In Mali with Passports with Purpose
It's that time of year again. Holiday music is resounding from speakers. Main Streets are lit up. Jingle bells are ringing. And children are chomping at the bit for that last school bell to ring to run home for holiday break. However, something that seems like such a right for most of us, attending school, is a luxury that many people around the world don't have. And it's for that reason, and many more, that we're again sponsoring Passports with Purpose, whose 2013 fundraiser is helping build schools and fund literacy programs in the Sikasso region of southern Mali, Africa with buildOn.
Last year we were thrilled to support Passports with Purpose in their goal to build wells and strengthen communities in Haiti alongside Water.org, bringing safe and clean drinking water to people who didn't have access to it. Together with travel bloggers across the globe, Passports with Purpose met and exceeded their goal of raising $100,000 to build wells in Haiti. We're just as thrilled to partner with Passports with Purpose this year, as they raise the ante, with a goal of raising $115,000 for buildOn.
buildOn's mission is to “break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations through service and education.”
The last couple decades has seen buildOn mobilize rural communities, building several hundred schools around the world. Literacy, service, and education is at the forefront of buildOn's work. Their mission is to “break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations through service and education.” buildOn is hard at work in Mali, which is one of the poorest countries in the world, suffering also from low literacy rates at 31.1%. Despite unrest in Mali, buildOn continues to work fervently to bring more education and literacy to young males and females. The funds raised from this years Passports with Purpose project will only continue to strengthen and further their mission.
Passports with Purpose is important to us because of the work they're doing to strengthen communities across the globe, doing good as they go. But they are important to us, too, because of the way they've rallied some of the most important and influential people in travel: bloggers. Each year Passports with Purpose taps into the influence of travel bloggers to raise money for the designated charity, while giving away some once-in-a-lifetime trips and gifts. The idea is simple: Donate $10 and enter to win one of the many great prizes in the prize catalogue. Travel, doing good, and raising money for important work abroad. We can't think of a better way to spend the holidays!