Every now and then an organization comes along and does something to inspire great change in the world.

Ashoka’s Changemakers is one of those organizations. The Geotourism Challenge is all about mutual inspiration, encouragement and innovation among social innovators worldwide.

GreenSpot.travel has entered the competition. How are we innovating for social change? We aspire to help communities in the destinations we visit, and have started with our clothing project in the rural town of Chachagua, near the Arenal Volcano. While the community-run clothing store gets up and running, new plans are on the go for a community recycling program. We’re also working with another rural community in the Alexander Skutch Biological Corridor by helping to jumpstart their community ecotourism initiatives.

Read our competition entry here. Comments and suggestions are welcome in this “open-source” style of competition - this is how it is mutually inspiring. We take suggestions to make our projects better and we can learn from the other creative initiatives as well as comment on the other projects.  And everyone’s motivation is the desire for positive change. Now that’s healthy competition!

By Irene Edwards

I just came back from Brazil, where I was accompanying my husband at the Global Travel and Tourism Summit, hosted this year by the Government of Florianopolis and the Government of Brazil.

We stayed at the beautiful and isolated Costao Do Santinho Resort, where you can easily get lost in the relaxing ambiance of the Island where it’s located.

As I was sitting on my lounge chair at the beach, thinking about the difference between the kind of trips that we offer at GreenSpot, with the kind of experience I was having, suddenly the fishermen who had been there for the last four hours, started running around and yelling at each other in their language, what sounded like a series of instructions. They started pushing the little boat into the ocean and getting the fishing nets ready to get the fish that one of them saw jumping in the ocean. As they started moving, the tourists that were like me just sitting there relaxing, got up with such excitement and started walking along with the locals, helping them with the fishing net,  and asking them about the  technique used by the fishermen, and really getting involved in the event as it was happening.

After the excitement was over, I talked to the owner of the boat, who explained to me that the fish they caught was going to be divided between every single person who helped to pull out the fishing net (including my husband), I was like, is there enough fish for everybody? He said, yes and make sure your husband gets his share. I was just amazed by this system - the community working together to feed their families and at the same time (even though they didn’t know this) they were giving the tourists an unforgettable experience.

It made me think that many times we just don’t know what a perfect vacation is. Yes, being by the beach with a cold drink under the palm trees sounds ideal, but is that really what exploring a different country is all about?

It seems to me that today travelers are looking for more memorable travel instead of the “gringo vacation”. It is all about getting to know the culture by being part of what the locals do, eat, and experience every day. But we as travel agencies are the ones that have to be part of this change, by offering and looking for opportunities to get the communities involved in the trips we offer, and most important to spread the word to our travelers.

The more places like Tierra del Volcán I discover in this world, the more optimistic I am about the future. GreenSpot.travel continues to find and showcase projects such as Tierra del Volcan because without them, the world of travel would not have such a bright future.

Tierra del Volcán is doing so many great things in Ecuador, it’s hard to list them all. But I’d like to take the opportunity here to describe some of the services for the community, some of the creative and innovative green building technologies they are using, and just how well they are embodying the philosophy of ecotourism.

A little about Tierra del Volcán:

Tierra del Volcán (Volcano Land) High Adventure, operates three working haciendas or farms: Hacienda El Porvenir, Hacienda El Tambo Quilindaña and Hacienda Santa Rita Ecological Reserve, in the region surrounding the Cotopaxi Volcano, each one with its charm, ecosystem and distinctive touch. This area is known as the land of the four corners due to the four surrounding volcanoes:  Rumiñahui 4,712 m (15,455 ft), Pasochoa 4200 m (13,776 ft), Sincholagua 4893 m (16049 ft) and Quilindaña 4878 m (16000 ft), with snow capped Cotopaxi at it’s center.

A broad range of activities are available on the haciendas, from horseback riding while experiencing the culture of the Chagra (the Ecuadorian highland cowboy), dining in traditional straw-roofed farmhouses, camping in small valleys hidden between mountain folds, trekking around the premises taking in the magnificent scenery, climbing impressive peaks immersed in awe-inspiring landscapes. At the farmhouses they provide the chance to participate in the daily life of the haciendas or relax in front of a crackling fire.

Their philosophy “Mi casa es su casa” encompasses not only the service they provide, but their goals of protecting the surrounding natural environment and investing in social and educational development of their local communities.

Tierra del Volcán has been recognized for their initiatives by United Nations World Tourism Organization as a company committed to sustainable practices, they have partnered with the Nature Conservancy in the conservation of the Condor Bio Reserve- a conservation corridor that links several protected areas of the SNAP (Ecuadorian National Park and Preserved Areas System) and are certified for their ecotourism practices by the Ecuador Ministry of Tourism and Smart Voyager 2008.

Tierra del Volcán has been very active over the past decade in the conservation of the Paramos, native threatened vegetation, by commissioning studies, contributing volunteers, training local people, creating monitoring programs and conducting large scale reforestation.

Maybe most impressive are the construction and operations of their haciendas.

Hacienda El Porvenir is their main center of operation. It is a traditional hacienda house build 20 years ago in traditional constructive methods such as earth bricks (adobe), hay roof and wood. This house was initially built to lodge the family, but in 1999 was adapted for tourism needs. Since opening their doors to guests form all over the world, they have learned about sustainable development, better ecotourism practices and strong community relations and much more.

Carbon reduction

“We are a  forward- looking company committed to the preservation of Natural Resources, therefore we are committed to reducing our carbon emissions and compensate them 100% by 2015. Some of the actions taken to fulfil this goal are:

•    Waste management (reduce, reuse and recycle, plus composting organic wate)
•    Reduce energy consumption ( by replacing light bulbs with saving bulbs, training staff and increasing awareness of tourists about energy consumption,  building strategies to save electricity by taking advantage of natural light, building strategies to isolate cold weather and minimize the heat loss, drying clothes and hotel implements with wind and sun.
•    House temperature and heating - chimneys are one of the heating mechanisms used for the house. Our commitment is that we only burn eucalyptus wood (an introduced tree specie that is highly efficient) that we bring from plantations of timber from the valleys. Also we have planted 200 hectares of native trees to give back to the land, something we are using.

•    Purchasing policies to buy less contaminating and more energy saving products.
•    Eradicate “slash and burn” traditional practices at the three haciendas we run.”

Community support and education  programs

Ecology club: The ecology club was founded to improve the scientific knowledge of the students from the Loreto and Pedregal schools nearby.

In the Club children of different ages can discuss themes as geology, biology, ecology, chemistry and geography among others. The Club’s activities also focus on waste management, cleaning of natural environments and pollution. All those activities are backed with experiments, artistic expressions and field trips.

This program is funded by volunteers who come to the participate in the program for at least one month. 35 per cent of the total value that each volunteer contributes is used for the acquisition of materials.

Volunteers for the school program:  The volunteers’ project for the schools is an initiative that was deemed necessary by the schools and its teachers. The volunteers assist the classes and help the teachers with the school management and lesson preparation. They also teach English, arts, theatre and sports.

Informal meetings and motivating courses for sustainable development: Various informal meetings with the Loreto and Pedregal communities about: The importance of a conservation policy for all of us and the future generations.

Adaptation of the schools and installations:Volunteers paint the schools, update the installations, make sure that the hygienic services work well and assess the overall needs of the schools so that they can be provided. Programs have been worked out with the schools located in the central area of the National Park of Cotopaxi.

Reforestation: With support from international volunteers more than 2000 species of native trees have been bought and planted; raised at the community’s green house in 2008. This program will help to recover eroded land on the wetlands of Pita River, one of the water reservoirs of Quito.

Cotopaxi: an active volcano:
The volcano “Cotopaxi” is considered a volcano with a moderate to high risk to explode. Therefore it is of significant importance to take certain measurements against the risks involved in case of an eruption. This program evaluated the present situation of the inhabitants of the Cotopaxi area regarding the knowledge they possess about the risks a volcano eruption can cause. It was found that the inhabitants of the area had little knowledge of such risks.

The project “Cotopaxi; An active volcano” has as first objective to find solutions to future risks regarding the activity of the Cotopaxi volcano. It works with the different actors who are in the risk zone, educating the people in order to prevent human disasters and to minimize loss of materials.

They try to achieve integration between the different actors; communities, haciendas, farmers, tour operators etc. in order to work together on themes like healthiness, evacuation, education and others.

The project has evolved since it was born (2003) and since 2006 Tierra del Volcán is  promoting Semana del Volcán ( Week of the Volcano) working with local school and presenting this new knowledge to the community in Open Houses; working with the women and young members of the community in Volcanic Hand Crafts, as an economic solution and for people living in high risk areas.

For further information about these projects please contact:
mariajose@tierradelvolcan.com  or visit Tierra del Volcan at: http://www.tierradelvolcan.com/

I don’t know about you, but even the name of this org makes you think differently about the word “Challenge”.  Enchanting Challenge is all about providing a place where people can inspire each other by sharing how they’re challenging themselves, for the good of the planet.

If you log on and create a profile, you can then start sharing the ways you are challenging yourself to help people or protect our natural resources. From things like composting, to riding your bike to work, to volunteering for a charity, seeing what others are doing is motivating and it makes you feel proud to share what you are doing, and keep going.

Sarah Maxwell has shared the history and idea behind Enchanting Challenge with GreenSpot.travel, as we are both challenging ourselves to make our organizations contribute more and more to the communities we visit.

Enchanting Challenge is the charitable arm of the Enchanting Group, a company that was founded in 1998 to promote holistic and environmentally-friendly tourism.  The charitable arm, Challenge, was founded this year, with following two goals in mind:

1. To connect people around the world out of a united desire to serve through our social media network (www.enchantingchallenge.com).
2. To host and promote Enchanting Challenge-sponsored service trips to be held at the Enchanting Group-owned organic farm in Chile and eco-resort in Mexico.

Since the Enchanting Challenge idea was hatched and put into action at the end of 2008, we have been so excited about the progress and service outreach that has already come from it.  The website itself has a number of users signed up and sharing their personal service challenges, inspiring and interacting with one another.  As for the service trips, they have been a really exciting success.  There are currently five volunteers lending a helping hand on the farm–and it is a very multi-cultural group of five volunteers may I add!  There are currently people there from Brazil, England, Australia, and Croatia!  We have dozens more signed up from around the world who are coming to join in helping the farm in the coming months (who we can’t wait to meet and work with).

There has also been exciting development with the eco-service trip to Mexico!  In March, two young women from a small university in Wisconsin visited the Enchanting Group-owned Ecotulum resort as volunteers and spent the week working on rainforest reforestation projects.  It is very exciting to be able to offer these opportunities to people around the world.

We at Enchanting Group and Enchanting Challenge are very enthusiastic about the future of our endeavors.  Enchanting Challenge belongs to both its users on the site who are sharing and collaborating on ways to serve the world and to its volunteers who are transforming the farm in Chile and the rainforest in Mexico where we invite them to serve.

So, please, know that you are invited, welcomed, and very much desired to join in our Enchanting world.  Join the discussion on our social media network here at http://www.enchantingchallenge.com.

Visit our group page on Idealist here to see all of our volunteer opportunities listed and explained in full detail!  In addition, here are a list of other sites that embody and help carry our message:

Enchanting Challenge Facebook Fan Page
Enchanting Challenge Organic Farm (Ulaa) Facebook Fan Page
Enchanting Challenge Service Blog: http://servicetrips.enchantingchallenge.com/
Enchanting Challenge Social Entrepreneurism Blog: http://socialentrepreneurs.enchantingchallenge.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/EnChallenge

Check us out! We’re here and waiting for you!  I hope to meet you soon through the Challenge forums!!

- Sarah Maxwell

Meeting Doña Mara, the famous lady in our Costa Rica trips, was really special.

I learned how to make tortillas, not only from scratch, but on a wood stove, outside in a “Rancho” which is basically like a gazebo; a covered kitchen with a rustic, old-fashioned oven.

First we walked along the dirt road over to her neigbor’s farm where they grown sugar cane, corn, and lots of other fruits and vegetables. Here they take the fresh corn and grind it, making it into the corn flour called “masa.”   They also have an old-fashioned “Trapiche” which is a manually-operated sugar cane grinder.

In case you are wondering, Doña (which is pronounced Don-ya and means Señora or Mrs.) is the way all married or older ladies are addressed in Costa Rica. Men are addressed as Don - Don Luis, or Don Jose, etc.  It’s a sign of respect, even used among friends. Part of the travel experience is learning the culture right? For me it’s the part I love the most!

Doña Mara and I watched and waited for the corn masa, paid for it as well as for some “Limones” basically a cross between a lime, lemon and orange, to make fresh juice to go along with our tortillas, and “Tamal”.  Tamal is like a coconut & corn bread… so yummy.

Making tortillas is actually fairly easy, it’s amazing that we most often buy them in packages. But nothing compares to a fresh one off the stove. A little crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside.

Often families visit Doña Mara and her family for the afternoon, to get a slice of rural Costa Rican culture, fill their bellies on tasty fresh food, and of course try their hand at making authentic tortillas. While it’s just one afternoon, and a fun and memorable experience for the travelers, it really helps the people there. It’s a direct contribution to not only Doña Mara’s family, but the neighbors where she buys her corn, and lots of GreenSpot travelers also visit the local school, and make donations to our community development project.

Another bonus is getting to meet her adorable grandkids!

It’s amazing to me how rising early (as is the norm in rural Costa Rica), spending the day in a breezy rancho, cooking (which I barely ever do at home), and just taking in the sights, sounds and views of the farm, can be the most relaxing, peaceful and heartwarming experience. There’s something to be said for taking pleasure in the simple things in life.

- Kelly Galaski

Have you met Doña Mara? Tell us about your experience!