Boston resident and single mom, Teresa Keller, along with her three school-age children and best friend’s daughter – ages 12, 13, 17 and 18 – are halfway through their year-long journey traveling to 24 countries around the world helping communities in need with financial and hands-on support. Prior to leaving the U.S., the family sold their home, car and most of their possessions to cover their own costs. Through social media and word-of-mouth, the family is engaging others to follow along, and are hoping to show families and children how donating even $5 can dramatically impact lives.
Teresa created the non-profit organization, Round the World with Us, to raise awareness of global issues, promote social justice and fund non-for-profit projects to increase the quality of life for those in need.
“Our goal is to experience different ways of living, and to provide tools that empower communities to help themselves,” said Teresa. “We want to learn as much as we can from the amazing people and cultures that we’ve had the opportunity to visit, and want to share in their challenges, joys and hope for the future. It is extremely rewarding to see the impact that even a few dollars can make in the lives of others.”
In addition to regular blog posts, videos and social media interaction, Teresa and her family also send a personalized postcard to every donor thanking them for their generosity. The postcards each have a recent photo of the children and families that were helped by the donation.
“We started sending postcards as a special thank you, as well as to make a personal connection and provide an opportunity for parents to share the picture with their children to show the importance of helping others, and the impact that we can all have,” said Teresa.
The Keller family began their journey on August 1, 2009, and are covering all of their own travel expenses and personal needs so that 100 percent of all donations go directly to support community projects. So far they have raised $114,000 and through partnerships with reputable NGO’s such as Children International and Room to Read, Round the World with Us has helped lead numerous projects including:
Providing a kitchen and source of income for a safe home for abused children in Peru.
Building a water well for a Nyumbani village that cares for HIV positive children and elders who lost their relatives to AIDS. The well allows the village to grow their own food.
Providing building materials for a village day care and community kitchen in Ica.
The next project being funded by Round the World with Us is a resource center called the Pillars for Maasai Development in Rombo, Kenya. This project will empower women in the community and help generate income and preserve the Maasai culture in the 21st century (additional details on this project are available on the website.)
An angel donor has committed to contribute 5 cents per web visitor/day to the Round the World with Us mission, so people can help by simply visiting http://www.roundtheworldwithus.org.
For more information on how to can get involved, past and upcoming projects, the Adopt a Project initiative, or to follow the Keller family on their Round the World with Us mission, visit: http://www.roundtheworldwithus.org.
For media inquiries, one-on-one interviews with Teresa and her children and/or to conduct on-site or virtual broadcast segments, contact Wendy at wendy(at)247strategies(dot)com or 206-718-4382.
Baby Carriages on Cobblestones? Trekaroo Makes Family Travel Easy
If you think traveling to Peru with a 4-month-old or to the Bahamas with a gaggle of kids is impossible, you haven't heard of Trekaroo.
A website focused on families sharing their best travel tips with other families, Trekaroo has created a lively nationwide community, helping parents realize that when that first baby comes around, their adventure-filled exploring days aren't over.
“It all started because Brennan and I we were avid travelers before we had kids,” said LiLing Pang, who co-founded the website with her husband, Brennan, and friend, Esther Lee, in Palo Alto. “When we found out we were having our first one, we made a pact and said that we're not going to stop traveling.”
Two months later, the Pang family made their first baby-packed trip out of town—to Houston. When their baby turned 4 months old, they went to Peru and climbed Machu Picchu with him.
That was when “it really hit me how much different life was going to be traveling with kids,” said Pang. “We found ourselves doing a lot more planning. There was a lot more anxiety.”
That's when the three co-founders put their heads together and came up with a solution: Trekaroo. The site launched in August 2009, and today, thousands of users across the United States are sharing family travel tips and answering other users' questions, such as, “How many suitcases does your family take into a hotel on a road trip?” (13 people replied with useful tips within two days).
When you combine kids and travel, you start thinking about strange things, like: Am I going to be able to roll a baby carriage on cobblestones? Or, what can I do in New York City with a 3-year-old?
There are parents out there who have done these things before, and on Trekaroo, you'll find them.
“I use Trekaroo to educate/inspire others. I love writing reviews and including tips that I wish I had known,” wrote Trekaroo user nataliesmom86.
“So many people think travel with babies and toddlers is a disaster waiting to happen, and I enjoy proving them wrong with this website!” (Nataliesmom86 was one of four enthusiastic users who replied to Pang's query, “How are you using Trekaroo?” within hours of her post. To see the continued discussion, click here.)
Aside from the endlessly helpful Trekaroo parent community, the site boasts a few special features, such as the cost and age meters, which allow users doing a destination search to narrow activity results by defining how much they want to spend, or how old their kids are.
Planning a road trip and seeking a fun stopping point? The interactive map allows users to drag the map in the direction they will drive, and destinations along the way—like local zoos or national monuments—will pop up on the map.
Trekaroo is working on iPhone and Android applications for Trekaroo and, in particular, the interactive map. “If you're right in the middle of downtown San Franciso, and you're, like, oh my gosh, I need to find a playground, you can pull out a phone and see playgrounds nearby,” said Pang.
A grassroots effort that was “bootstrapped together," Trekaroo does not receive venture capital funding, but no one is too worried. Advertisers seek out the site for marketing, and new users across the United States are signing up every day (it's free—you just need an email to log in). We're not going international yet, said Pang. The three founders and a few added team members have their hands tied with one country's destinations, alone.
To help expand their reach, designated “destination gurus” help organize reviews of travel destinations in other states. Each month, a few lucky “superoos” get paid vacations to check out travel spots and review them for the site.
“Start-up life is really unique,” said Lee, who first met the Pangs in school at the University of Pennsylvania. "Never in my life have I had a list of things to do that grows faster than I can complete them. I am a travel fanatic, and after having my son, I was totally lost as to where to go. Trekaroo was born out of a selfish need to educate myself with the help of lots of other parents on what fun things are out there for families.”
Lee, who hatched the idea with Pang after they realized that a third of travel is family travel, sees the biggest challenge that lies ahead is getting access to more new parents.
“Every day new parents are being born, and how they find information on family fun is constantly changing as technology evolves,” said Lee, who uses Twitter, Facebook and blogging to market Trekaroo. “We need to make sure that Trekaroo's valuable content is available through the most channels most relevant to parents.”
Cuba Says Washington Impeded U.S. Scientist’s Trip to Havana
HAVANA – The United States is maintaining its “hostile policy” against Cuba by preventing a U.S. scientist from traveling to Havana to participate in a pharmaceuticals workshop, Communist Party daily Granma said Wednesday.
Washington, according to the newspaper, “denied permission to travel to Cuba to Harold Baseman, an instructor with the Parenteral Drugs Association and member of the presidency of the scientific committee of that U.S. entity, which shows the continuity of the hostile policy against our country.”
The paper said that Baseman was supposed to participate this week in Havana in the 6th International Workshop on Aseptic Processing in the Biopharmaceutical Industry, which scientists from China, Italy, Germany, Peru, Mexico, Argentina and other nations, are attending.
The administration of President Barack Obama in January announced new flexibility in the regulations governing travel from the United States to Cuba for some groups, including students, academics, journalists and the members of religious organizations.
Last week, the Treasury Department published the new regulations, which say that those groups can travel freely and without requesting U.S. government authorization to the communist-ruled island if they are going there to visit a “close relative” who is Cuban or works for the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.
The new rules also say that professionals who are attending events such conferences or symposia can travel to Cuba without asking prior permission from Washington, along with students and professors who are going there to participate in educational activities.
In April 2009, Obama had pushed for the relaxation of rules on travel to Cuba so that Cuban Americans could travel to the island whenever they wished. EF
Washington, according to the newspaper, “denied permission to travel to Cuba to Harold Baseman, an instructor with the Parenteral Drugs Association and member of the presidency of the scientific committee of that U.S. entity, which shows the continuity of the hostile policy against our country.”
The paper said that Baseman was supposed to participate this week in Havana in the 6th International Workshop on Aseptic Processing in the Biopharmaceutical Industry, which scientists from China, Italy, Germany, Peru, Mexico, Argentina and other nations, are attending.
The administration of President Barack Obama in January announced new flexibility in the regulations governing travel from the United States to Cuba for some groups, including students, academics, journalists and the members of religious organizations.
Last week, the Treasury Department published the new regulations, which say that those groups can travel freely and without requesting U.S. government authorization to the communist-ruled island if they are going there to visit a “close relative” who is Cuban or works for the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.
The new rules also say that professionals who are attending events such conferences or symposia can travel to Cuba without asking prior permission from Washington, along with students and professors who are going there to participate in educational activities.
In April 2009, Obama had pushed for the relaxation of rules on travel to Cuba so that Cuban Americans could travel to the island whenever they wished. EF
Suscribirse a:
Entradas (Atom)