Costa Rica seeks volunteers to teach English for sustainable tourism development

If you're looking for a way to support sustainable tourism development, have a background in English teaching, and have the ability to take off for three months to a year, here's a new volunteer opportunity worth looking into. The recently established Costa Rican English for Sustainable Tourism (CREST) program is seeking volunteer English teachers to help improve the international marketability of its tourism industry. Another goal is to provide Costa Ricans of all social classes and regional origins with the language skills to gain access to high-paying tourism jobs.

According to the CREST website, the program is part of "a government sponsored initiative that seeks to improve the country´s economic competitiveness by increasing the number of English-speaking professionals by 2017." CREST is coordinated by ALIARSE Foundation, which works to promote sustainable development and social responsibility in Costa Rica. Support for the program comes from the Ministry of the Presidency of Costa Rica, the Ministry of Tourism, public and private enterprises, and various local development associations.

Volunteers serve either as teaching assistants in technical high schools or as community leaders teaching employees from hotels, restaurants, and local ecotourism companies. Applicants are required to have a college degree and Teaching of English as a Foreign Language certification or the equivalent.

The program offers volunteers the opportunity to learn of improve their Spanish through immersion in a local community. Volunteers have a choice of living either with carefully selected Costa Rican host families or in international dormitories with other volunteers and a regional coordinator.

Volunteers choose between a full-year commitment, starting in January, or a six-month commitment, starting in January or July. For volunteers unable to commit to a long-term stay, CREST also offers a summer program beginning in June.

Although CREST does charge volunteers a fee, the charge is less than many that for many comparable programs. The current costs are:

• Full-year program: $1,750 plus $1,000 refundable deposit
• Half-year and summer programs: $1,250 plus $1,000 refundable deposit

All programs include transportation to and from the airport, lodging and three meals a day, support and 24-hour backup, teaching materials, professional and educational mentoring, and administrative costs. The full- and half-year programs also include a five-day induction program. The refundable deposit is required to cover the costs of getting a new volunteer if you leave early or are dismissed for misconduct.

CREST recommends applying to the program three months ahead of the desired start date in order to ensure sufficient time for paperwork processing and other preparations.

Green Living Project: Documenting sustainability around the world

Last night I headed over to the Seattle REI store for a presentation by Rob Holmes, founder of the Green Living Project. GLP documents sustainability in various parts of the world with the goal of supporting and promoting successful projects. GLP seeks out compelling sustainable and community-centered development projects and tells their stories through short documentary films, blog dispatches, and presentation across the United States.

In 2008, they traveled to east and southern Africa, where - among other projects - they visited a rhinoceros sanctuary in Uganda; a cultural village tourism enterprise in Zambia; a coffee co-op project in Rwanda; a new multi-day, locally guided hiking trail in South Africa; and a bicycle distribution program in Namibia.

Yesterday's presentation, entitled "Sustainability Across South America," focused on GLP's recent expedition to Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador, where they documented eight projects. For each project, Holmes spoke about the GLP crew's experiences and then showed the final video they produced in each place. The projects are:

Cristalino Jungle Lodge, near Alta Floresta, Brazil. A sustainable tourism project at the southern end of the Amazon basin, Cristalino offers simple but comfortable accommodations and plenty of ecotourism activities for visitors. They also focus on rainforest research activities and environmental education programs for local schools. The Cristalino area is home to roughly one-third of Brazil's 1,800 bird species.

Mountain Lodges of Peru, near Cuzco, Peru. This tourism company has developed a series of alpine lodges for trekkers along the Salkantay Trail to Machu Picchu. They work with the Peruvian nonprofit organization Yanapana on social and ecological development projects to raise incomes in the communities along the route. They also work with the Frankfurt Zoological Society on research and species conservation.

Amazon Conservation Association Brazil Nut Program, near Puerto Maldonado, Peru. This program focuses on income generation through the harvesting and sale of Brazil nuts, a renewable rainforest resource. The region is coming under increasing pressure due to the construction of a new highway through the rainforest, and the Brazil nut program provides an incentive for the preservation of a healthy forest.

Maquipucuna Foundation, near Quito, Ecuador. Maquipucuna established one of the first eco-lodges in the cloud forest region northwest of Quito. The foundation operates a small lodge in the heart of one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the world (home to nearly 400 bird species and more than 1,900 types of plants). Maquipucuna's programs include organic farming, tree planting (getting rid of introduced species and restoring native ones), shade-grown coffee plantings in previously deforested areas, an orchid seed project that grows orchids for sale to reduce the harvesting of wild plants, and biological research. The foundation has been very influential in getting other communities involved in ecotourism and conservation activities, and many of their efforts are being replicated elsewhere in Ecuador.

Yachana Foundation, Amazon Region, Ecuador. The Yachana Foundation focuses on community development in the Ecuadorian Amazon. They operate an eco-lodge, Yachana Lodge, in a private reserve along the Napo River, as well as a technical high school that trains local students in subjects such as ecotourism, sustainable agriculture, natural resource management, and sustainable microenterprise development. Yachana's focus is on giving local people the tools they need to make educated decisions on how they use natural resources and improve their standard of living. The foundation is also working with Global Vision International to document the biological diversity of the Yachana reserve in the hopes of obtaining national protected status.

Tierra del Volcán, near Mt. Cotopaxi, Ecuador. Tierra del Volcán operates three eco-lodges in the region surrounding Cotopaxi, the highest active volcano in the world. They offer adventure activities such as trekking, mountain biking, horseback riding, and ziplining. They have established agreements with local landowners in which the landowners promise to use their land sustainably in exchange for revenues from tourism activities on their property. Tierra del Volcán also works with the nonprofit organization Fundación Páramo on conservation projects and environmental education in local schools.

Equilibrio Azul, Puerto López, Ecuador. Located in a fishing community on Ecuador's Pacific coast, Equilibrio Azul is a startup nonprofit organization dedicated to marine conservation. The three critical issues that they have identified are overharvesting, garbage and other pollution in the oceans, and marine habitat destruction. The organization is working with local fishermen to try to find a balance between harvesting and conservation of marine resources. They are also conducting research and data collection that they hope will lead to additional incentives for conservation, at both the local and government levels. In an effort to change the attitudes of future generations, Equilibrio Azul also runs an after-school eco-club for local children.

The Green Living Project's "Sustainability Across South America" presentation will be visiting several other cities across the U.S. this fall. Check their events schedule for dates and locations. If you missed their previous presentations on projects in Africa, you can find the videos on the Green Living Project website under "Projects."

GLP is currently documenting sustainable development projects in the United States and planning future expeditions to Central America and other parts of the world. More information is available on the GLP website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed.

Information on how individuals can support the projects documented by GLP - whether through donations or as volunteers or simply by visiting or purchasing local products - is posted on the project pages on the GLP website and made available at presentations.

Volunteer Tourism Effective Practices guidelines: A great new resource for tour operators and travelers

Incorporating volunteer work into vacation travel has been a growing trend over the past several years - so much so that it has earned its own label, "voluntourism." Yet despite the increasing popularity of voluntourism, attempts to establish guidelines for the industry have been few and far between. Now the folks at PEPY Tours have created a set of Volunteer Tourism Effective Practices, which will soon become part of a Voluntourism 101 resource website. The guidelines are designed for tour operators seeking to incorporate volunteer projects into their trips, as well as for development organizations and individual travelers seeking volunteer projects to participate in.

Below are excerpts from the guidelines. The full document also includes specific questions for each subheading to guide tour operators and travelers in designing or selecting a volunteer travel program. PEPY Tours welcomes feedback from voluntourism operators and other informed critics.

VOLUNTEER TOURISM EFFECTIVE PRACTICES

I. PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS AND HOST COMMUNITIES

1. Responsibly identify partner organizations

This section is intended to help tour operators identify volunteer project partners (NGO, nonprofit, social venture). For tour operators organizing and offering their own volunteer projects directly to participants, the same indicators and questions apply with regard to the projects and host community relations.

2. Build relationships based on collaborative project management and assessment with the partner organization

The impact volunteer tourism trips have on the volunteers and host communities will depend largely on the partnership between the organization and tour operator. Miscommunication, misunderstandings and any problems that exist could potentially undermine the efforts of everyone involved and so it is important to think of how best to manage the communication and responsibilities of the organizers.

3. Ensure beneficial relationship for partner organization and host community

With increasing interest in volunteer tourism, there are increasing demands on tour companies to incorporate volunteer projects in their tours. Tour operators “and volunteers “ should keep in mind how their efforts are actually contributing to the needs of the recipient organization and community.

II. VOLUNTEER PROJECTS

4. Design projects based on local needs and input as well as volunteer sustainability

Again, the increasing demands on tour companies to incorporate volunteer projects in their tours can potentially lead to poorly designed projects that cater to volunteers’ interests rather than – and sometimes at the expense of – the needs of the host organization and community. This section is intended to help ensure that projects are designed on a needs basis.

5. Provide on-site project management to ensure a safe, educational, and successful volunteering environment

Execution is everything! The project needs to be well supported and well managed on the ground to ensure that the community and volunteers will benefit from the project. Basic health and safety provisions are absolutely necessary and on-site support will help to facilitate positive experiences.

6. Consider the impact of giving ‘things’

Volunteers – volunteer travelers, short- and long-term volunteers – are often inclined to ‘giving things’. Organizations and tour companies may also be inclined to ask volunteers to support a project through the donation of ‘things’. This section is not specific to volunteer tour operators; it is relevant to all social development projects, tour organizers, and travelers who are considering engaging in philanthropic travel.

7. Prioritize child safety

Although many programs are promoted as supporting children, those same programs sometimes undermine the rights of children. These questions are important to ask if your volunteer programs include interactions with children for any period of time.

III. PARTICIPANTS

8. Provide information and clear expectations for participants

The key to success for almost any trip – volunteer or otherwise – is managing participants’ expectations. Educating and informing volunteers is important both for the enjoyment of their trip and how successfully they’ll interact and contribute to the project and the community. Establishing realistic expectations about their experience and what they will accomplish during their volunteer project will also determine the success of the volunteer trip, for everyone involved.

9. Facilitate open discussion and feedback about the project, and provide information for participants’ ongoing project involvement

Short-term visitors to a new place are not going to be the ones who make lasting changes in a community, and this should be made clear to all involved. Visitors who start something or contribute to an ongoing project are part of something much larger than their individual efforts. They should be encouraged to improve the project with their feedback as well as be kept informed after their departure about the project and community’s progress.

IV. MARKETING

9. Be honest marketers

Honest marketing is essential for participants to understand the nature of the project they are signing up for and to create trust between the tour organizer, volunteer organization, beneficiary communities, and participants. Being honest about the expected impact of the volunteer project is essential. By tour and partnering organizations being honest about the organization’s impact, participants can better discern the right fit for them and will not be disappointed by contrasting realities.

V. RESPONSIBLE TOURISM

11. Exemplify, educate about, and promote responsible tourism

The success of any voluntourism trip requires promoting and engaging in responsible tourism. There are hundreds of organizations, blogs, articles, etc that address issues of responsible tourism. All travel service providers should become familiar with these best practices and guidelines, perhaps even more essential for those offering volunteer or philanthropic travel options. If volunteer service providers want to offer trips that positively impact local areas, discretion and thought must be put into more than just the volunteer and facilitated community interactions. Responsible operators will consider the most responsible options for travel, accommodation, traveler education, and all other aspects of the travel experience.

As a starting place, it is recommended that tour operators complete the comprehensive checklist developed by Wild Asia Responsible Tourism here http://www.wildasia.net/main.cfm?page=article&articleID=304

VI. RESPONSIBLE DEVELOPMENT

12. Exemplify, educate about, and promote development best practices

The increasing role of development organizations around the world has produced extensive research and dialogue about what “works” and which efforts have “positive” “sustainable” impacts. Tour organizers entering the voluntourism sector should be well aware of the complexities and discussions surrounding development issues and make sure to incorporate the lessons learned from those dialogs into their program designs. Some of the concepts, many already detailed above, that relate closely to the impact of voluntourism include the importance of:

• Empowering community leadership and using local power structures when implementing programs
• Cultural sensitivity
• Program design based on research, community needs assessment and ongoing community participation
• Project monitoring and evaluation systems.

Read the full document at: http://lessonsilearned.org/2009/09/voluntourism101/

Travel Responsibly with Crooked Trails

Eco-travel, sustainable tourism, responsible travel. There’s a lot of talk these days about what constitutes “good” tourism, but what does it all really mean? Crooked Trails, a Seattle-based nonprofit organization that operates trips in South America, Africa, and Asia, believes it has the answer.

“Responsible travel is about being aware of the environmental, cultural, and economic impacts of our travel,” says Executive Director Christine Mackay. Nothing new there, perhaps, but what makes Crooked Trails unusual is its emphasis on creating deep and egalitarian relationships with indigenous communities.

Read the rest of this article at Seattle International Travel Examiner