As the UK holiday season gets into top gear how about making a difference to the country you visit.
I am a huge fan of the charity Pack for a Purpose and have seen what a huge difference a small space in your holiday suitcase can make.
The charity has a network of holiday locations around the world that support a range of projects to benefit local communities. We take for granted our schools will have the basic tools of education like pens books pencil maps and so on. Many schools around the world lack those basics.
In Cambodia, I was privileged to see the scheme in action and spend time at a centre for children who through no fault of their own were HIV positive.
Smiles return as Robbie English lesson is cancelled.
The Raffles le Royal hotel in Phnom Pehn is part of the Pack for a Purpose network and staff gives up free time to teach English at the centre. Like other hotels in the scheme they act as drop off point for items you transport in that small space in your holiday suitcase.
I delivered my contribution of teaching essentials like world maps and references books in English. I saw this scheme works really well and those children made me feel just so humble but uplifted too.
The Olympics in Brazil will see plenty of suitcase space available. The School of the Amazon offers free workshops to children aged 11 to 14 putting students in direct contact with the Amazon rainforest. The idea is to teach the importance of environmental care in a fun way. Your donation of coloured pencils, handheld pencil sharpeners or even a tambourine would make a difference. This project is supported by the Cristalino Lodge a collection point for donations.
In many countries tour companies support the scheme and a full list of destinations, supporters, types of schemes and lots more information can be found on www.packforapurpose.org.
400 pencils or 5 deflated footballs with inflation device only weigh 5lbs/2.27Kg
