Tribewanted: suspicious or not?
I tend to be pretty suspicious of places that offer you the opportunity to live in a “tribal community” and change your life, the lives of the “tribe members”, and the world in one week or less, provided you pay them some money. I tend to think one week isn’t long enough to make a difference in anyone’s life, unless it’s the week that bridges the gap between being pregnant and having a baby. I’m also suspicious of people who use words like “tribe” and “village” instead of “community” or “town”, just because it sounds more foreign and, you know, Third World.
Tribewanted is a small community-service organization that seems to have sustainability projects running on Vorovoro Island in Fiji and John Obey Beach in Sierra Leone. I don’t know much about them, but they started in 2008, and there is some local concern about whether or not the volunteers will be respectful of the island people. It seems pretty aboveboard, but I’d love to hear from someone who’s actually been involved with the project…anyone?
July 13th, 2010 at 2:12 am
hey Claire – thanks for your post on Tribewanted
I set-up the project in 2006 with the goal of building sustainable communities.
Our project in Fiji has had 1200 visitors to-date, staying on Vorovoro Island for an average of 2 weeks generating over $1m USD into the local economy in the north.
The local landowners invited us to continue the project for the long-term.
I’ll be the first say that the project does not change lives overnight – but from the feedback we’ve had from our members and the local community we work with its had a positive impact on a fair number of people.
Check out the history of the project written by those who’ve visited Vorovoro… tribewanted.com/blogs
our new project starts in Sierra Leone in October 2010 > sierraleone.tribewanted.com
happy to answer any more questions. hope to see you on the beach someday.
ben