Solidarity travel, solidarity on vacation

Choosing to take a trip is already a beautiful adventure in itself.

If one chooses in a conscious, responsible and respectful way of the territory and of the inhabitants, an additional piece is added: great success is being achieved by all those trips that lead not only the tourist to visit the chosen destination, but which make it a participant in solidarity projects through volunteering, aimed at helping people or doing good for the environment.

Solidarity holidays: why?

A journey of solidarity is a choice of insertion and desire for in-depth knowledge of the reality you are visiting, an immersion in space and time that shuns the usual tourist circles, prefabricated excursions or mass crudes.

This way of traveling is obviously not for everyone, for various reasons, but it certainly represents a highly valuable personal investment, since it enriches the wealth of experiences that make both the heart and the spirit smile; here, before choosing a solidarity trip, some basic rules to know:

during the stay chosen with an association, you can work, help or collaborate with the locals and you are on average 5 or 6 hours a day; or you can choose tours organized by local agencies or foundations that donate a percentage of the travel cost to solidarity projects, without having to commit directly;

to undertake a similar journey it is important to have, in addition to the basic good intentions, also a good spirit of adaptation . In some cases, in fact, they stay in simple and poor realities. In other cases, accommodation facilities are chosen that donate part of the quota set for the trip in local solidarity operations;

solidarity travels usually go by age groups, so you can sign up for the group taking this into account, or tour proposals you can make yourself, regardless of the group;

in the case of camps abroad, it is often necessary to register in advance as participation in preliminary training meetings is almost always required .

Responsible tourism: to learn more

Who offers solidarity trips

Solidarity travels are often carried out by non-governmental associations and organizations, both abroad, especially in countries where there is a real need, but also in Italy; we now discover what this first road offers us, knowing some associations for those who wish to embark on a directly involving journey of solidarity.

The two largest associations that deal with solidarity travel internationally are: SCI International Civil Service and Alliance of European Voluntary Service.

There are also many other minor realities, Italian in this case, each with certain destinations and projects, let's see some of them.

Afsai: organizes short or long-term work camps in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe, but also proposes stays in Ireland and England that link the voluntary service to the learning of the English language.

Amani: deals mainly with aid to African populations, collaborating in shelters for street children in Nairobi in Kenya and Lusaka in Zambia, providing for a period of training.

Cisv: an organization that works for global solidarity, informing about responsible tourism destinations in the world

Lunaria: association of social promotion that promotes union among peoples, fights racism, organizes national and international fields on ecology, solidarity and peace, with particular attention to projects for young people and adolescents.

Yap Italia : organizes work camps to participate in small local development initiatives, even in the long term and with proposals for minors.

And these just to name a few, there are many others, such as Amnesty International, Arcs, Cesvi, Gap Year, Ibo Italia, Projescts Abroad and others.

In other cases, and this is the second route that can be followed, they are also real travel agencies, such as The journeys of the dream, which propose routes along "the ways of solidarity", in Egypt, Ecuador and Peru; or even Viaggi Solidali, which draws up a choice of local contacts that concretely help the communities that host tourists, operating in Albania, Argentina, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Peru, Tanzania and other countries still .

And Grandi Orizzonti's tourism that donates a percentage (5-7%) of the travel cost to a Development Fund as a "share of solidarity" used to co-finance cooperation projects in East Africa, with the possibility of going to collaborate and view them.

The third road that can be chosen is that of the local organizations, which deal with reception, accommodation and accommodation and offer sustainable tourism that respects the local reality.

In this case you have to do a good job of research upstream to find as much information as possible (thanks to online forums, personal experiences, word of mouth) to be sure of the seriousness of the organization.

We find a great example in a country like Armenia, where a man like Antonio Montalto (in the article the video illustrating his ideals) and the Family Care Foundation, have torn many historic buildings where they are housed tourists, such as Villa Delenda and Villa Ayghedzor, two b & bs in Yerevan, and support local development and culture.