Morocco tour with community volunteering day
This type of trip is ideal for people who are unable to take very long periods off work but who are interested in volunteering to work with communities in need, or in wildlife conservation. These shorter trips combine volunteering with an opportunity to see the main sights in destinations.
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
Our group clients are given a briefing at the start of the trip by the UK Tour Leader to advise on environmental issues in terms of eco-friendly practises, litter procedures, recycling. Our briefing also includes cultural and etiquette issues.
- Within the desert camps all food waste is kept for feed to the working animals (donkeys, mules and camels) and clients are advised not to dispose of toilet paper in the WCs at camp.
- The use of eco-friendly toiletries and cosmetics etc are encouraged through the Kit List, published on the company’s website.
- On our 4x4 Off-Road section of the tour, experienced local drivers will ensure that only established pistes are followed to ensure minimum disturbance and erosion of surrounding desert dunes and eco-systems.
- Our indigenous desert guides can point out and explain the desert flora & fauna in a local context.
- We ask clients to purchase drinking water in large containers (if possible) for decanting to individual small bottles, to avoid creating excessive plastic waste.
- Plastic containers, bottles, bottle tops etc will be kept for our other recycling arts/music projects or disposed of in the municipal amenities of larger towns.
- Our Moroccan ground team and drivers are briefed in the ethos of environmentally responsible practices and we encourage leadership by example.
- This trip (and this company generally) caters only for small groups of a maximum of 8-10 participants. This allows for a closer relationship between the local suppliers and the visitor and has a less harmful environmental effect than large tour groups travelling in buses/coaches etc. Our groups will have a much closer relationship with their guides and drivers, receiving a better level of personal service as a result.
Community
Our company is jointly owned in partnership with Moroccans indigenous to the community in which we focus our activities and cultural/volunteering holidays.
- The Moroccan Saharoui co-director of the company is also a founding member of a separate community development association which addresses environmental and economic issues.
- This tour is part of the driving ethos of this English-Moroccan company which is to promote a programme of community-based volunteering holidays a.k.a. ‘volidays’ which incorporate an 'activity fun day' for local people in the remote Saharan village of M’Hamid el Ghizlane in the Drâa Valley. Appropriate activities/games etc. (e.g. musical chairs, relay races, face-painting, arts/crafts and others that the traveller might want to bring etc...) are delivered by the tourist under guidance from the company’s UK director (who has experience in community arts facilitation), using our local ground-team to handle logistics, community liaison and translation.
- All trips are led by an English-speaking experienced local guide who has been briefed in the ethos of Responsible Travel and the expectations of the European/Western traveller. Some trips (including this one) are jointly led by the company’s UK director in order to facilitate the bridging of cultural gaps and to provide support for the ‘community volunteering’ element of the holiday.
- We only engage local drivers, transportation and guides who have best knowledge of the area and in so doing we ensure that maximum economic benefits are returned directly to the families in the area.
- As much as possible we use independent locally owned accommodation and restaurants.
- All supplies are purchased within the village from local businesses.
- In order to promote the distribution of tourism wealth, on our travels we encourage clients to purchase supplies and souvenirs from smaller shops, individual artisans and co-operatives out of the main tourist centres.
- Through the activity day on this holiday we allow for a meaningful community interaction whereby the broader local population (not just the men who work directly serving the tourist trade) can benefit from a cultural/inter-cultural recreation enhancing mutual understanding and using simple ‘action’ games, music and activities to assist with learning of basic English language. The activities are delivered in consultation with local community leaders in order to ensure respect of local traditions and translation where needed.
- A team of local assistants are paid a fair wage for their day in facilitating the Fun Day.
- We encourage visitors to leave clothing, school supplies and basic equipment for distribution to local inhabitants via appropriate leaders, teachers etc. This is co-ordinated through our relationship with the Community Association in the village of M’Hamid el Ghizlane – our Moroccan co-director is on the committee of this association
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