I’ve worked with international NGOs in Colombia, Uganda and Sierra Leone and far too often I’ve heard development workers throw around terms and speak in coded acronyms. Definitions in the field can have different interpretations depending on what the objectives are of the project. However, the organizations I’ve worked with that were making waves to encourage economic growth and alter the status-quo have been locally driven. Supporting local initiatives is sustainable, as it allows communities to be self-transformative as they grow for future generations.
A young girl studies her homework in the Urabá region of Colombia. Photo by Charlotte Kesl.
All of us at Project Cordillera have travelled and experienced the difficulties of knowing how to give back in a way that is fair and efficient. So, it’s important for us, as an organization, to offer our products with a step beyond your actual 6-day trek or 12-day mountaineering course. By sourcing local guides with only the best safety record, we exist so your travel can leave a positive lasting impact.
We support long-term opportunities for communities to have reliable income and the knowledge to preserve their unique environments. Every booking supports a life changing educational initiative that gives local teenagers a safe and structured way to experience their surroundings in a new capacity. We also partner with the Bloomtrigger Project to offset all carbon emissions. After you leave Peru, Project Cordillera remains.
We believe that over time, ‘sustainable development’ and ‘ecotourism’ will be the norm and when we talk of development and tourism it is assumed that it’s long lasting and doesn’t do greater harm to the environment. Your ’Sustainable Adventure’ with Project Cordillera is just the beginning.
Puno region, Peru. Photo by Charlotte Kesl.
By Charlotte Kesl, 20 May 2014
