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Enriched Souls, Kinder Hearts, Open Minds, Meaningful Travel, Giving Back, Service Projects, Voluntourism

Destinations

Day 1 of Volunteer Service Project in Lima, Peru

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Village of Villa Maria
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The first day of our group service projects in Lima, Peru was amazing. Our team of 24 spent the day at a mountain side village called Villa Maria. The local school (yellow and blue building behind me in the picture) was the site of the Medical camp hosted by the Alcansa church and Camino De Vida.

Local doctors, nurses, pharmacists and church volunteers along with our team provided free services to the locals in the village.Everything from a physical exam, dental check-up and flouride treatments, to nutrition advice & dispensing of medication was offered at no cost to anyone who wished to come in. Young children had their faces painted and had an opportunity to play and interact with the kids in our volunteer team.


The most unique thing about today was the fact that we actually had to walk or rather hike the dirt roads of the village going from house to house announcing the availability of the free clinic. As we went around the village, we had the awesome opportunity to see how the locals live in the mountain villages of Lima, Peru.

Stay tuned for more as we go through the next week working on various service projects and experiencing some of the amazing sights of Peru.


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Elly’s heading to Peru

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Elly’s heading to Peru on June 18. Join us as we work on several different service projects in Lima and Cusco. We will be assembling and distributing wheelchairs, putting together hygiene kits, distributing shoes, and working on building, painting, and spending time with the children at the Albergue in Cusco.

But it’s not going to be all work and no play. We will have an opportunity to visit Machu Picchu, spend a day in the Sacred Valley and possibly join in the celebration of Inti Raymi (Festival of the Sun) which takes place on June 24 each year. Stay tuned for posts from Peru!!


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Elly’s Back from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

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Elly and family are back from our short, fun filled and most gratifying trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Elly enjoyed packing for the trip. We spent the first two days enjoying our resort pool, the beach, golf, a relaxing facial and massage, a dolphin and sea lion encounter, and an unforgetable ziplining experience. The 3rd day was dedicated to a half day city tour and then an afternoon with the girls at the AGAPE.
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We were greeted by the staff and shy girls who were ready to start working on baking cookies, making crafts, and clearing a storage room with us. We got a quick tour of their home before we got started. We switched from one project to another so that everyone had an opportunity to experience all of them.

The most touching moments were when the girls surprised my daughter and dad with a birthday cake, singing to them and giving them cards they had made. They all wrote beautiful thank you notes to all of us. The special messages were heart warming. [frame]

We took pictures with the girls and said goodbye. It was amazing to see the smiles on their faces by the end of the day. We were touched, emotional and grateful for the experience. We wished we could have stayed longer.

Even though we are back home and into our routines, we keep talking and thinking about the girls at the AGAPE. Hopefully we will be able to go and visit again someday.

To read more about this amazing long weekend getaway which included lots of fun, sun, a little giving and a whole lot of gratitude stay tuned for our next newsletter, Matters of the Heart coming later this week.

Vacations That Matter launches Blog

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My family is visiting Puerto Vallarta in a couple of weeks and we are going to spend an afternoon visiting a women’s shelter . We will be baking and packaging cookies and making crafts which they sell locally to raise funds for their shelter. I asked them what they could really use since we were coming and had some space in our luggage. The initial response was, “you don’t have to bring anything, just spending time with the girls will be great.” I just told them I understood but my girls would like to bring a small gift to share as gratitude for allowing them to enjoy such a fun activity with them, so they suggested that the shelter could use personal items like toothpaste, deodorant and shampoo. Then they sent another message saying it would be too heavy for us to bring all the way from here, so easier items for us would be new underwear and socks to wear with their school uniforms. (Usually they get clothing but no donations of underwear and socks). So we’re off today with the girls to shop for our trip. I never imagined that just knowing what they could use and being able to go out and shop for it could be so gratifying……

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Go for the Gold

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Message from my Heart

My daughter participated in a recent swim meet at SOCAL Aquatics and it was amazing to see how inspired all the swimmers were to meet and receive an autograph from 7x Olympic medalist Jason Lezak and Olympic swimmer Christine Jennings who spent the afternoon at the meet encouraging the swimmers to work hard, be disciplined and follow their dreams to go for the gold. Athletes can be such great role models for our children and so influential as they share their stories of how they achieved their goals and dreams.

Coincidentally, I also had the opportunity to meet the very inspiring 3x Winter Olympian, Tracy Evans within the same week. She is an amazing athlete and continues to do such inspiring work to make a difference in the lives of less fortunate children. Not every child in this world will have the opportunity to join a team sport, go to the league finals, state or national championship, let alone the Olympics. Nor will they have the opportunity to be sponsored or receive a scholarship to play a sport or even attend University. They will barely have an opportunity to attend school and have access to sports equipment.

Those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to provide these opportunities to our children can certainly appreciate the importance and impact sports can have on the development of children worldwide. I’m delighted to share Tracy Evans’ experience and hope that some of you can help support her cause.

Today’s Inspiration

I founded Kids Play Int’l (KPI) in 2008 after returning from a life changing volunteer trip to Malawi, Africa.  Despite the children’s difficult day to day life, I was so inspired by the outpouring of enthusiasm and eagerness the orphans showed to learn new sports.  I recognized that there was a need to provide an opportunity with an engaging setting for these kids to learn outside of the classroom.  This realization prompted me to create KPI Volunteer Service Trips and an after-school program that use Sports to Educate, Inform and PLAY!   www.kidsplayintl.org.

In June 2009, I returned to Malawi with donated sports equipment and 11 volunteers. Each and every volunteer was excited to introduce the children to new sports, teach life skill lessons and set up a sports room for the orphan community. Today, KPI continues to organize annual volunteer trips to Malawi and Rwanda, Africa and looks to add new trips to other developing countries in the near future.

KPI has volunteer sites at orphanages and schools in Lilongwe, Malawi as well as outside Kigali, Rwanda, in the rural towns of Gitarama and Gatagara. KPI welcomes volunteers of all ages who are looking for a real “local” experience and are interested in sports, active play, health, fitness or education.  Volunteering, even a short amount of time, can make a difference in the lives of these children and give your vacation purpose and meaning beyond imagination.

Tracy Evans

Happy Valentines Day!

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Message from my Heart

It is only appropriate that on Valentine’s Day, I share a message from my heart. As I switched focus from planning typical vacations to planning vacations with a purpose, I was overwhelmed with the amount of volunteer service projects that are available throughout the world. Over the past couple of months I have connected with some amazing people who are doing incredible work through non-profit organizations, foundations, charities, churches and just on their own without any affiliations.

As I go through this journey of planning custom group vacations for all my clients, I will be sharing many touching and life changing stories with all of you. I know so many of you are already involved in giving through personal donations, participation in fundraising events for various organizations who support sustainable projects in education, health and supporting communities which improve people’s lives and preserve our natural surroundings. Taking a vacation and giving a little bit of your time to the communities you visit will only add to the satisfaction you get from these philanthropic activities.

I want my clients to not only experience amazing destinations around the world, but to have an opportunity for life-long memories and travel experiences that will move you deeply.  These vacations will immerse you into the local life and culture, and give you and your families greater appreciation for what we are blessed with.

I count my blessing daily for my good health, loving family and friends, and the opportunity to travel the world. I want to make a difference and I hope that you will join me in doing so. Today I’d like to share the story of an amazing person I met during a recent visit to Jamaica, Terry Farnham.

Today’s Inspiring Story

Can you believe there is more to Jamaica than sugar white sand, warm tropical sun and crystal clear turquoise water?  There is sunshine, beauty, love and warmth of a different kind. It is THE CHILDREN OF JAMAICA.  The c

hildren have stolen my heart and kept me coming back to Jamaica for the last 12 years.  Most tourists see poverty and rugged roads as they drive through the island to get to their hotels, but there is so much more beyond the mountains of Jamaica.  Once you meet the children you can feel the Jamaican love. A love that is vibrant in their wide smiles and bright eyes.  The children are the HEART BEAT of Jamaica. They have warmed my heart, and part of my heart remains in Jamaica.

My husband and I sponsor the cutest little boy, Reynardo with his education. I am also a surrogate mother to two older boys, Michael and Shamar.  We are trying to teach them how to be responsible and guiding them to become successful men.  I’m involved in other projects  which include building a school and starting a girls and boys club through a non-profit organization that I sit on the board called  Jamaica Cultural Alliance, (JCA). Feel free to visit our website, www.jamaicaculture.org. You can also make a donation towards building of the school through this website.

 

My main objective is not to give handouts, but to teach by way of self reliance.  Reynardo may live in poverty, but his mind is rich. We can stomp out poverty by education; one child at a time.  Michael and Sharmar are learning life skills. I am not just bringing new clothes, food and money to them. They are learning how to be businessmen in the areas of bee farming and chicken farming. They will not go hungry if they can learn how to be self sufficient.  I love the saying, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”I would say that is my motto.

I am hosting a group trip to Jamaica in September, 2011: Improving lives today for a better tomorrow, one child at a time.   If you are interested in joining this group, please contact Nina Patel. Hope to see you in Jamaica.

From the hearts of Jamaica, Happy Valentine’s Day!

Terry Farnham