Maragheh

Wild Frontiers Foundation

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• published: 19 Aug 2015
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At Wild Frontiers we have always been committed to ethical tourism, both in the way we run our trips and by investing in the regions we visit. To us, Responsible Travel means designing adventures with the local people, culture and eco-system in mind. We are very aware of the economic, ecological and ethical impact tourism can have on ancient cultures and fragile environments, and realise that taking clients through these regions can have a detrimental impact if not handled responsibly. As such, on all of our tours we go to great lengths to minimise the negative and accentuate the positive. We are members of Responsible Travel, have been awarded the coveted 5 star responsible travel AITO badge and in 2012 our achievements were acknowledged with the prestigious Guardian & Observer “Best Ethical Tour Operator Award”. But we didn’t want to just stop there. We wanted to go further and build a lasting legacy for the future. Building Foundations the Wild Frontiers Way Over the years we have funded a number of community projects at grassroots level, ranging from a school bus for remote communities in Ladakh, tree planting in Rajasthan to sending desperately needed supplies to Pakistan after the devastating 2005 earthquake that shook the Northwest Frontier. But in January 2009 we decided to go one stage further and set up The Wild Frontiers Foundation; a philanthropic arm of the travel company, designed to provide a platform to create awareness, raise money and deliver funding to projects throughout the developing world. While the Wild Frontiers Foundation has created its own development projects – in countries like India and Pakistan – it also works closely with partner charities to help to deliver the highest standard of support at the lowest possible cost. Indeed, part sponsored as it is by its partner travel company, with others working on an entirely voluntary basis, every penny or cent donated to the charity, goes directly to the projects we are involved in. Raising money through the cost of our tours, charity trips and fund raising events we can then provide funds to various projects in education, sanitation, reforestations and disaster relief. Here at Baleygon we have implemented our most challenging project so far by building a school extension. When I first came here there were just two small classrooms, next to no furniture and only one teacher for 108 children. Having consulted with the village elders we put a group together, walked to K2, raising over £20,000 in the process, and from there bought the land, built three new classrooms, three latrines – essential if you want to get girls to come to school – financed another teacher and got the place going. As you can see, it now offers an important part of education system in this remote corner of the globe. In Bijaipur in India we have bought three beds and mattresses for a labour ward, at the school a computer lab and wrestling mats… as a result in 2012 four boys from the school were selected for the national wrestling championships. And we planted trees. And in Pakistan and Ethiopia we have donated funds directly to schools to help with education But realising we can’t do everything ourselves we have also teamed up with a number of other carefully chosen NGOs we feel do a great job in some of the countries to which we run our trips. To name but a few we now work with Lone Buffalo in Laos – a charity set up by our award-wining guide Mark Steadman – were we sponsor a school classroom. Through the Mines Advisory Group and Adopt a Mine Field we have helped clear mines and UXOs in Cambodia, Laos and Afghanistan. Through Camara we have provided computers for a school in Ethiopia and through the Hope Foundation we have provided much needed help for the street children of Calcutta. And as far as disaster relief is concerned we have provided over £15,000 in last few years to help victims of floods, earthquakes and cyclones, particularly in the Indian Subcontinent. Of course running projects like these takes considerable finance, and whilst Wild Frontiers can contribute towards this, it can’t do it all. So if you are coming on one of our trips, or have been to one of these places or if you just like the look of what we’re doing, please go to our justgiving page and make a donation. No matter how small, children like this, all over the world, will ultimately be very grateful. Thank you, from them.