I have come to
It has come so far.
I have come so far.
But it's time for a change.
I will ALWAYS be One Brown Girl. Always. There are some things, you just can't change. *wink*
But now, you can just call me Tracey. =)
http://www.TraceyFriley.com
Blog Entries
I have come to
It has come so far.
I have come so far.
But it's time for a change.
I will ALWAYS be One Brown Girl. Always. There are some things, you just can't change. *wink*
But now, you can just call me Tracey. =)
http://www.TraceyFriley.com
"Travelanthropy: People Who Travel Good"
is an ongoing series about travelers who give...
***
Meet Jennifer.
 |
| Jennifer James (far left) in Ethiopia visiting health workers at a rural health post. |
Name: Jennifer James
Age: 38
State: North Carolina
Occupation: Entrepreneur
Age When You Got Your First Passport: 35
Languages: English and just enough French and
Chinese to get by.
Blog: Jennifer James and Mom Bloggers for Social Good
Bio: Jennifer James is the
founder and CEO of Mom Bloggers Club, one of the largest social
networks for moms who blog at over 19,000 registered users and Social Good Moms, the leading site for moms
who use social media and blogging for good. Jennifer has been featured in
Philanthropy, Forbes, Brandweek, CNN.com, the New York Times, AOL and on
NPR’s All Things Considered. She was recently named a Fast Company Most Generous Social Media Maven, a Top Blogger Changing the World by Babble.com as well as a Blogger Out to Change the World by Water for People.
She currently serves on the ONE Moms Advisory Council.
Tell us about your last volunteer experience:
Tell us about your first volunteer experience (travel or otherwise): My very first volunteer experience was with the Red
Cross during junior high and high school. I loved every minute of helping
people give blood to help others in need, even those who were giving blood for
their own operations.
 |
| Jennifer James visiting Protsahan, a NGO school for at-risk girls in a Delhi slum. |
Tell us about your next travel volunteer experience:
Best and worst thing about volunteer travel:
Advice for those that want to travel + give:
Why you travel + give: I travel and give back because it's a really great way to get to know a country. Plus, it's a part of the work I do as the Founder and CEO of Social Good Moms. I love getting to know those who help and those are being helped.
Why you travel + give: I travel and give back because it's a really great way to get to know a country. Plus, it's a part of the work I do as the Founder and CEO of Social Good Moms. I love getting to know those who help and those are being helped.
Your favorite travel quote:
Meet Nadia.
 |
| Nadia Jones in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti during her second #Bloggers4Haiti press trip. |
Age: 30s
City/State: Jacksonville, Florida
Occupation: Niche Parent Conference Founder/Social Media Strategist
Age When You Got Your First Passport: 3
Languages: Proficient in Spanish, French, and Haitian Creole
Blog: Justice Jonesie and The Niche Mommy
Bio: Nadia, known affectionately as Justice Jonesie by her blogging friends, is a savvy mom to three that loves to share her passion for motherhood, fitness, traveling, and food. A veteran blogger and social media enthusiast, Jonesie started blogging over six years ago at her first Mamalaw.com, an award winning about “three mothers that happen to be lawyers too.” Of both Haitian and Latina descent, she was named a top Latina blogger by LATISM and invited to Washington D.C. for a special, White House Retreat.
Tell us about your last volunteer experience: I went on the #Bloggers4Haiti trip to help raise awareness about sustainable economic programs for Haitian artisans.
Tell us about your first volunteer experience (travel or otherwise): I volunteered at a high risk elementary school after school program. I helped middle school children complete homework assignments and school projects. It was eye opening to see the impact that a lack of decent education had on these children, right here in America.
 |
| Nadia with Danica Kombol visiting the women of OFEDA in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. |
Tell us about your next travel volunteer experience: I will return to Haiti with #Bloggers4Haiti.
Best and worst thing about volunteer travel: Worst thing is that due to travel expenses you can only go a few times a year which never seems enough. Best thing is that you are making a difference.
Advice for those that want to travel + give: You can apply for a grant to help offset expenses. Friends are a great resource for helping to raise money or provide donations.
Why you travel + give: I feel it’s my duty to give back and give in some way. When you see how the rest of the world lives, you realize you are fortunate and have really won the lottery of life. When you do volunteer travel, you realize things such as there are millions of people with no access to clean water. When you travel to make change, you become aware of alarming stats such as millions of people live with no access to clean water.
Your favorite travel quote: “He who does not travel does not know the value of men.” – Moorish proverb
***
“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”
Click here to read Travelanthropy: People Who Travel Good (Part 1)
Click here to read Travelanthropy: People Who Travel Good (Part 2)
 |
| A dreamy view of the enchanting Louisiana bayou. All photos: @TraceyFriley |
Here's my first attempt at a slideshow using Kizoa. These photos are from a swamp tour on the Louisiana bayou (via airboat) I took when I was in New Orleans last year speaking at a conference. So so beautiful.
 |
| Soleil - a Passport Party Project participant - taking her very first domestic flight. |
When I think about traveling good, I often think about the girls that get their first passports via The Passport Party Project, an initiative I founded that helps to create global citizens out of American underserved girls.
I wonder if the seeds this grassroots global awareness initiative tries to plant about traveling responsibly and responsively will actually take root and grow, and if the lessons that travel brings about that my volunteers and I have tried so hard to get across actually gets across.
Perhaps Travelanthropy: People Who Travel Good - an ongoing series about travelers + givers - might add a bit of fertilizer to this proverbial garden of young girls ready to take on the world by encouraging them to turn their empathy into action. Big or small. Here or there. In person or online. That is a part of the plan for these impressionable seedlings.
Meet Sojourner.
 |
| Cape Coast, Ghana. Circa 2005. Photo Credit: @SojosSojourns |
Name:
Sojourner Walker
Age:
33
City/State:
Brooklyn, New York
Occupation: Small business owner, Freelance Writer & Travel Blogger
Age
When You Got Your First Passport: 22
Languages:
English, Conversational Portuguese and French
Blog: Sojourner's Sojourns
Bio: A former NYC public school teacher fascinated
and enamored with travel, culture and landscapes, Sojourner Walker is a fiction
and travel writer, enthusiastic yogi and curious traveler. Currently working on
a collection of short stories, she splits her time between Brooklyn, New York
and Brandywine, Maryland.
Tell
Us About Your Last Volunteer Vacation: I
traveled to Inhambane, Mozambique and worked as a Development Instructor for six months with the
Institute for International Cooperation and Development. My job was to train students at a teacher’s training
college in effective classroom techniques for introducing primary aged students
to the English language. I was also
engaged in an agricultural project where we created a campus garden to provide
the community with sweet potatoes, pumpkins, lemons and onions.
Tell
Us About Your First Volunteer Experience (Travel or Otherwise): My introduction
to volunteerism began at the age of 14. While I was in high school, I spent my
Saturdays volunteering at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York. I
worked on the pediatric play-deck where I rocked infants, sang with toddlers,
colored with elementary aged children, and played video games and table tennis
with teens my age and older.
 |
| Teaching in Mozambique. Photo Credit: @SojosSojourns |
Tell
us about your next travel volunteer experience: My next volunteer travel
experience will take place this July in Ochos Rios, Jamaica. I’m still working
out the particulars but I’m excited because I’ll be introducing my two year old
son to international volunteerism this round.
Best
and worst thing about volunteer travel: The best thing about volunteer travel
is that it personalizes the experience. You become so much more than a mere
tourist. You meet, interact with and befriend local people, and get a greater
sense of the culture. It is also great to give back to a host country,
particularly if that country is a developing one. I like to be involved; I’m
not an observer. If I have to chose a worst, I would say dealing with
frustration. Different countries and cultures operate so differently than what
I’m used to in the United States. At times, it can be so frustrating because it
appears that there is no organization, or structure, but it’s just not the
organization and structure that I’m used to (being from the West). That is
always a difficult battle. I’m hyper punctual and organized and that’s not
exactly a quality that’s exemplified in other parts of the world.
Advice
for those that want to travel + give: Go, go, go! There are so many volunteer
programs and opportunities available. Do your research and choose an adventure
that is right for you. A lot of people think they don’t have time to volunteer
travel, but you really only need a week in some cases. If you’re interested in
say a year off or two, there are definitely programs that cater to that as
well. There are many free volunteer programs, a lot of people are turned off by
the notion of paying to volunteer.
Why
you travel + give: I’m naturally a socially active person. I get super fired up
by a lot of the inequalities in my own back yard and around the world.
Volunteer travel in the developing world is my way to contribute to various
causes. I know this sounds cliché, but you really do take more away than you
ever can give. The friendships that you form can last a lifetime and there’s
something so special about gaining intimate access to another culture and way
of life. I am motivated and fueled by such exchanges.
Your
favorite travel quote: “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read
only a page.” ~St. Augustine
Meet Nicole.
Photo Credit: @iluv2globetrot
Name: Nicole Brewer
Age: 31
City/State: Nizwa, Oman
Occupation: English Lecturer
Age When You Got Your First Passport: 21
Languages: English, basic French, basic Korean
Blog: I Luv 2 Globetrot
Bio: A graduate of the University of Michigan with a BA in Communications, Nicole is an English language teacher by day and a travel blogger/writer by night with a future goal of starting her own NGO. Nicole has recently been accepted into a Masters program in Germany to study International Humanitarian Action and Community Development and is looking forward to giving back to youth and helping mold them into future global citizens.
Tell Us About Your First Volunteer Experience (Travel or Otherwise): I volunteered for StreetLife Care Organization a few months ago in Nairobi, Kenya on my semester break where I helped feed runaway kids. I also visited a local orphanage with some other volunteers from the volunteer house where I lived.
 |
| At the orphanage. Photo Credit: @iluv2globetrot |
Tell us about your next travel volunteer experience: I'm looking for ways to volunteer with women's and/or children's organizations in Oman before I leave although finding volunteer opportunities as an expat has been a bit of a challenge.
Best and worst thing about volunteer travel: The best thing is the feeling of gratification and knowing you're doing your small part to make a difference in this big world. The smiles and joy on the children's faces that I saw, even for the short time that I was there, made it all worthwhile. The worst thing is the fear that your efforts won't be kept up in the future.
Advice for those that want to travel + give: Do your research! Take the time to look into the organization and make sure it is a reputable company and that they are actually looking for volunteers to contribute what work they can and are not just looking for a paycheck (i.e., you to pay fees to volunteer and do not do any volunteer work).
Why you travel + give: Because I want to make a long-standing difference in this world. The best way to be happy is make others happy.
Your favorite travel quote: “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” -St. Augustine
***
He who returns from a journey is not the same as he who left.
~Chinese proverb
Click here to read Travelanthropy: People Who Travel Good (Part 1)
Please vote for Phase 2 of The Passport Party Project DAILY through June 3, 2013 to help create global citizens out of underserved American girls. Your votes matter. Please click here to vote.
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