For all those who commented on our Geotourism Entry, this is for you!
This limerick here is for you
It’s something we said we would do
For all of our friends
Who put down their pens
And commented on PEPY too
We wanted to say thank you for
Your Geotourism comments and more
Supported us all
And headed our call
With responses for PEPY galore
Saren, Pheng, Andrei and Cat
Stacy, Rob H, Chris & Matt*
And po…
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Added by Daniela Papi on September 6, 2009 at 6:05pm —
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I am moving my blog to a more user-friendly site:
www.lessonsilearned.org
I hope you will follow me there!
- Daniela
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Added by Daniela Papi on August 18, 2009 at 5:00pm —
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Wow! Check it out! We gave out 106 bikes year year for the fourth installment of our Bike-to-School Program.
This year, we have nearly 100% increase in students graduating from grade six since we started PEPY and nearly 1000% increase in the number of kids completing grade seven. A huge factor in that is that the junior high school programs are now much closer to the student's homes thanks to so many of you.
Yeah!…
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Added by Daniela Papi on August 10, 2009 at 12:30am —
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These thoughts are in response to
this blog on "Tales from the Hood".
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“If you are somehow involved in aid work and receive any form of compensation, the fact is that you benefit.” – I think we are missing the discussion about the MAIN way we benefit, and if we miss that, than maybe we shouldn’t be here.
Those who believe passionately in the changes they are working to make in the world…
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Added by Daniela Papi on August 2, 2009 at 12:00pm —
1 Comment
I wrote a comment today on our Geotourism Challenge site which I wanted to share: http://geotourism.changemakers.com/en-us/node/21932
It seems that a lot of people have been voting for PEPY on the site (THANK YOU!) and some have also gone so far as to write nice comments for us on our page. I was writing back to one from
Aileen Cameron and I wanted to share it below.
Thank you to the PEPY…
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Added by Daniela Papi on July 30, 2009 at 11:12pm —
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Thank you for being a part of the PEPY Cause! Only 5 years ago PEPY hadn't even been named yet, and now we are one of 10 finalists in a 600+ entry contest by Nat Geo/Ashoka thanks to the lives our small group has helped to change and the over $1 million dollars y'all have helped to raise. WOW.
We need the help from ALL those of you in our little tribe to gain more exposure for PEPY by winning this contest. You can help support PEPY by giving us a few minutes of your time today, and that will ma…
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Added by Daniela Papi on July 19, 2009 at 8:43am —
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This is a very similar blog to my previous post - actually it is the first draft of what I wrote there (and by "draft" I mean - the first things that came out of my head after I read this blog - un-edited and very conversational, as my writing tends to be).
Here is the blog I am commenting on.
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Added by Daniela Papi on July 18, 2009 at 12:00pm —
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This blog post is my response to a post calling for regulation of the NGO industry. It can be found here:
http://talesfromethehood.wordpress.com/2009/07/16/regulation-anyone/#comment-121
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An "industry-wide conversation about regulation" is not going to happen until there is an "industry-wide conversation about honesty". Why would you politely tell that person that you agreed…
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Added by Daniela Papi on July 18, 2009 at 11:00am —
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I was recently asked what I thought about the argument that international volunteers often take work away from local people. I thoroughly considered this objection when we designed our trips at PEPY, and I'm constantly aware of the question. At the same time I believe that it is important to encourage a spirit of volunteerism, because even in completely local projects, where the community is encouraged to provide volunteer services, it is always difficult to establish a good balance. As I reflec…
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Added by Daniela Papi on July 14, 2009 at 12:30pm —
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Someone asked what the impact of many tour companies and individuals looking to offer philanthropic opportunities in developing areas might be.... here are my thoughts and a story from my experiences in Cambodia.
I think that it can be a tricky line to walk for those entering a new culture or area and looking to help. Knowing who to trust, what to do/give, where to put support, what that support should be designed like, if/how their should be community by-in/support/funding to make it happen, w…
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Added by Daniela Papi on July 5, 2009 at 4:30am —
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I added more thoughts to this week's development tourism discussion
here.
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I very much agree with your final paragraph: "voluntourists... should not be led to believe that they’re directly contributing anything other than cash to a development project on the ground." The fact that many voluntourism and even longer term "volunteer" projects, marketed as ways for people to aid…
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Added by Daniela Papi on July 3, 2009 at 10:49am —
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My thoughts are, it's not black and white - it's not "all good" or "all bad". In fact, personally, I find it mostly bad. Yet, it's an industry I work in and believe in, because I think it CAN be done better.
Added my thoughts to the discussion started by Easterly's criticism of MDV projects here:
http://tinyurl.com/kqu882
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When reading the first 25 pages of White Man's Burden a few years ago I felt like Easterly was putting into words…
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Added by Daniela Papi on July 3, 2009 at 10:12am —
1 Comment
A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to be invited to speak at the
International Women's Forum event in Hong Kong. I not only got to speak about PEPY and the lessons we've learned, but also to meet many amazing women making changes all over the world.
A friend of mine, who is the founder of the
M restaurant group in China and an IMF board member in Hong Kong, had recommended me as a speaker -- lucky me! The…
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Added by Daniela Papi on June 20, 2009 at 9:00am —
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Please :-)
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/301404?m=b1beac29
Join the cause! And let others know about our work in Cambodia! We need your help to spread the word as the way we typically raise money is through our tours - and with both the economy and tourism down, we need your help to be our marketing arm, please thank you!
If you take the time to donate your Facebook status to PEPY - ask your friends to join the PEPY cause, or p…
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Added by Daniela Papi on June 17, 2009 at 9:21pm —
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First off.... we aren't charging people to "volunteer". We are charging people to go on a tour, feed them, put them up, and give them a chance to learn.
But that's besides the point....
Here are my other thoughts in response to a post asking why people should pay $280 to join our August PEPY Tour.
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Hi all -
My name is Daniela Papi, and I am the founder of PEPY.
I hear you. I thought a lot of the same things when I first looked at different volunteer trips. I think if you lo…
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Added by Daniela Papi on June 16, 2009 at 5:00pm —
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Yet another set of thoughts on a voluntourism blog:
My comments on this post:
http://www.travelanthropist.com/2009/06/how-are-travel-and-volunteering-related.html#comment-form
I very much agree! As the founder of PEPY Tours (www.pepytours.com) I believe we share the same values as Hands Up Holidays and agree that the hybrid-model of NGO work and tourism adds value to the tourism indu…
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Added by Daniela Papi on June 12, 2009 at 6:50pm —
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Also on VoluntourismGal's website, I added my thoughts about "Faceless NGOs". Should volunteer sending organizations list the name of their partner organizations on their site? Do they often fail to do so because they are trying to prevent people from working with that NGO directly? Does that then imply that their desire to support their "partner" NGO is limited? or is there another reason? Your thoughts?…
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Added by Daniela Papi on June 12, 2009 at 6:22pm —
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Our friend Voluntourism Gal (Alexia Nestora) put this post out on the Adventure Travel Trade Association's Hub asking for others thoughts. What do YOU think?
Trad. Non-Profits vs. Volunteer Sending Organizations
POST BY ALEXIA NESTORA
The voluntourism field seems to be divided when it comes to the non-profits versus for-profits, but what about within the non-profit sector? I have heard a lot of companies describe themselves in different ways – some are development organiz…
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Added by Daniela Papi on June 12, 2009 at 3:59pm —
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I added my thoughts to this very heated discussion on micro-credit
http://www.socialedge.org/blogs/beyond-good-intentions/archive/2009/05/25/micro-lending
my post copied below:
Wow... so sorry Tori, in my opinion, you do not deserve an attack, questions and dialogue and criticism of course, which is what I think you were looking to spark when you started this, but not an attack. If and where…
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Added by Daniela Papi on June 2, 2009 at 12:30am —
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This cover of the Economist is fabulous because of this amazing quote. "But now we, too, must ignore the voices who tell us that the world cannot change." I think that is my new favorite quote.... how true indeed.
"Today, the Cold War has disappeared but thousands of those weapons have not. In a strange turn of history, the threat of global nuclear war has gone down, but the risk of a nuclear attack has gone up. More nations have acquired these weapons. Testing has continued. Black market trade…
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Added by Daniela Papi on May 30, 2009 at 1:09am —
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