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David Chamberlain from Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel discusses philanthropy with Jane Johnson, an Australian philanthropist.

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Humanitarian travel doesn’t have to mean hard labor or rustic lodging. Unlike voluntourism, philanthropic travel is designed for people with more money than time. And for most charities, there is nothing they need more than money. “There are plenty of people to bang the hammer,” says David Chamberlain of Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel, a travel outfit that specializes in charitable outreach. “What we need to do is get them the hammers and the nails.”

To that end, the company donates $250 of its own profit per traveler to the cause. By putting their own skin in the game, they hope to inspire travelers to match the donation. Exquisite Safaris creates luxury trips with humanitarian elements for individuals, families and nonprofit organizations that want to show sponsors the change they’re effecting. Working all over the world, the company partners with grassroots, nonprofit organizations that can show visitors the trip of a lifetime while building relationships and inspiring philanthropy.

Their partner causes range from education to healthcare to clean water and cover the world from Africa to Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and Nepal. The one thing their partners do have in common is good management. Exquisite Safaris will only work with 501c3s (tax-exempt status for nonprofits) that are well-managed and efficient. Most important, they won’t work with anyone who wastes money on executive salaries. In fact, many run entirely on volunteers.

Take The Friends of Ngong Road for example, a Minnesota-based nonprofit that funds education in Nairobi. Made up entirely of volunteers in the U.S. and four employees in Kenya, the organization was launched after an accidental but inspiring travel encounter. When Paula Meyer retired from managing mutual funds in 2005, she decided to celebrate with a safari. Upon arrival in Kenya, she met Peter Ndungu, a U.S.-educated pastor committed to helping his hometown of Nairobi. He introduced Meyer to the lives of AIDS orphans in his community. Immediately, Meyer was compelled to act.

“After seeing the way they live, I knew they needed help and that it should start with me, so I emptied my wallet,” she says. On the 17-hour plane ride home, she’d found her retirement goal – starting a foundation to feed the students of Nairobi. “I did the math, and for a latte a week, we could support these children.”

She quickly applied for nonprofit status while back in Kenya, Ndungu established a non-governmental organization, or N.G.O. In January 2007, The Friends of Ngong Road became a reality and she quickly recruited 60 sponsors. Today, there are more than 350 donors helping to pay for students’ school fees, uniforms, books, basic school supplies, counseling support, and a healthy meal six days a week.

“Getting a meal to them is way more important than a laptop,” she says. Maybe even more key, she says, is building a community. “Creating a support system that tells these orphaned children that they’re okay [is so important] – that someone in the U.S. cares enough about them is huge for their self-esteem.”
Now, thanks to a partnership with Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel, the people who care are closer than ever. This June, they helped Meyer bring 12 sponsors to Kenya. They arrived to see firsthand just what it means that 70% of the people in the country live in what the United Nations defines as a slum – an urban location with no running water, no electricity and no sanitation facilities.

“And the AIDS orphans are at the bottom of that barrel,” says Meyer, who now devotes her life to helping them. “The conditions these children live in are unimaginable to most people in the U.S.”

A tour of Nairobi’s neighborhoods, including classrooms and local homes, made clear the plight of most Kenyans. But the travelers did much more than feel pity. They made genuine friendships, saw the beauty of the area’s culture, music and warm spirit. They also saw just how valuable their meals are to Kenyan children.

“It doesn’t have to be Africa though,” says Chamberlain. “Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel will go anywhere.”

Right now, that even means the United States. They are currently organizing their first trip within our country’s borders. In June 2009, they will send philanthropists on a philanthropic tour of Appalachia, including North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee. Travelers will be introduced to the music, art, cuisine, and culture of the Appalachian mountains, along with several organizations that empower the people of the region.

“There has been pervasive hopelessness there for decades,” says Chamberlain, who hopes that travelers will build one-on-one relationships with the youth of the region, learn what can be done to help, and ultimately go back home to spread the story.

No matter where they head, travelers will get as much or as little opulence as they want and spend as much or as little time as they want visiting charities. For some that means half a day, for others it can be as much as a week. In the end, Chamberlain hopes people will connect at the heart and be part of a long-term solution.

“People are used to checkbook charity, which is a virtual experience. And now it’s click here to donate, which is wonderfully effective but again, it’s a virtual experience. Philanthropic travel completes the circle of giving; with relationships, the gift flows back to the donor. It can change lives on both sides for the better.”

Into Africa

When school lunch sponsors see their dollars at work, the gift continues.

Newport Coast resident George Namkung left for Tanzania with big plans – go on safari and climb to the 19,340-foot summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. Little did he know, fate had even bigger plans. A chance meeting with a government minister and an impromptu tour of Tanzania’s impoverished schools left Namkung determined to change the hungry students’ plight. And that he did. Only months after his visit, he started Kids of Kilimanjaro, a Costa Mesa-based nonprofit that now, a mere three years after its launch, provides lunches for more than 10,000 children a day. Attendance in the district they support is now at 100%, with all of the students graduating to the next grade. That’s quite a contrast to the 60% national average.

Supporters are so enthusiastic about the difference they’re making, they begged Namkung to take them on his next trip. So this June, Namkung and seven philanthropists arrived in Africa just in time for the last week of school and the start of the Serengeti’s awe-inspiring wildebeest migration, a movement that involves 1.3 million wildebeest, 3,500 lions and hundreds of thousands of zebra, gazelles and hyenas.

“It’s like the westward expansion of the U.S., but it’s all animals in this case,” says Namkung. “It beats the San Diego Zoo anytime.”

The first half of the trip focused on what Namkung counts among the greatest natural outdoor experiences in the world. First, a hike through Kilimanjaro’s rainforest and a stay at the Tarangire Tree Tops, a complex of luxury tree-top tents overlooking Lake Manyara and the Maasai Steppe. The next stop was Ngorongoro Crater, a World Heritage site that is home to more than 30,000 animals and one of the most luxurious lodges on earth.

After being awed by lions, giraffes, elephants, hippos, flamingos, crocodiles, and of course, more than a million wildebeests, the group set off for what would become the most memorable part of their visit – a tour of the Monduli school district they’d been working to support. The kids were waving and jumping up and down to greet them. Drummers and dancers put on performances and the visitors were able to see meals being prepared and enjoyed, students avidly learning and interacting. The physical and mental health benefits of a daily meal were clearly apparent, and everyone stepped up to the plate with sizeable contributions.

“This was not the mission,” says Namkung, who had been determined to keep the trip low-key. An effort to inform and educate became a powerful incentive to give – both money and skill. A writer is creating a children’s book, a photographer donated all of her photos from the trip, a videographer created a marketing video for the organization, and a special-education teacher committed to entirely fund a school for the blind. Although it isn’t part of the agenda, Namkung imagines there will be plenty more trips to Tanzania. As long as donors want to go, he’ll find a way to take them.

“Africa’s beauty is hard to express,” he says. “But I’ve been around the world 125 times and visited more than 80 countries. There is no other place like Africa on the planet. It’s really the people. They’re the warmest, most hospitable you’ll meet.”

And so, it seems, are the sponsors behind Kids of Kilmanjaro.

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“If you are coming to help me, you are wasting your time but if you are coming because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” -Indigenous Saying

Philanthropic Travel: Enlightened Experiences

The Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel experience integrates indigenous local culture into every personalized experience we recommend. These personal introductions create authentic cross cultural friendships that generate trust, respect, and generous donations funding philanthropic travel projects worldwide.

Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel announces Americans helping Americans Philanthropic Travel: Leaving the Mines Behind Empowering Appalachia: May 31 to June 7, 2009

“Creating positive change in a democratic society requires a comprehensive understanding of how to present a compelling case to the public using an ever expanding spectrum of media. Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel is especially excited to organize philanthropic travel for the financial benefit of AMI.

The Make it Real Foundation intends to raise $50,000 dollars and a matching $50,000 CSR corporate donation to fund the AMI Summer 2009 program in full.” If you are a corporation ready to make a difference contact us. -David Chamberlain CEO/Founder Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel

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The Appalachian Media Institute (AMI), a media training program for central Appalachian youth. Using the technological and artistic resources of Appalshop, AMI helps young people explore how media production skills can be used to ask, and begin to answer, critical questions of themselves and their communities. With opportunities to have input into community dialogues, and frame those dialogues themselves, young people develop the skills and critical thinking abilities necessary to become leaders in creating sustainable futures for their communities. Since its inception AMI has directly engaged over 600 young people in media production.

1. Build the confidence levels and creative capacity of central Appalachian youth

2. Position youth from central Appalachia as initiators of dialogue and social action around crucial community issues

3. Highlight rural voices and to inform national audiences and diverse communities of the unique challenges that face rural Appalachian communities

4. Enable our participants to become informed, tolerant, and engaged citizens and to recognize the interconnections between central Appalachia and the rest of the world

Reaching for Higher Ground, produced by AMI youth, tells the story of a group of young people who are fighting to save their communities water:

Learn More:
Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel announces Americans helping Americans Philanthropic Travel: Leaving the Mines Behind Empowering Appalachia: May 31 to June 7, 2009

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Appalshop
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comments (0) e-mail

“If you are coming to help me, you are wasting your time but if you are coming because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” -Indigenous Saying

Philanthropic Travel: Enlightened Experiences

The Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel experience integrates indigenous local culture into every personalized luxury trip we recommend. These personal introductions create authentic cross cultural friendships that generate trust, respect, and generous donations funding philanthropic travel projects worldwide.

Why has Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel partnered with Black Rock Solar? Black Rock Solar is a non-profit with a simple goal: take on climate change, and speed the adoption curve of renewable energy by building low or no cost solar power in unlikely places.

We believe if we’re going to solve the climate crisis, everyone has to be part of the solution, which is why they are installing renewable energy at schools, hospitals, and other public buildings in places that would otherwise never be able to afford it.

Black Rock Solar allows the schools and medical clinics keep all the money they save to support their communities as they see fit.

Why Black Rock Solar vs. buying carbon offsets? Carbon offsets may become an important contribution to the fight against global climate change. However, the carbon offset marketplace is still developing -slowed down by a lack of transparent standards.

“It’s hard to understand how donating $20 to a carbon offset firm using their ‘proprietary calculator,’ can make it OK to drive/fly from A to B, and define it as “carbon neutral.”

Black Rock Solar has a different approach: they build solar power -lots of it, and they do it for less than anyone else, which allows them to build even more! When Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel donates cash to Black Rock Solar we know exactly where our money is going -and we can walk up to the panel we helped fund and install

.

“In concrete terms, Black Rock Solar has an unbeatable return on investment, turning every $1 donated into $15 of clean green solar value.”

Here’s how: It costs BRS around $6 to build a watt of solar power, and they can get $5 of that in rebates from the public utility in Nevada. Then they match that with $3 in donated labor value, and it turns into $6 in free green energy over the life of the system.

“Every Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel $1 leverages $5 in rebates, and $3 in donated labor, to create $6 in free energy; 1+5+3+6= $15! Try finding that kind of ROI on Wall Street these days!”

Who are the people Black Rock Solar and Exquisite Safaris help? Like ES, BRS works almost exclusively in rural areas that tend to be economically disadvantaged -and certainly off the map when it comes to high dollar renewable energy projects -but that’s exactly why we need to be there.

For decades, the only people that have had renewable energy have been either large institutions with deep pockets, or the wealthy. But as Al Gore stated July 17, 2008 we need every single part of our society engaged in the fight against climate change. By changing the face of renewable energy, we’ll make it accessible to hundreds of communities that would otherwise never consider it. After all, if Gerlach, Nevada can go green, anyone can!

Is it working?
To answer that, just check with any of the communities BRS has helped so far. To date, the solar power they have built will generate over $1,000,000 in savings for those communities over the next 25 years -money that sustains communities in ways those communities decide they need it most.

It’s that kind of impact that made People Magazine choose Black Rock Solar as one of three “Environmental Heroes” for 2008 -and they are just getting started.

Donate to Black Rock Solar!

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comments (0) e-mail

“If you are coming to help me, you are wasting your time but if you are coming because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” -Indigenous Saying

Philanthropic Travel: Enlightened Experiences

The Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel experience integrates indigenous local culture into every personalized luxury trip we recommend. These personal introductions create authentic cross cultural friendships that generate trust, respect, and generous donations funding philanthropic travel projects worldwide.

“The evolution of philanthropy that began with traditional checkbook charity and recently morphed into web 2.0 online giving completes the “circle of giving” when donor/travelers have the opportunity to begin a heart to heart personal relationship with host/beneficiaries.

Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel is pleased to sponsor Bar Camp Africa Silicon Valley to enhance our personal relationships with NGO’s, technologists and open hearted global citizens: Collaboration creates Prosperity. -David Chamberlain Founder Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel
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Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel announces Americans helping Americans Philanthropic Travel: Leaving the Mines Behind Empowering Appalachia: May 31 to June 7, 2009
~

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comments (0) e-mail

“If you are coming to help me, you are wasting your time but if you are coming because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” -Indigenous Saying

Philanthropic Travel is the Ultimate Luxury

The Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel experience integrates indigenous local culture into every personalized luxury trip we recommend. These personal introductions create authentic cross cultural friendships that generate trust, respect, and generous donations funding philanthropic travel projects worldwide.

Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel is pleased to announce our humanitarian fund raising partnership with Friends of Ngong Road in Nairobi, Kenya. The Friends of Ngong Road team on both sides of the Atlantic execute their mission with professional attention to detail that is truly world class -a best practices case study in the Globalization of Empathy.“ -David Chamberlain Founder Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel

Life in Kenya is Hard
The mission of Friends of Ngong Road (the fund-raising arm based in the U.S.A) and its sister organization Ngong Road Children Association (the operating arm in Kenya) is to fund education and provide support for children living in Nairobi whose lives are affected by HIV/AIDS. Their goal is to bring hope to these children by pairing a specific child and sponsor thereby giving sponsors a direct role in these children’s lives.

The Kenya operations are based in the poor area of Dagoretti in Nairobi where they currently sponsor nearly 200 children.

Every day life is a challenge in Dagoretti, living conditions are crowded, most families live in row houses constructed of corrugated steel packed closely together. Each family shares one, or if they are slightly less destitute, two small rooms.

Clothing is hung on nails pounded into the walls. There is no running water and almost no one has electricity. Bathrooms are pit latrines shared by multiple families. Food is cooked outdoors with charcoal or wood. The streets are usually dirt and become rutted and muddy during the rainy season.

AIDS Makes Life Much Harder
For the typical person in Dagoretti life is difficult but not desperate. Life gets much tougher for children whose parents suffer from or have died of AIDS.

A meal is an uncertain event. Some days the parent or guardian can work and there is money for food. Other days they may be too ill to work and the children go hungry. There is little money for school. Public schools are very crowded and of low quality. Absenteeism is frequent for children whose lives are affected by AIDS, as they often have to miss school to take care of a sibling when their parent or guardian is ill.

Children living in these circumstances are often more quiet, less hopeful and smile far less often than the norm. They are simply surviving with little optimism about the future.

The Smiling People of Ngong Road Walking the streets in Dagoretti is fascinating. People of all ages are on the street or in front of their small one-room shops.

Many of the people around you are friendly and will smile at you as you walk by. They greet each other with big smiles and handshakes. Children run everywhere.

Goats, chickens and the occasional cow all mingle with the people even in these urban areas. There are shops selling a few vegetables, beauty salons, charcoal dealers and places to get a car battery charged to power a T.V. or radio. The occasional car bumps slowly by passing the hand-drawn two-wheeled carts full of wood, or water or something else to sell.

There is always someone interesting to greet.

The Story of The Friends of Ngong Road
The Program is based one man’s vision.

Peter Ndungu grew up in the poor areas of Nairobi. He was orphaned at 11 but was befriended by a Lutheran pastor who arranged funding for his education. Peter eventually graduated from both primary and secondary school in Kenya and went on to complete his Masters in Nairobi and Masters of Arts in Evangelism at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Peter had long nurtured a dream of helping children living in poverty to prosper through education. In 2006 he met Paula Meyer while Paula and her family were on vacation in Kenya. He told Paula of his dream and she decided to help make it reality. Friends of Ngong Road and Ngong Road Children Association were founded to turn Peter’s dream into a program to help children living in poverty. The volunteers in the U.S. and staff in Nairobi share a deep belief in the value of education and the hope it can bring to young lives.

The Manifestation of One Man’s Vision
Friends of Ngong Road and Ngong Road Children Association provide education and support for children who are affected by HIV/AIDS in Nairobi. Their objective is to give children the tools and support to improve their lives through education.

You can Make a Difference: A $750 annual gift allows a child to enter the Program and begin their education at our select schools.

1. Schooling: Tuition, tutoring, uniform, books, supplies and a daily lunch
2. Saturday Program: A day of fun activities and a wholesome meal
3. Family Support: Case worker support, food assistance and access to basic medical care

Sustaining Funds: Sustaining funds provide needs that are beyond a sponsorship (such as extraordinary health care, extracurricular activities and staff/office support)

Scholarships: Funds are needed to provide tuition assistance for children who are best served by a boarding school this includes children whose home situation has become untenable, the top-performing 7th and 8th graders as well as secondary school students whose tuition is higher than primary school costs

Value for Your Investment: Your Contribution Goes to its Intended Purpose

100% of Money Raised is Sent to Kenya:
2007 audit is available on request. Fund-raising and communications in the U.S. are managed by volunteers allowing us to send all of the funds we raise to Kenya.

89% of the Budget Goes to Direct Student Support
Kenya administrative costs total 11% of 2008 forecast freeing the remainder to be spent on direct student costs such as tuition, food as well as student and community outreach.

Focus Schools to Ensure Quality Education
Children in our Program must attend one of our focus schools. These schools were selected based on their strong academic results. Their goal is to form partnerships with a few schools so we can influence them on behalf of our children.

Food for the Family and for Students
Children in our Program receive at least one nutritious meal per day from the Program, Monday through Saturday. Sometimes this is their only meal that day. We also supply a supplemental packet of food monthly.

Community and Friendship for Students and SponsorsSaturday Program and Vacation Camp build a sense of belonging and self esteem. Children write at least two letters annually to their sponsors. In many cases a strong bond is formed between sponsor and child.

A Program Run by Kenyans, for Kenyans
All staff and volunteers in Nairobi live in or were raised in Nairobi’s poor urban communities. They understand the challenges faced by our children from personal experience.

Admission Criteria to Select Successful Students
Since space in our program is limited, we select students with the highest academic ability from a range of primary grades. After preliminary selection, we visit their home to review our expectations with the guardian. We look for a home situation conducive to study and where the child receives at least one meal daily.

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comments (0) e-mail

“If you are coming to help me, you are wasting your time but if you are coming because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” -Indigenous Saying

Philanthropic Travel is the Ultimate Luxury

The Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel experience integrates indigenous local culture into every personalized luxury trip we recommend. These personal introductions create authentic cross cultural friendships that generate trust, respect, and generous donations funding philanthropic travel projects worldwide.

When we see a person in need, we may want to give them something as a way of helping them, but if we give without taking the time to see who they really are -honoring that most of all our gift is nowhere near as powerful as it could be.

We may want to give a homeless person a sandwich, for example, but if we give it without also taking a moment to look the person in the eye, making authentic contact, we rob them of the experience of being human.

Being in a position of need leaves a lot of people feeling vulnerable and full of self-doubt.

The greatest gift we can give is to meet people in need without judgment and with the awareness that we are not superior to them simply because we are not currently in their position.

If we take the long view, we can see that we all began life in need of a lot of care and attention, and many of us end life in the same way.

Giving and receiving are companion energies that take turns throughout our lives, and we all get a chance to be on both sides of the exchange from time to time.

It’s important to be aware of our own tendency to give from a desire to feel good about ourselves, rather than from an acknowledgment of our connection to all people.

Letting go of our self-importance allows us to see that, regardless of appearances, we are all givers and receivers.

When we are in the position of the giver, we honor those we are helping when we remember the many people who have helped us.

Then we can look the person we are helping in the eye, aware that we are making contact with a human being who is our equal.

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comments (0) e-mail

“If you are coming to help me, you are wasting your time but if you are coming because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” -Indigenous Saying

Philanthropic Travel: Enlightened Luxury

The Exquisite Safaris philanthropic travel experience integrates indigenous local culture into every personalized luxury trip we recommend. These personal introductions create authentic cross cultural friendships that generate trust, respect, and generous donations funding philanthropic travel projects worldwide.

Nonprofit executives take note: Even when you’re the former leader of the most powerful nation in the world, donor trips are not always as easy. This month the former president Bill Clinton invited friends, contributors to his foundation, and members of the news media to remote regions of Africa to get a firsthand look at his charitable work. But the trip hit a snag Monday when a 727 plane carrying roughly half of the guests, mostly reporters, had an electrical fire, a problematic oxygen valve, and other mechanical malfunctions, grounding the flight from Newark, N.J., to Ethiopia.

Mr. Clinton, who traveled separately, arrived on time Tuesday night. But with the rest of the party expected to be two days late, the William J. Clinton Foundation had to reschedule a trek to the Debre Zeyit area of Ethiopia to look at efforts to prevent HIV/AIDS. And some occupants of the ill-fated 727, such as Rodney Slater, who was head of the Department of Transportation during the Clinton administration, have quit the trip, according to The Washington Post.

While here in Ethiopia’s rainy capital, members of the news media who arrived early, like this reporter, waited for the official events to begin. Of course, there were distractions, such as the occasional glimpses of the former president -ordering Italian food at a hotel restaurant -and the well -known public figures accompanying him. The actor Ted Danson and his wife, the actress Mary Steenburgen, strolled the halls of the Sheraton Addis; and Bruce Lindsey, chief executive of the Clinton foundation, enjoyed a drink in the lobby coffee lounge. Mr. Clinton did do foundation work today, a spokeswoman said, but the events were closed to the public.

The trip, which is widely seen as a way to refocus attention on Mr. Clinton’s philanthropy after his wife’s failed bid for the White House, will also include visits to Rwanda, Liberia, and Senegal. While Mr. Clinton’s foundation works worldwide, this impoverished continent, where 325 million people live on less than $1 a day, has been the primary beneficiary of his efforts. Aside from his work on HIV/AIDS, he has reduced the costs for medications that treat malaria, a disease that kills one million Africans a year. And with a $100-million gift from the Scottish philanthropist Tom Hunter, the Clinton foundation has built schools and health clinics, helped coffee growers in Rwanda increase their production by 20 percent, and assisted the country’s government in purchasing and distributing 34,000 tons of fertilizer. Altogether, in Africa and elsewhere, the foundation says, the former president’s charitable work has saved the lives of 1.3 million people.

Tomorrow morning, foundation staff members promised that the trip would get back on track. The former president and guests will visit a remote rural town where solar panels are helping 5,500 villagers gain access to electricity. No doubt, the foundation is hoping its spate of gremlin like aeronautical malfunctions has ended. Tomorrow’s trek is by helicopter. -Ian Wilhelm

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comments (0) e-mail

“If you are coming to help me, you are wasting your time but if you are coming because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” -Indigenous Saying

Philanthropic Travel is the Ultimate Luxury

The Exquisite Safaris philanthropic travel experience integrates indigenous local culture into every personalized luxury trip we recommend. These personal introductions create authentic cross cultural friendships that generate trust, respect, and generous donations funding philanthropic travel projects worldwide.

Why has Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel partnered with Black Rock Solar? Black Rock Solar is a non-profit with a simple goal: take on climate change, and speed the adoption curve of renewable energy by building low or no cost solar power in unlikely places.

We believe if we’re going to solve the climate crisis, everyone has to be part of the solution, which is why they are installing renewable energy at schools, hospitals, and other public buildings in places that would otherwise never be able to afford it.

Black Rock Solar allows the schools and medical clinics keep all the money they save to support their communities as they see fit.

Why Black Rock Solar vs. buying carbon offsets? Carbon offsets may become an important contribution to the fight against global climate change. However, the carbon offset marketplace is still developing -slowed down by a lack of transparent standards.

“It’s hard to understand how donating $20 to a carbon offset firm using their ‘proprietary calculator,’ can make it OK to drive/fly from A to B, and still define it as “carbon neutral.”

Black Rock Solar has a different approach: they build solar power -lots of it, and they do it for less than anyone else, which allows them to build even more! When Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel donates cash to Black Rock Solar we know exactly where our money is going -and we can walk up to the panel we helped fund and install

.

“In concrete terms, Black Rock Solar has an unbeatable return on investment, turning every $1 donated into $15 of clean green solar value.”

Here’s how: It costs BRS around $6 to build a watt of solar power, and they can get $5 of that in rebates from the public utility in Nevada. Then they match that with $3 in donated labor value, and it turns into $6 in free green energy over the life of the system.

“Every Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel $1 leverages $5 in rebates, and $3 in donated labor, to create $6 in free energy; 1+5+3+6= $15! Try finding that kind of ROI on Wall Street these days!”

Who are the people Black Rock Solar and Exquisite Safaris help? Like ES, BRS works almost exclusively in rural areas that tend to be economically disadvantaged -and certainly off the map when it comes to high dollar renewable energy projects -but that’s exactly why we need to be there.

For decades, the only people that have had renewable energy have been either large institutions with deep pockets, or the wealthy. But as Al Gore stated July 17, 2008 we need every single part of our society engaged in the fight against climate change. By changing the face of renewable energy, we’ll make it accessible to hundreds of communities that would otherwise never consider it. After all, if Gerlach, Nevada can go green, anyone can!

Is it working?
To answer that, just check with any of the communities BRS has helped so far. To date, the solar power they have built will generate over $1,000,000 in savings for those communities over the next 25 years -money that sustains communities in ways those communities decide they need it most.

It’s that kind of impact that made People Magazine choose Black Rock Solar as one of three “Environmental Heroes” for 2008 -and they are just getting started.

Donate to Black Rock Solar!

Learn More:
Exquisite Safaris partners with Black Rock Solar
Native American Elementary School gets Free Solar Installation
Journey to 100% Zero-Carbon Electricity in 10 Years
Collaboration creates Prosperity: Philanthropic Travel
An American Dream: Burning Man
Global Cooling?
The Wisdom of Stone Soup
Exquisite Safaris clients say…
Travel Connoisseur Magazine on Exquisite Safaris

Philanthropic Travelers:
The The One’s Who Do: Visionary Philanthropic Travelers
Visionary Philanthropic Traveler Chellie Kew
Jane Kaye- Bailey: Philanthropic Traveler
Richard Branson: Philanthropic Traveler

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“If you are coming to help me, you are wasting your time but if you are coming because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” -Indigenous Saying

Philanthropic Travel is the Ultimate Luxury

The Exquisite Safaris philanthropic travel experience integrates indigenous local culture into every personalized luxury trip we recommend. These personal introductions create authentic cross cultural friendships that generate trust, respect, and generous donations funding philanthropic travel projects worldwide.