You are here: Home / Business / Youth Travel in War-Torn Countries for Peace

Youth Travel in War-Torn Countries for Peace

July 27, 2011 by

[HTML1] Friendship Tours World Travel is an educational travel program for high school and college aged students that transcends ordinary tourism by engaging students and teachers with the living history and modern culture of peaceful nations once at war, like  Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cuba and others.  Its founder, Alethea Paradis, has been a teacher for college and high school students since 1997.  As a person impassioned with global social justice, she not only earned her Bachelors Degree in history and teaching credential from University California Santa Barbara (UCSB) but also has a Juris Doctorate from Lewis and Clark College.

Alethea shares experiences from past tours and describes how each trip is unique to its teacher, leaders and students.  Destination countries are places which offer safe travel for young people and have a solid tourist infrastructure.  Every country has recovered from a significant historical conflict and provides genuine lessons in the importance of intelligent diplomacy.

The tours are highly interactive with dynamic learning experiences designed to connect the students with the locals in meaningful ways.  During each day of travel, students have a learning outcome, reflection questions and journal writing time. One such journal entry can be accessed by clicking here.  You may also enjoy visiting Cambodian Living Arts to see an example of community service students have experienced.

In addition to participating in community service local to the tour, key sites, particularly those which have iconic significance to the country, are visited to illustrate the dark side of conflict.  For example, students crawl through the underground tunnels dug by the Vietcong during the Vietnam War.  In the Mekong Delta, the family of Kim Phuc, Life Magazine’s 9 year old “girl in the picture” who was struck by napalm, is visited.  In Phnom Penh, a visit is made to the “Killing Fields” and Tuol Sleng Prison—which is essentially Cambodia’s Auschwitz.  In Myanmar, old haunts of George Orwell are visited and Animal Farm is read in order to discuss the ways in which the Burmese military coup mirrors the Orwellian dystopia.  In Havana, where Hemingway wrote Old Man and the Sea, they read passages from the book.  These interactive visits support the goal of contextualizing history and humanizing people once dismissed as “the enemy.”

At the end of this episode, Alethea shares a poignant perspective on the Cuban Missile Crisis that you will not want to miss.  Be sure to listen through to the end although this episode is a few minutes longer than others.

To enjoy interacting with the students who have experienced these tours, join the community on Friendship Tours World Travel’s Facebook page.  Visit their website at FriendshipToursWorld.com, and learn how teachers and students can participate.  Enjoy the video tour to Ho Chi Minh City below and see others  on Friendship Tours World Travel’s YouTube Channel.

Be sure to visit our Facebook Page and join in the discussion about this interview.  Rate the show below so we can continue to bring you the quality of shows you enjoy.  Tell your friends about Socially Conscious Investing online radio, and join us next week for another episode.

Filed Under: Business Tagged With:
About Robin Eschler

Robin L. Eschler, the founder of Social Impact Marketing, started her career in developing foundational marketing strategies for companies of all sizes, from Fortune 500 to individual entrepreneurs and local businesses. She has developed and implemented international campaigns to launch high tech products and services and guided new business owners to successfully navigate the difficulties of growing a business.

Her life-long passion for helping others led her into nonprofit work for over a decade. Early on, she recognized the need for nonprofits to adapt to a rapidly changing world in which technology dominates and for-profit business practices are central to success. Her determination to help social causes in a sustainable way led to her creation of the Women's Radio show Socially Conscious Investing.

Impact investing in for-profits with a mission of social change such as the fight against extreme poverty is a blossoming business sector around the world. With the economic decline, it's clear that Wall Street requires change. Social impact investing addresses that need in a way that provides financial and social ROI.

As the Host of Socially Conscious Investing on WomensRadio, Robin's goal is to educate people about the growth of social impact investing and social venture. Interviews are conducted with socially conscious business experts including foundations and nonprofits, social venture investment firms, micro-loan organizations, investors, educators, authors and social entrepreneurs.

This show's mission is to help change the world through sustainable business practices that contribute to the economy, combat poverty, end hunger and provide better lives to all.

Twice, Robin has been recognized and received the highest honorary award that Rotary International gives, the Paul Harris Award, for service above self. Her community work has included developing local programs for disadvantaged populations such as foster children, troubled teens, and people with disabilities.

Visit our Facebook Page to "like" and join our community and discuss our episodes.