descubrir un grandísimo país lleno de belleza natural, amables gentes e impresionante arquitectura colonial (algo bueno dejamos los españoles!) queríamos aprovechar para conocer alguno de los proyectos con los que vamos a trabajar ahí. Nuestra entrada en Colombia ha sido a través de Give to Colombia, organización basada en los Estados Unidos y que canaliza las donaciones norteamericanas a proyectos de alto impacto en Colombia. En nuestra visita a Colombia aprovechamos para reunirnos con la Fundación Carlos y Sonia Haime cuyos proyectos en la zona de Cartagena incorporaremos en el futuro cercano. Nos recibieron con gran hospitalidad Andrea, directora ejecutiva de la Fundación y Pier Paola, gestora de proyectos. Pier nos acompañó a los proyectos de Tierra Baja y Manzanillo, a 20 minutos y media hora respectivamente de la ciudad de Cartagena. Estuvimos dándole vueltas conjuntamente a cómo podríamos construir una experiencia Zuvy alrededor de dichos proyectos. Os quiero comentar brevemente como visualizamos la experiencia de Manzanillo.

Manzanillo es una comunidad al borde de la playa. La playa, aunque ya es frecuentada por un número de turistas, está todavía descuidada e inundada de restaurantes muy tradicionales todos en fila donde todos sirven el mismo plato típico, el pescado del día acompañado de arroz de coco y patacón, y todos al mismo precio. Las posibilidades de construir alrededor de la playa una oferta de turismo responsable y sostenible mayor son infinitas. Y es ahí donde vemos de gran ayuda la colaboración del viajero Zuvy. Todos como viajeros sabemos muy bien los servicios que nos gustaría tener a nuestro alcance cuando llegamos a un lugar. ¿Por qué no ayudar a los dueños de los restaurantes a construir una oferta más diferenciada y a mejorar sus establecimientos mientras que se comparte un día con la gente de la comunidad, participando, entre otras, en las actividades de pesca con los mayores, o en las actividades de danza contemporánea con los pequeños?

Zuvy…

Zuvy tiene algo de aventura y de misterio. Como un puente tendido entre 2 orillas, invita a quienes lo cruzan a descubrir lo que se esconde al otro lado. Quienes se atreven, sin embargo, no vuelven a ser jamás los mismos.

Zuvy.org es uno de esos contados proyectos que tienen la capacidad real de cambiar el mundo. Y yo que lo he visto nacer, crecer y consolidarse usando la ilusión y devoción desinteresada como principal conglomerado, recomiendo esta experiencia a todos aquellos que busquen no sólo relacionarse con gente distinta, sino a quienes quieran también encontrarse con ellos mismos.

Zuvy no es un tour de moda, ni una escapada distinta, ni siquiera unos días de vacaciones…
Zuvy es un viaje a la esencia; al mismo corazón de las personas; a las entrañas milenarias de las Civilizaciones.

¡Buen viaje!

Ángel

Do’s and don’ts during travel giving

I encourage everyone to read the whole document by a leading platform in philanthropy tourism, www.travelersphilanthropy.com about the Do’s and Don’ts during travel giving. In reading this article my attention has focused in the section “Let’s visit an orphanage, a school, or a health clinic” and I found it necessary to paraphrase some of the aspects mentioned in the referred article.

We want your intentions, as a Zuvy traveler, to be far away from standing at arms length and ogle, to engage in ‘poverty tourism.’ Your intention is to respectfully investigate other people’s cultures and their responses to adversity, and to learn and grow from the experience. If you agree with this, you’ll have a mutually beneficial time. Do not bring your binoculars, and ensure that respectful leadership is provided by a local person. Ensure you carry the energy of a visitor, not as someone who possesses power over another because of the material things you have.”

“Visits like these, need to be done with sensitivity – poor communities are not zoo animals – They must be arranged through local structures, such as the tribal authority.”
“Children are not pets. Orphanages are not zoos. People are not helping by visiting poverty. Unless they are giving a skill to a place, interacting with kids needs to be monitored and shouldn’t be happening on a regular basis.”
“We work with specific orphanages, and it depends on if they are open to receiving visitors. We only allow this if there’s some sort of contribution the guests are making to the orphanage and the children, and it’s not just going and looking.”
“Visits to schools during school hours, orphanages, or other establishments primarily established to educate or house and care for children, or to a health clinic or hospital, should only be undertaken with prior arrangement through your tour operator or through a local person in appropriate authority that can arrange a suitably managed opportunity.

Zuvy works hand in hand with all our projects and we closely select those ones that are prepared to receive visitors and we shape together with the organization the experiences they are offering. I want to tell the reader that this is the most valuable step the Zuvy adds. Zuvy limits the frequency projects with which projects are opened to the public and ensures daily activities are not disturbed. We strive to shape experiences where the traveler gets involved with the community but if we see a risk of it being intrusive and detrimental to the community, the travelers will either solely interact with the project coordinator or, if this is not possible we won´t work with the organization considered.

I agree with Travelers Philanthropy in their view about random visitation

Random or unplanned visitation should be avoided as:
- It can be disruptive to the daily activities of the organization, particularly in areas where there are many foreign visitors.
- It can be potentially voyeuristic and intrusive to the lives of people working at or using the facility and not lead to any beneficial outcomes.
- It can arouse emotions of pity in travelers who want to help in some way, but a brief visit may lead to inappropriate ‘band-aid’ type assistance or handouts, rather than sustained and truly beneficial support.
- It may not allow the organization the time to ensure appropriate supervision and safety of the children. Sadly, we have to be aware that allowing random visitation can expose children to the greater risk of adults who may have sexual or other exploitation of the kids in mind.
- With schools and orphanages it can encourage a culture of dependency and an understanding in which children learn that if they smile and look cute, it will bring them or their organization gifts and money. Local staff may not be aware of the risks, but we are.

While most tourists are well-meaning and no doubt driven by a desire to help, the cumulative effect of brief visits by many foreigners can be detrimental to the children’s long-term interests.”
“After providing them with a rich background on politics, culture and social structures in Africa, we take our guests to see the projects of our non-profit arm. Through this organization we aim to provide long-term sustained engagement with local communities through educational, economic and community development initiatives.
After they visit one of our non-profit projects, many guests are moved to help. And through our programs, they can. For example, our School Sponsorship Program allows guests to sponsor a needy child’s education; an act that changes the life of a child (as well as the sponsor!).
We feel that this holistic and coordinated approach to giving back—instead of piecemeal gestures, however well-intentioned—is the best way to accomplish the goal of any philanthropic traveler: helping people in need.”

Zuvy also provides the traveler with the necessary mechanisms to follow up with the project. After engaging with the project, if the travelers want to give, we channel potential donations to the project. Also if they are willing to engage in longer term volunteer engagements we facilitate the communication between the project and the interested person.
From Zuvy we believe this is an extraordinary way to get engaged and to raise the awareness of what’s really happening. We feel that in many occasions, people need to see to believe. Zuvy is born to offer the opportunity to get involved responsibly, with the assurance that you are not causing any harm.

Zuvy launches with four amazing projects

Our first four projects have been carefully chosen and are offering very exciting experiences for the travelers. These projects are based in Peru and Mexico but we will be soon incorporating projects in other parts of Latin America. Stay tuned!
If you know anyone travelling to these countries during the following months please inform them about these cool experiences. The details for the projects will come in following posts

Building Sustainable Roofs in Lima or Arequipa, Peru
Join Techo Sostenible’s (sustainable roof) efforts to convert poor communities in Peru into eco-sustainable communities. Zuvy visitors assist painting the roofs and house facades, greening the area and training and educating the populations to manage effectively the resources they have. Zuvy travelers also share the experiences with the members of the community, among other activities.

Rural Developments banks in Oaxaca and Hidalgo, Mexico
Be part of the micro-enterprise development program to improve productivity and provide life skills and business training for women and men living in marginalized communities.

Supporting Quechua Women Weavers, Peru
Join Awamaki in its promotion of rural community development by participating in its programs in Quechua cultural preservation, health, education and sustainable tourism.

Building a better Mexico
Assist CONSTRUYENDO in building housing for underprivileged mexican families. Join them and have a unique giving experience

Zuvy Start-up…!

Zuvy is a web-based service that enables travelers to developing countries who are looking for a more valuable interaction with the local population to connect with Community Service Organizations (CSOs) for a short time frame. Right now, the only solution to interact with local communities is buying trinkets to a 4 year old child or committing to long term volunteering engagements. Zuvy experiences are here to cover this gap in the market!

Zuvy’s working model is easy and simple to use. Those travelers interested in a more fulfilling experience find and connect to CSOs through the Zuvy platform. The CSO receives the travelers and takes them through the Zuvy experience: a guided visit to show them in detail their work and the impact they are having with what they are doing. This way, Zuvy gives travelers exposure to all the work done on the ground by CSOs and leverages the abilities of travelers to benefit the goals and mission of the CSO. Zuvy is the most effective way for people passionate about making a deeper connection to the places they visit to engage in responsible travel!