Vacation With A Purpose :: Fathom Impact + Travel

Columbia SC Moms Blog is honored to partner with Fathom Travel Ltd. to bring our readers the following post. All opinions are our own.

Do you love traveling to new destinations, experiencing different countries and cultures while also helping make our world a better place?

Imagine taking a trip to one of the top destinations in the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic, on a state-of-art cruise ship. Onboard, you’ll indulge in endless amounts of activities, delicious meals, or simply lounge poolside while letting go of the stress back home. You’ll arrive to the Dominican refreshed and ready to take in all the beauty of the land and sightseeing favorites, while also having the opportunity to work side by side with local residents in existing programs that focus on improving the lives of children, families and communities.

How amazing would it be to have the time of your life while also making a difference?

Our friends at Fathom Travel have made such a trip possible by developing a new kind of travel, impact travel: traveling with a purpose. With Fathom, you will experience a new kind of cruise. One that combines your love of travel with that deep desire to make a difference in the world. Fathom offers authentic, meaningful travel experiences to enrich the life of travelers while they work alongside locals to tackle community needs, while also enjoying the beauty and culture of the world around us.

What You Can Expect on a Fathom Trip

Impact activities include a wide range of projects focused on education, environment, and economic development. Depending on travelers’ passions and skills, travelers can spend up to three days working alongside locals and Fathom partner organizations on the causes the travelers really care about. Activities vary, including things for people who want to be physically active, as well as things for those who prefer a less physically demanding volunteer opportunity. All travelers will be able to find a great fit. Here are more details on the impact activities you can expect:

• Economic Development: Help cultivate cacao plants and organic fertilizer at a nursery and assist a local women’s cooperative in producing artisan chocolates. This activity is designed to produce high-quality plants to increase farmers’ yields through sustainable practices and – importantly – create income opportunities for rural women. Work with a women’s cooperative to repurpose recycled paper into saleable beautiful paper products to generate revenues for the women. Over time, these activities will allow the cooperatives to increase their workforces so the cooperatives can achieve economic independence.

• Environmental: Provide hands-on support to craft and build water filters – using clay, a natural resource found locally – and deliver those filters to families throughout the community to provide healthy drinking water. With limited piped water supply, this will make a meaningful difference in the quality of people’s lives throughout the region. Support reforestation efforts through the planting of coffee to protect the region’s clean water sources.
• Educational: Work side by side with Dominican school teachers in classrooms to teach English skills and help boost students’ academic performance; and participate in adult-learning programs to teach small groups of local community members conversational English to help improve their ability to qualify for jobs that provide a higher level of income.