Geotourism Challenge Finalist: PEPY:Educational Volunteer Tourism changing attitudes in Cambodia & funding over $1 million for NGOs:
Tuesday, 01 Sep, 2009
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For travelers seeking socially and environmentally responsible adventures, PEPY Tours provides educational and volunteer opportunities that allow participants to learn from and support ongoing social development projects in Cambodia. PEPY Tours combines adventure travel with hands-on volunteer projects operated by its partner non-profit organization, The PEPY Ride, and other locally based non-governmental organizations.
Adventure volunteer tours range from riding in environmental education bike treks to building rainwater collection units and collaborating in cultural exchange activities in rural schools. Participants have the opportunity to visit the programs of partner nonprofit organizations during their tour and contribute to PEPY’s overall goal: improving education in rural Cambodia. Each tour participant contributes a fundraising or donation minimum, all of which directly supports the educational programs of PEPY Ride or its partners.
PEPY has established long-term relationships with host communities and partner organizations and is therefore able to provide insightful perspectives and unique experiences for its participants. PEPY strives to be a model in the industry by continually reassessing its own operations and analyzing the benefits that its tours bring to local communities and its participants. PEPY is committed to self-reflection, constant monitoring through a full-time presence in target program areas and a willingness to put community concerns before traveler wishes.
Learning from its early experiences, PEPY Tours have evolved to collaborate more seamlessly with development projects. Visits to schools, for example, are planned well in advance and the number of school visits is limited to three annually so as not to disrupt school learning. The focus of the tours has also changed over time from ‘giving’ to ‘learning’, emphasizing the need for participants to learn about social development before they can responsibly give. Reciprocally, because participants are financially invested in long-term projects, they have further incentive to learn about the projects they contribute to and experience them first-hand, and can thus hold PEPY more accountable.
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