Responsible Tourism

The Voluntourism is the best way to see the world. Apart from giving an authentic experience of the destination, your holiday also benefits local people, preserve their cultural heritage, promote economic and the environmental development.
Tailor made itineraries combined with Volunteer Programs by Wild Eye Travels helps in bringing you closer to local cultures and environments by involving local people in tourism. It's about doing this in a fair way that helps learning about it rather than just looking at it. Responsible Tourism is capable of making significant contributions to the lives of others.

The projects are primarily aimed at improving the quality of education in rural areas. You can make a huge difference by helping the children hone their English skills. They have a strong desire to improve their conversational English, as they know that this can help put them in touch with the rest of the world, bringing better employment opportunities and securing a higher standard of living.
We bring people together through volunteering in rural villages in and around Jodhpur. The Projects we support is "Rajasthan Village Development Project" much popular as Mandore Project.

The Mandore Project is a secular, all-inclusive, nonprofit organization. It takes a grassroots approach by involving local communities and linking them with volunteers. The project has an unorthodox approach to the typical, hierarchical bureaucracy that drives India. There is no formal, centralized office, and the aim is to minimize paperwork and unnecessary planning. We believe, it is important not to make “false impressions” through the distribution of expensive color brochures and media materials (however, we do have a Web site). By streamlining the operational costs, more of the funds can go directly to the projects.

Mandore Project is based on Gandhi’s principles. The mission is to work with underserved people and strive for equality for all. The Mandore Project also seeks to work with people who have encountered discrimination (by race, sex, caste, addiction, etc.). Many of the schools set up by the Mandore Project have posters of Gandhi to remind the new generation about his principles

There are a broad range of projects that focus on several different areas of community development, including:

Education
Health
Environment
Empowerment of Women

We believe improved education is the key component for the ultimate solution to many of India’s problems. In underserved rural communities, the literacy rate continues to be much lower than in cities. The Mandore Project has a few basic goals as part of its educational initiative:

Increase the motivation for students to attend school
Address student drop-out, and keep students in school longer
Improve education for women

To address these goals, We takes a practical, “from-the-ground-up” approach. The schools in the villages around Mandore lack a very basic infrastructure that is necessary to ensure a proper learning environment. Many of the Mandore Project endeavors focus on creating or improving school’s infrastructure.
Volunteers have been linked directly with students to work together on making basic furniture for schools. This experience provides an opportunity for cultural exchange and an invested interest for the students.
The Mandore Project has also added basic toilet facilities at schools. By fourth or fifth grade, many female students walk home to use the toilet and do not return back to school. In a practical fashion, Mandore Project is addressing drop-out rates amongst female students by equipping the school with basic toilet facilities.

The first priority when addressing health issues is to increase awareness amongst parents. Sometimes children do not receive proper medical treatment because the parents do not have basic knowledge about medical services. Thus, all Mandore Project initiatives occur in collaboration with parents. Services provided have included:

Free medical check-ups
Free distribution of medicine as prescribed by a doctor
Basic medical camps for minor issues and simple surgical procedures such as cataract removal
Dental health
Eye-Check up
Awareness Drives

Education about drug abuse is also a health campaign. Opium addiction is a common problem among villagers. The Mandore Project previously ran a detoxification center for 13 years, from 1992 until 2006. It closed due to problems associated with the space being leased.

The key components to Mandore Project’s environmental programs are to fully educate and engage the communities and to especially involve women. Drought and deforestation are severe problems in this part of India, and the use of resources makes an enormous impact. Some of the Mandore Project programs have been:

making kitchen stoves more efficient
planting trees and gardens, which were given to children to take care of, and
hosting discussion groups that address the role of environmentalism within the villages.

The authentic culture of the villages lies within the homes. A critical piece of any initiative is to build trust and rapport, and the involvement of women is crucial. volunteers work on a project with the women of a village to modify cooking devices in every home. The project has many practical advantages, such as:

minimizing smoke and maximizing heat generation,
decreasing the amount of wood used (a small check on deforestation), and
improving family health (by protecting the lungs and eyes).

Mandore Project is not funded by government sources.
Part of the funding of projects also comes from the tourism and volunteer packages. Volunteers are asked to contribute for room and board, basic materials and transportation to the villages.
However, money should not be an obstacle for a volunteer. If someone wants to come and contribute, but lacks funds beyond the basic weekly cost, there will be work available.