Nicholas Donaldson
“Canada’s Greatest Explorer” is gearing up for another adventure.
Fort Frances native Josh Henry will be travelling with a group to northern Thailand, near the Burmese border, from May 28-June 10 as part of his “GiveBack GiveAway” project.
The group will be helping an under-developed school by building a playground and donating supplies.
But Henry also will do a fair amount of relaxing and exploring the area.
He noted the “GiveBack GiveAway” project aims to create sustainable tourism opportunities while helping the poor in tourist destinations.
“It started when I was travelling in Africa with Johnny, the co-founder,” Henry explained.
“We had been to so many places, and got so much from the experiences, that we wanted to give back,” he said.
During their 2015 trip, the group used funds to hire local carpenters to build market stalls for women selling their wares in Senegal.
Previously, the women were forced to sit on the ground all day to sell at the market and make a living.
“We had a smaller budget back then, only about $5,000 U.S.,” noted Henry.
He said they were putting money directly into helping the local micro-economy by hiring local craftsmen and improving the local market for everyone.
During the trip, they also donated sacks of rice, sports equipment, a computer, and bicycles to other villages in West Africa.
The project’s second trip happened this past December–a two-week jaunt to Cambodia to build a playground and spruce up a school.
The school teaches English in an effort to get more children into university, a requirement that is not taught in normal school.
Most of the children do not want to go because it takes place after their normal, government school.
Henry said the group wanted to entice the kids to attend the English school by fixing it up and adding the playground.
“It gives them a reason to want to go to the school,” he reasoned.
The visitors also brought bicycles to give to the children so they could run tours in the future and fund themselves.
“That trip was really successful so we started planning to do another one,” Henry said.
He added he liked the idea of building the playground, so he decided to organize one again for the Thailand trip.
“A playground is beneficial to the community and something tangible we can leave behind,” Henry explained.
“They grow up quickly there and this just gives them the opportunity to be kids.”
Henry said he hopes the project will turn into something bigger and better–and perhaps someday even become a business.
“This is a test project that I hope turns into a full-time job,” he remarked.
“The goal is to become a full-time tourism company that focuses on giving back to the places we visit.”
Right now, they are funding the trips through a crowd-funding website–and anyone who donates is eligible to win a free trip with them.
A winner from Calgary was announced April 6 and will join the group on its two-week trip to Thailand.
More information can be found at the “GiveBack GiveAway” website at www.givebackgiveaway.com
Meanwhile, the Fort Frances Public Library Technology Centre hosted a talk by Henry last Wednesday night as part of its “Human Experience” series.
Henry spoke about some of his other adventures, including riding on top of an iron ore train in Africa, being on a reality show, and an upcoming “Tuk Tuk” race in Sri Lanka.
Information about these and other trips can be found on Henry’s personal travel blog at www.smallworldtravels.com
