TRAVEL WITH A PURPOSE
First Things Foundation
Our relationship with First Things Foundation started in 2023 when we saw their amazing immersion and economic development work in Sierra Leone and Guatemala.
Shared Values | Meeting their passionate team solidified that we had the same goals, as immersion is something that we strongly believe in, having ourselves spent many years living in remote countries with foreign cultures and languages. We understand that immersion is the only way to truly empower people; by taking the time to listen and relate. We believe this both broadens the mind as well as cements home truths that we may have forgotten along the road of our busy lives
The Model | FTF Field workers go for two years in to some of the most impoverished regions around the world to empower local change-makers to improve their communities
Our Impact | Gratitude Travels is a recurring donor and partner to First Thing Foundation, benefiting local communities who need it the most
If you wish to know more about their efforts visit their website https://first-things.org/
Community Engagements
We encourage you to include community visits when travelling with us, not only to see how communities live in remote locations and often in close proximity to wildlife, but also how living with these challenges impacts their daily lives.
In cities such as Cape Town, people face very different challenges and we wish to contribute to the hope our partners bring to these communities.
If you wish to include a community tour in your visits to any African Journey, please let us know.
Here is one of the many operations we encourage you to tour with:
Uthando Cape Town
Uthando's respectful, life-changing philanthropic educational excursions allow Uthando guests to experience South Africa’s unique spirit of Ubuntu ‘I am because we are’ and shine a light on the many deserving, unsung community heroes whose nation-building efforts so often go unrecognized and unrewarded.
As an award-winning model of responsible tourism and traveling philanthropy, Uthando is drawing on an extensive network of cherished partnerships in tourism and community development, with the ultimate goal of linking these two sectors by a myriad of innovative, sincere and meaningful ways.
If you wish to know more about their efforts visit their website https://www.uthandosa.org/
Conservation Contribution
For our African Journeys we have carefully selected partners who operate in wildlife areas which they conserve and protect for generations to come.
Travelling with us will directly contribute to the work that these partners do and every little bit positively impacts change and a brighter future.
How you contribute is through small wildlife fees which are included in all accommodation rates for African Safaris. If you wish to learn more, we encourage that you ask us to include a conservation tour or experience in your trip at an additional cost.
Here is just one of many examples of what our partners do:
Kwandwe Rhino Conservation Trust
Kwandwe established the Kwandwe Rhino Conservation Trust in 2019 in order to raise funds to continue protecting the black and white rhino. These animals face severe threats from poaching for their horns, driven by the illegal wildlife trade. Habitat loss due to human activities like agriculture and development also endangers their survival.
The Kwandwe Rhino Conservation Trust's efforts focus on training and enhancing their anti-poaching, awareness raising and the tagging and research of rhinos within the Eastern Cape region.
If you wish to know more about their efforts visit their website https://www.kwandwerhinotrust.org.za/
Talk to us About Experiential Travel
If you wish for your trip to have a strong community and conservation focus, please let us know and we will gladly incorporate this