When I think about what is necessary for my life on this Earth I come up with the following list: oxygen, water, food, shelter, and books.
You may be surprised by that last item.
You may feel like books aren’t a basic human need.
But that’s probably because you never had to live without them altogether.
Without books how can we expect children to grow up and get jobs that will provide shelter and food for their families? Without literacy skills how will they learn about opportunity or hope or, on a more practical level, math or science? Without print resources how to we expect their communities to create teachers or doctors or any of the other professionals that make a society run?
It takes books to raise people out of poverty. Lots of them.
Photo credit: Worldreader
That’s why I’m thrilled to announce that this year’s Passports with Purpose fundraiser is in support of charity called Worldreader, which is working to bring e-readers and books to schools, libraries and communities throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.
The 2015 Passports with Purpose project will fund digital reading in five libraries in Kenya. We will provide over 6000 children, teachers and parents with access to more than 50,000 books.
Each library will get 50 Kindle e-readers, containing both English and Swahili fiction and non-fiction for all ages, as well as Kenyan textbooks. The Worldreader program trains the librarians in how to take care of the e-readers and also provides a field-tested and proven solar solution that will keep the e-readers charged if electricity is scarce.
One hundred percent of the donations made through Passports with Purpose will go directly to Worldreader to fund this project.
What is Passports with Purpose?
Known as the travel bloggers’ fundraiser, Passports with Purpose is an annual even that brings together the travel blogging community, the travel industry, and you.
I’ve been involved as a blogger with Passports with Purpose since its founding 8 years ago and this is my third year on the fundraiser’s board (translation of that impressive sounding title: I’m one of a small group of people that works all year long – on a totally volunteer basis – to put this thing together). Each year we invite charities to apply with a specific project in the developing world that we can fund. We’ve built schools in Cambodia and Mali, wells in Haiti and libraries in Zambia among other projects.
Every ten dollars you donate gets you a chance to win one prize. Donate $100 and you can enter to win one prize ten times or put your tickets in an online hat to win ten different prizes.
And I’ll say it one more time: One hundred percent of the money you give goes directly to Worldreader. You can learn more about their work on their website.
What’s more fun than helping out and entering to win travel prizes? I’m going to say not much. This year our fundraiser runs from 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, November 8 until the same time on Wednesday, November 18.
And of course, I’m not just a board member, I’m a travel blogger, so I’m hosting a prize too.
Win a two-night Ski & Stay Package at Okemo Mountain Resort
If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time you know that I love nothing more than heading to Vermont for a ski trip. That’s why I’m super excited that my Passports with Purpose prize this year is a Two Night Ski & Stay Package for two people at Okemo Mountain Resort.
Finding our way around Okemo Mountain Resort.
I visited Okemo with my family in 2014 and we had such a great time that 13-year-old Tommy still mentions it as one of his favorite Vermont skiing destinations. He really loved the fact that they offer lots of intermediate tree skiing, so much so that I would say it’s really a perfect place to learn to ski the glades.
Okemo is perfect for families of solid beginning or intermediate skiers who like groomed terrain. There are 120 trails so you can easily ski all day without hitting any trail twice.
And skiing isn’t all that Okemo has to offer. The après-ski atmosphere is perfect for families. We loved the table-top s’mores in the cozy lobby of the Jackson Gore Inn at the base of the mountain.
Tabletop S’mores = genius
Interested in the prize but got family members who don’t want to ski? Okemo offers Snowcat and snow mobile tours, a tubing hill and a Timber Ripper Mountain Coaster, which has a top speed of 25 miles per hour. Your prize package comes with two wintery fast rides.
Okemo is a mountain that really “gets” families and their needs, perhaps because it is family run. Our slopeside condo wasn’t just comfortable, it was quiet. And it had a Murphy bed. Win, win, win (as I hope you do!).
If you want many more details about what makes Okemo the great place for a family ski weekend, be sure to check out my post about it on All Mountain Mamas.
A huge thank you to Ski Vermont for sponsoring my Passports with Purpose prize. Their website has loads of information about skiing in the Green Mountain State.
Every $10 that you give does two things: It helps Passports with Purpose reach its goal of getting e-readers and e-books into libraries in Kenya. It also gives you one chance to win my prize – or one of the other prizes listed in the PwP prize catalogue.
See my Passports with Purpose prize.
Visit the Passports with Purpose catalogue.
Photo credit: Worldreader
Hey! Thanks for posting this! What a great thing to see about a place that’s just in my own backyard. 🙂 I remember when I was in the Nairobi airport, and someone tried to pinch my laptop. The Kenya military caught the guy and drug him out of the airport, and I felt sincere gratitude that they were so on top of things there. Any chance we have to give children a way forward to become the leaders of the future, we should always do it. This is fantastic.