Last year Passports With Purpose built a school in Cambodia, $10 at a time. This year they are looking to help build an entire village in India and there are a TON of great prizes up for grabs as a thank you for participating. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
To heck with it, you probably want to know about some of the prizes. A full list will be available later today on Passports With Purpose’s website, and I’ll be adding in to that pile an awesome travel tool I have used in Europe and Africa; the Trek Tech Trekpod Go PRO! The prize is donated from Trek-Tech in support of Passports With Purpose’s efforts to raise the $50,000 and help LAFTI build the village in India. And I’m getting ahead of myself again. Let’s break this down:
- WHAT: Raffle drawing to raise money for LAFTI. Wait, no, not just a raffle, the LARGEST TRAVEL BLOGGER FUND RAISING EVENT ON THE PLANET!!!
- WHEN: NOW! Your chance to win a prize starts on November 15th and ends December 13th, 2010. You can donate (which gets you one entry into the drawings) at any time and as many times as you like!
- HOW: You have a chance to win the Trek-Tech Trekpos Go! PRO(retail value: $230), and numerous other awesome prizes, by making a $10 donation to LAFTI. Check out the Passports With Purpose Donation page to make your donation and pick your prizes. LAFTI is a 501(c)3 US based entity, so you know what this means for your taxes better than I.
- HUH?: To be clear; I get no money. Trek-Tech gets no money. Passports With Purpose gets no money. ALL of your donation goes directly to help fund the purchase of land and to help build a village with LAFTI in India.
I started working with Trek-Tech earlier this year, reviewing some of their gear on trips to Nepal, Morocco, Kenya, Tanzania and other locations. I was impressed with this Pacific Northwest company, both from the product and from the people behind it. The Trekpod Go! PRO is a handy travel tool for those wishing to get solid photos in tough situations when on the road. I wrote a review of the Trekpod on Digital Photography School if you need further info.
The Trekpod in action
LAFTI (Land For Tillers’ Freedom) is based on the Gandhian idea of equitable land distribution as a basis for rural economic development. Located in the village of Kuthur, LAFTI serves hundreds of village communities throughout the Nagapattinam and Thiruvarur districts in India’s southeastern state of Tamilnadu.
LAFTI was founded by Krishnammal and her husband Jagannathan in 1981. It has its roots in Bhoodan (the Land Gift) Movement, created by Acharya Vinoba Bave, the spiritual heir of Gandhi and “the first Sathyagrahi”, who for almost 20 years, advocated the concept of Gramdan (the Village Community ownership); it involves landowners voluntarily surrendering their land for community ownership by Grama Sabha (Village Community). The significance of this non-violent land revolution is still to be recognised but Bhoodan and LAFTI movements have been instrumental in distributing 11,000 acres of land to 11,000 landless poor families, through non-violent campaigns for the purchase of land for a reasonable price, or the lease of temple or trust land for cultivation by the village community.
Never had a good camera to use. Would love to examine and experience this medium.