Connecting travelers to their destination
Beth Whitman, founder of the WanderWorld Foundation and owner of WanderTours, discovered early in her travels that a person could make a huge difference in the lives of those in developing countries by making even the smallest of donations or gift of their time. In other words, $5 might mean a family of four could eat that day, or that by showing interest in a neglected orphan she might receive more attention from her caretakers.
From the moment Beth began offering trips through WanderTours, she has always incorporated a giving component into the itinerary. The company gives a donation to a program and the groups are (usually) able to visit the recipient charity during the tour, be it an orphanage in India, a cooking school supporting street kids in Vietnam or a nunnery in Bhutan or Myanmar.
Visiting these programs enriches not only the group experience but also that of the recipients.
The WanderWorld Foundation was created in order to help travelers funnel their passion for the destination through a tax-deductible donation, impacting the recipient in immeasurable ways. You can learn more about the projects we’re currently supporting here.
Making sure funds are well spent
By following a rigorous vetting procedure that includes on-site visits by WanderTours’ groups, the WanderWorld Foundation ensures that its donors’ dollars are well-spent. Each organization that is supported reports on its work and how its funding was spent. You can read more about these organizations on our blog.
Why we invest in women and children
- 99% of maternal deaths occur in the developing world.
- Adequate health care, a skilled birth attendant and emergency care help prevent maternal deaths.
- 1 in 5 girls in developing countries who enroll in primary school never finish.
- When 10% more girls go to school, a country’s GDP increases on average by 3%.
- 1 in 7 girls will marry before they are 15 in the developing world.
- Girls who stay in school for seven or more years, marry four years later and have two fewer children.
- Women make up nearly 52% of the global total of people living with HIV.
- Current approaches to preventing mother-to-child HIV transmissions are 98% effective.
- Women make up 43% of the agriculture labor force. However, women are less likely to own land, and own fewer amounts of land when they do.
- When women have the same amount of land as men, there is over 10% increase in crop yields.
- Women comprise only 18.9% of the world’s legislators.
- Countries where women’s share of seats in political bodies is greater than 30% are more inclusive, egalitarian, and democratic.
- Approximately one in every six children aged 5 to 14 is exploited by child labour. Globally, the benefit-cost ratio of eliminating child labour is estimated to be 6.7 to 1. (ILO, 2004)
- A simulation on increasing pre-school enrolment in 73 countries found benefits in terms of higher future wages of $6.4-$17.6 per dollar invested. The simulation indicated potential long-term benefits which range from $11 to $34 billion. (Engle et al., 2011)
Source: Unicef