Will Work for Travel

Organizing movie nights and potluck dinners can help you earn your way to India and other volunteer travel destinations.

When Craig Kielburger (a cofounder of Free the Children) finally heard his mom say “yes” to his request to travel to India at age 12 and see for himself the horrors of child labour that he’d read about in newspapers, one of the conditions was that he’d have to come up with half the cost of the trip himself. It was partly his mom’s way of testing his commitment to the trip and partly a financial necessity, as his middleclass parents couldn’t afford to pay his fare outright.

The same logic applies to Me to We trips, which give families and youth the chance to immerse themselves in the culture of India, Kenya or Ecuador and to make a difference in the communities they visit.

“Travel changed my life when I was a young person,” says Craig, who’s now 33. “I believe that everyone should have that opportunity, regardless of their socioeconomic background.”

Like Craig, most families fundraise their way there—organizing movie nights and potluck dinners and working with Lions Clubs and other local resources. “I think it’s a great teachable moment for young people—that you have to earn this type of unique experience,” says Craig. “The experience isn’t a two-week trip; it’s a two-year journey, and that two-year journey includes fundraising.”

So you’ve never fundraised before? You can get kits from Me to We that show you how. If you’re in the Toronto area, you can also find inspiration at the first-ever We Day Family event, at the Air Canada Centre on Oct. 19. It’s the mom, dad and kids version of the international We Day events founded by Craig and his brother, Marc, where inspirational speakers and chart-topping performers join to help motivate families to get moving and to change the world, locally and globally.