Many of you know about our Just You Cares initiative, where as a company we get to give something back to those communities which are so welcoming to us and our travellers. Today, we'd like to know which one have you visited or would be interested in hearing more about.

Conservation in Colombia – planting of the Quindian wax palm to aid the conservation of the endangered national tree.

Bringing Light to Burma – helping to provide light to a village close to Bagan to help villagers study when night falls.

Stepping in to Aid Wildlife – supporting panda conservation in Chengdu.

Projects Supporting a Community in Cambodia – a variety of community projects that make a difference in Chansar village.

Kindest regards,

Julia

I didn't vote on this poll, first time I haven't voted on a JY poll!  I couldn't decide which one was most worthy - I think they are all great initiatives.  I've been on the JY China tour and saw the panda that is being sponsored by Travelsphere, it was good to see her.  I've also been on the Burma tour and we visited a village near Bagan (not sure if this was the one being supported by JY as the initiative wasn't mentioned) but it was great to meet the locals and learn about their lifestyle and visit schools there.  I've also been to Cambodia and witnessed the poverty, the tragic history and the smiling faces of the people there.  I think anything that helps either the people or the wildlife of an impoverished area is a worthwhile initiative and well done to JY/TS for doing this.  It shows that you do care about the places your company brings tours too, it's not all about the money!

All the best,

Bob

I agree with Bob.  It would be too difficult to select just one as all are worthy and doing a very important job.  Too often tourism just takes from a place and it is good to know that we are helping to give something back.  One of the things I have most enjoyed about the Exotic Hotels series with Giles Coren & Monica Galetti is when the local area and people are benefitting as was the case in Ecuador and Kenya.

I too am finding it a bit difficult to choose and agree with both comments above.

Jaya

Like everyone else, it was a hard choice choosing Cambodia as it is the one place that I would love to see out of the four mentioned. Would have loved to have done the TEFL course and taught English out there, then found that I was too old.

Jan

Anything that helps giving back into a community has my vote....

Personally I have sponsored in the past a child in India for 10'years

I support a boys orphanage in Thailand run by two people from my church

I am also involved with water aid and Red Cross

So helping others is very close to my heart

Cindy

I've definitely been to Chansor in Cambodia when I done the "Cambodia and the Mekong Delta" tour with TS. Bangkok to Saigon all by bus and a lot of the time by boat. This trip is right up there for me.

The vIsit to Chansor was after an early morning vIsit to Angkor Wat. I was a tad disappointed we did not get longer at AW but our obliging local guide Sokkhoeun took 3 interested people back the following free afternoon and it was just marvellous.

The Chansor village was well worth the vIsit and was very memorable too. First we saw the local school in the proces of being extended using money donated by the local tour company TS use. 

We were invited into a class room and were able to hand out pencils and paper to the children. We then saw some local women making brooms and milling/grinding rice. 

Then it was a highlight when the 15 people in our group plus tour manager each had our own ox pulled cart as we were taken to another part of the village for a lunch made and served by the villagers. One of the best meals on the tour. 

To finish off a lovely vIsit we had a blessing from a young Buddhist monk. We all individually received from the monk strands of red wool tied to our wrist. A few of us wore the strands permanently for the rest of the holiday. It is now hanging from my bed post. Good memories and a way of putting something into the local community.  

I also remember going to a school on the floating Uros Islands on Lake Titicaca though this wasn't an initiative - the locals just wanted us to see and we could hand out pencils and books if we had taken them. They sang songs to us in 7 different languages including "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean'. A Scottish song sung by young kids on floating islands in Peru - nearly brought a tear to the eye. 

Angie

Having not (as yet) travelled to Cambodia or China, I know nothing about JY's projects there

I do know about the Burma project via the tour manager on my recent travels though I don't think it was underway when I went there.

I do know about the Colombian trees as I planted one, in its nursery bed, on behalf of JY last September in the beautiful Corcora valley. The planting was accompanied by a little ritual where you raised this little tree up to the 'sky gods' and invoked their help in making it grow tall (its the worlds tallest palm and can grow to around 150 foot though most we saw were around 80 feet tall) , then lowered it to the earth asking the 'earth gods' to anchor it with strong roots and finally water was trickled over your hands to cleanse them and represent the rainfall it would need to flourish. It created a nice memory round a very practical event

Trish