Travelers' Philanthropy Handbook - Center for Responsible Travel

institutions and students can engage in travelers’ philanthropy. The money raised through theSSM program sponsors Gambian students participation in a one-week field-based capacitybuilding training on niche tourism product development. In order to support each Gambianparticipant, a sum of approximately £100 per participant is required, which is raised by the SSMstaff and UK students participating in the program. Based on merit, a total of 10 Gambianparticipants are sponsored each year, with the selection process managed by the chair and acommittee of ASSET.The one week training course is designed to facilitate crossculturalcollaboration, knowledge exchange and peers’capacity building. In-class activities, led by both UK basedand local experts take place at the Safari Garden Hotel inFajara and at the Sandele Eco-retreat in Kartong – chosenfor their responsible tourism commitment and practices. Inaddition, this innovative learning experience is enriched bylocal field visits, during which the Gambian students play akey role in guiding and advising the visiting students onpractical Gambian tourism issues.The niche tourism training covers product development andmanagement approaches, business planning, cross-culturalcollaboration and team building. In the final stage of themodule, teams of students present their innovative nichetourism business ideas that offer sustainable alternatives tothe existing Gambian tourism portfolio. Past ideas haveincluded: wellbeing holidays at Kartong eco-retreat, fieldspecificvolunteering holidays, cross-cultural encountersand community-based agrotourism, camping adventures upcountry, river cruising, eco-weddingevents, and sport charity challenges.It has been gratifying to see how the SSM collaboration with ASSET and Gamspirit has resultedin a valuable opportunity for both international and Gambian students to enhance theirvocational learning. By offering an innovative travelers’ philanthropy experience through whichstudents based in the UK help to raise scholarship funds as part of their course, this initiativeenables Gambian students to take part in training that would otherwise not be available to them.Although many university programs offer opportunities for their students to travel abroad andincorporate features such as home stays, participation in local projects, and language training toexpose young people to different cultures, this training is unique because it is delivered for thebenefit of both international and Gambian participants. Furthermore, it is distinguished by thefact that they contribute to raising funds to sponsor their Gambian counterparts and theGambian students are responsible for providing local leadership and guidance during the fieldvisits. Following this experience, a number of participants decided to study development-relatedmatters at postgraduate level. Several of the participants indicate this experience is a sellingpoint when they are job hunting and view it as one of the most significant learning experiencesthey had. Gambian participants express great appreciation for the opportunity to visit, learn andshare their knowledge about their own country and, many speak of this training as a “lifechanging experience.”This training module has proven to be an innovative and meaningful way to conduct educationaltravel in general and study trips in particular. We believe that it can serve as a template for76Drumming lessons, The Gambia.Credit: Marina Novelli