Climbing Kilimanjaro with Roadmonkey

A few months back we wrote about travel company Roadmonkey, which offered unique travel experiences that combined adventure with the opportunity to leave a lasting impact on the places you visit. For instance, one of their 2009 expeditions is a mountain biking tour through the remote jungles of Vietnam that culminates with a volunteer project to build a farm that will grow fruits and vegetables on the campus of a boarding school in that country.

Their other 2009 expedition combines a project to build a clean water system to a school in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania with a climb on Mt. Kilimanjaro. Roadmonkey was founded by Paul von Zielbauer, who formerly worked as a war correspondent in Iraq. He is currently in Tanzania and guiding the team up Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa. Throughout the trip he is providing regular updates on their progress for the National Geographic Adventure Blog.

The first of Paul’s blog entires can be found here. He reports that the team has arrived in Moshi, Tanzania, where he and nine other adventure travelers were just about to begin their six day trek up the mountain. On the morning that the post was written, it was raining quite hard, but everyone was eager to hit the trail and begin their climb none the less.

Over the course of the expedition, Paul and the others are expected to check-in and report on their progress, both on Kilimanjaro itself, and again while they are working on the new water system. The dispatches should be very interesting to follow and give some good insights what it is like to travel with Roadmonkey. Check in with the NG Adventure blog over the next week or so to follow their progress, and to see “voluntourism” in action.

Good-Deed Travel in Mexico: The value of being with a group

First off, I’m the type that is happy to be alone. Sometimes groups get on my nerves. Sometimes, I feel like I belong with the crowd just fine. Other times, being in a group gives me the feeling that I am wearing the wrong style clothing. Instead of a cocktail dress, I’ve worn jeans or vis versa.

I seriously had not a clue of what to expect when I headed off to Mexico to help build houses. I barely had time to pack. When my daughter and I were heading out the door, I couldn’t find the left shoe of the pair I planned to wear when I wasn’t hammering and sawing. I gave up and grabbed another. What I have found, in general, that it is hard to do good-deeds on ones own. My biggest successes have been when I am part of something bigger than myself.

For this good-deed trip, we had to be at the airport by 6:00 a.m. to hook up with the group scheduled for the Southwest Airlines flight two hours later. There was comfort in being handed a list of the people in my travel group and their name tags by one of the trip leaders. I felt hooked in with a purpose, a reason to be along, and not like one of those body parts that we don’t really need. I had on the right clothes. It didn’t matter that I was only in charge of keeping track of five people besides myself. The words, “Here’s your travel group,” roused me from my early morning bleary state of a lack of sleep.

Two people in my group were college students, two were high schoolers and there was my daughter. The college guys were brothers. The high school guys were friends, and none of the pairs knew each other beforehand. As I handed out the name tags, to be worn around our necks at all times, it felt good to be pulled into the realm of a other people. It felt weighty. We were a subset of a larger group on the same Southwest Airlines flight.

As soon hit the airport in Columbus, I remembered one more advantage of traveling in a group instead of going it alone. In general, someone else has done the hard part of figuring out logistics. You can even get matching luggage tags which helps keep bags together.

Another advantage of traveling with a group is that when the flight is delayed for two hours, there is someone to play cards with or to color. Or to watch your stuff while you sleep. I learned that even high school age students like to color in coloring books. One girl brought them along.

Being in a group is almost like stepping on a conveyor belt. You can get from one point to the next without thinking about how you’re going to get there. So many details are taken care of by someone else. If a person has a busy life when not doing good-deed travel, it’s a bonus to have someone else do the thinking. It’s not that my brain was left with my missing shoe, but I didn’t feel the need to be “on,” or the one with the answers.

Here’s another bonus. When your flight is late arriving at a connecting airport, when you are part of a large group, the plane gets held for you. We hoofed it in Phoenix from one gate to the next, our name tags swinging, checking all the while to make sure we were all accounted for. The plane also waits for your luggage to transfer. If I had been on my own, I’d have gotten to know the airport much more than I would have cared to, and heaven knows when the luggage would have arrived.

In all, over 160 of us went to Mexico which involved three different flights from Columbus to San Diego. Our flight had about one third of the total. The youngest person on the trip was 14. The oldest was over 60. Most people were high school age. The small group subset helped reinforce the idea that being on a do-good trip meant being part of a larger purpose where building relationships was an important part of building a house. For parents who are sending adolescents out of the country, this system also ensures that an adult has some notion of what their kid is up to and that he or she won’t be left out, or left behind.

Once we hit Amor Ministries campground in Mexico, about an hour from Tijuana, except for our assigned work groups, and large group meetings, we were free to group up or go it alone as we saw fit. Traveling in a group means that there is someone who can help get those tent stakes in hard-packed ground. Someone else knows where other stakes are available when all of yours don’t work.

The real value of being part of a larger mixed age group, like we were, is the varied conversations one can have. Chatting took on various forms and levels from trivial to deep. With 160 plus people along, there’s always someone to talk with if you feel like it. Or if you don’t feel like it, who cares? There are plenty of others so you can be left alone–just not forever.

With a trip such as the one I went on, people forge friendships, if only for a week, with people who have a common purpose. This is a powerful feeling. One is not swirling about the planet in a random way trying to find footing, but instead there you are with others who have gathered for a common goal. Let’s build a house. A person can not build a house alone, even if one has built a house before.

If you happen to be one who travels on your own, latching onto a group for a brief while, might be one way to look at life from another angle. It’s not just the finished houses that have value, it’s the feeling of connection that develps after a few days. Friends of mine who have participated in Habitat for Humanity type projects have said the same thing..

From what I’ve found, most people who travel in groups have a welcoming spirit, and if you’re willing and able, will find a place for you. They might even share their food.

This picture is of my work group in charge of building one of the 12 houses that the 160 of us built. The first picture is the frame. The two high school boys of my travel group were also in my work group. I’m the front row, 2nd from the left. See the name tag? My T-shirt says, “Don’t assume I cook.” In a group, I don’t have to.

Good Deed Travel: Building houses in Mexico. The why factor

When I told some people I was heading to Mexico to build houses there was a mixed reaction.

  • Some people wanted to know how they could go along.
  • Some thought that this was the greatest idea since sliced bread.
  • Some gave money to help fund our endeavor
  • Some were wary of the value of a bunch of high schoolers and adults descending into Mexico across from Tijuana to build houses in order to make the world a better place.
  • Some thought it was a good idea that we build houses in Mexico to help keep Mexicans in Mexico.
  • One person thought it ironic that I was going to Mexico to build houses when there are so many Mexican immigrants building houses here.

Such are the types of comments people make to those who are embarking on do good travel. Even Rick Steves has something to say.

Rick Steves is wary of groups, such as churches, who go to Mexico to build houses. (See post) In a nutshell, if I’m interpreting him correctly, he thinks these trips are feel good experiences for the participants, but don’t do much to help the world. He likes do good travel, but he doesn’t think this type of trip is it.

“Oh, that’s just great,” I thought as I was watching the video of his philosophical musings. I had already plopped down my deposit money for such a venture.

What was my motivation? Am I just a do-gooder at heart? Or was there something else?

I like the idea of doing good. Sometimes, I do do good, I think. But, being the curious sort who looks at most of life as a grand sociological experiment, I wanted to see what such a trip would be like–and I thought it would be a way to spend some time with my 9th grade daughter. Most of our days are spent flying about our lives at such a speed that we rarely settle down to see what’s going on with either of us. Those of you who have 9th graders know that sometimes getting info from them about their inner workings is like getting gold from Ft. Knox.

I also thought this trip to Mexico would be good for her to learn more about herself and see part of the world she hasn’t been before. Plus, she could see the value of being a do good traveler. She’s a traveler, but doing good has not been part of the focus.

The other truth is, I really, really, really wanted a trip where I could see something new. Seeing something new is how I stay sane. If it meant I had to do something good, so be it.

In all seriousness, because I was in the Peace Corps, I’m careful when it comes to do-good travel. I want to make sure that the organization offering help is not disrupting life in the country where the “good” is to occur. As far as I can tell, Amor Ministries is doing good. It works within the local communities where the houses are built.

This is not meant to push Amor Ministries or a church sponsored trip. This is just what I did. It was an easy fit. Sometimes in life, one just needs an easy fit. No fuss, no muss. There are many sectarian organizations that also do good work.

Although Rick Steves is not too enamored with groups that trot across the Mexican border for a week, I have a different take. It’s been a month since I returened from my journey to Mexico, so I’ve had time to sift through my thoughts.

What I have come up with so far is that because of our trip to Mexico:

  • 12 families have a better house to live in than they did before
  • a number of Mexican kids and American adolescents have great memories of each other
  • several high schoolers from predominately well-off backgrounds had a week where they could just be themselves without cell phones, distractions or mirrors to look into and fret over their appearance
  • adults had a chance to talk to each other about themselves and their lives without interruptions
  • adolescents and adults had a chance to work side-by-side which gave numerous opportunities to just be with each other on equal footing
  • in a pinch, I can build a house that at least puts a roof over my head, a floor under my feet and walls that should withstand wind.
  • because our church has repeated this trip for years, several people have developed a relationship with this part of Mexico and this has had an impact on subsequent work. (More on this in another post.)
  • I’d rather be building a house on a Mexican hillside than sitting out on a beach somewhere, although that beach is tempting, so I’m not opposed to those trips either.
  • Do good travel can be hell on sneakers. (Notice the sole is almost gone.)

Stay tuned for more on this do good travel in Mexico experience. I’ll even share the steps on home buildling.

Volunteer Vacation Day Seven: Last Day of Building

This was it – the end of the Global Village road. The final day of building had reached. When we pulled up that morning in the van we were greeted by several smiling Tajik children who extended their tiny hands for the shaking. As we walked away from our new friends to the house we saw a huge dump truck filled with dirt blocking our way. As you might guess now this dirt was dumped right in front of the gate. Ignited, we most definitely were, but also curious as to why the dirt couldn’t have shown up two days prior? No matter, we had work! Lots of it! We would go out with a volunteer bang on our last day building!

The mound of dirt was to be shoveled, placed in buckets and moved to the front porch area of the house. At the the time there was clutter filling the hole and once the clutter was removed we started on the task. I did some parts of the bucket line, but also got deeply engrossed with shoveling the dirt. Shoveling is not my strong suit. I have about zero upper body strength, so it takes a lot to really dig into the dirt, yet I was determined. As fast as the dirt had appeared, I wanted it to vanish. I started shoveling like a mad woman, quicker and quicker. Moving dirt wasn’t the only thing happening on this last day either. One volunteer was needed to make a cement paste for brick lying and there were two working on laying bricks in the window frame. I was seriously curious why none of this was thought of the first two days? It could have been they were waiting on materials, but everything we needed with the exception of the dirt appeared to have been there all along.

I wasn’t sure whether we would finish the work in half day’s time, but we did so with flying colors and as a special treat the women of the household made Kurutob! Now one of the other volunteers and me had been searching for this uniquely Dushanbe dish which is mentioned in the Lonely Plant guide in some restaurant we were never able to locate so we were thrilled the women decided to make it for us! I was so excited I’d asked if I could photograph this special occasion and gladly they let me snap away. After my photo session they rushed the large serving down to the worksite table were everyone was waiting to sample the dish. Overall, I believe it is safe to say all enjoyed the dish and I myself especially loved it!

But as I mentioned earlier this was it – the end of the Global Village road. We would return later only to provide the homeowner with gifts and say our final farewell in cleaner attire, but our manual labor was a wrap. Was our mission accomplished? Yes and no. Most of us always believe we can do more, that everyone can do more to help not just in the city of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, but in communities all over the world where there is a need for decent housing. For Dushanbe this was the first time a Global Village team had worked in the city and there is still a lot to learn for the affliiate and most certainly for any future volunteer who decides to embark on over to this incredible country.

Volunteer Vacation Day Six: Every Hand on a Bucket


Sometime early in the trip I made the rule: Every hand on a bucket. If you were one of the players in one of the many bucket lines this was important. Again, the task could have easily been a huge snore, but with all hands and eyes watching a bucket no one should have been completely bored with the bucket line duties. Everyone was to be included. Most of the time this was for me as I hated it when an empty bucket somehow cruised passed me while I was trying to pass a freshly filled bucket. For our second day on the worksite our construction supervisor managed to get it together and give us some real work to do for the day. Okay, so it mostly bucket detail again, but this time there was a lot of mud to transfer.

The mud was to head in two directions. One was behind the house on the back outer wall where there was a lot of spreading to be done and the construction worker back there was very helpful and friendly. The second destination was a room in the front of the house. The entire interior with the exception of the ceiling was to be covered in mud and the construction worker in this room was the complete opposite. All of the volunteers thought of him as some sort of madman. Grunting, slopping mud everywhere, and working quite furiously. No one was certain why this particular Tajik gentleman acted in such manner. We had our guesses though. Too many hands in his pot? Too many women on the worksite? Maybe he just had a few loose screws? The three volunteers that went in to work with him came out a mess. Mud on the hands, face, legs, lips, hair, you name it and mud was there. It was a sight to be seen.

In terms of highlights on day six that was really it. The workload was far too light for us at this site, but we continued wearing smiles and doing what was asked of us. Tomorrow would be the last day of building and a half day. I was a bit sad that there hadn’t been more hard work days and a little relieved. I had to remember the first two were on the back-breaking side.