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Our social conscience...
Visiting different countries
gives you an opportunity to see the way other people live, and sometimes
you get a glimpse of the trials they endure to survive. Africa in
particular has huge problems with poverty and education, as well as social
and health issues.
Rather than spending money
off-setting your carbon footprint, you might like to think about a more
direct way to make a difference:
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Choose to stay at lodges
where community development and conservation is actively promoted - some
of our lodges (in particular the Madikwe safari lodges) have community
spirit at the heart of their business. If local communities and the
region as a whole can benefit through jobs and business opportunities
then they in turn support the conservation objectives almost as a
secondary benefit.
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Simply by visiting some
areas (and spending your money there) you may help to change local
attitudes to environment. This is sadly illustrated by the shark
fishermen of Mozambique (pictures right) - they swim out with nets to
catch sharks; there is currently no legal commercial fishing off the
coast of Mozambique but shark fin buyers have started buying through
Maputo. Unfortunately they can earn much more money this way than their
subsistence fishing allows however one or two fishermen a week are being
killed trying to catch the sharks. Tourism, and in particular divers,
can make these sharks far more valuable alive rather than dead by
bringing in revenue to these areas which creates jobs, particularly in
the diving industry where skippers and boat boys are employed.
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Direct support - Bambo (pictured top right) is a skipper employed by Barra Dive Centre in
Mozambique. Since March 2006 we have been financially supporting him to
attain his English certification in order to further his diving career.
Once day we hope Bambo will qualify as a dive instructor and guide. By
encouraging locals into the industry, we hope the importance of marine
life as an on-going financial resource will be better understood.
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Support small business -
many of our dive operators (Blue Wilderness, African dive Adventures,
Aliwal Dive Charters) and tour operators (Choice Tours, Tourists Friend)
are owner-operated which means that the money you pay is staying within
the community, and helping to support local employment.
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Many lodges have their own
local community uplift programmes: Pomene Lodge in Mozambique has raised
money for education facilities and a health clinic; Tuli Safari Lodge in
Botswana has active community programmes supporting children in local
villages including donating computers and hosting annual environment
awareness days, sponsorship to create a fully-furnished house for a
family of 8 orphaned children, produced a Tuli Choir CD, proceeds of
which go towards medical care for the staff and families.
These are not hand-outs but a
helping-hand - sometimes a small amount spent wisely can help to change
lives! Like a ripple in a pond, the impact may be far greater than you
think... |
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