In Nepal, orphanages attract countless ‘voluntourists’ and their donations each year. While good-intentioned, donors are unknowingly supporting the ‘orphanage trade’: an industry removing children from their homes with the promise of a better life and profiting from fee-paying volunteers. As well as reuniting children with their families, Forget Me Not empowers young people with skills to earn an income in the tourism industry.
This gift reunites youth in Kathmandu with their families, supports them to meaningful employment and educates travellers about the dangers of orphanage tourism.
Global Gifts invest in communities rather than packaging. 100% of your gift goes straight to the project. Plus, The Intrepid Foundation match all donations. Double the giving, double the impact.
There are about eight million kids living in orphanages around the world, but it’s estimated 80 per cent of them aren’t orphans at all. Forget Me Not wants that to change and The Intrepid Foundation are backing us!
The Ethical Tourism Collective is working on five sustainable alternatives to voluntourism. Each member of the project team has first-had experience of orphanage tourism and now will be the ones to co-design and deliver an ethical alternative. Something that rewards the generosity of travellers, rather than exploiting it.