How to make a difference
How many times have you wished you could make a real difference? How many times have you done anything about making a difference? Well, don't worry if the answer is nothing, you are in good company. Sadly, most of us, will never get around to doing so.
But if asked, we would probably raise a sincere hand and say, 'Yes, I want to do something to help others and to give back.' But rarely does this declaration translate into action. It’s not altogether surprising seeing as most of us lead very busy modern lives, consumed with work, family, personal down time and juggling the general stresses of life.
But what if you could swap the average family holiday and instead of spending two weeks lounging by the pool, head off and do something truly different. Something extraordinary that would impact and benefit men, women and children in desperate need of help. Would you seize the opportunity and go for it?
Putting in action
James Sheppard, Co Founder of Halcyon Serviced Offices, did just that. He decided he wanted to try a different approach for his family holiday, one that would see all of them making a difference. Another family they were friends with (via school so kids the same age) had done some ethical travel holidays and told them how fantastic and rewarding they were. The two families, a party of eight consisting of four adults and four children, set about arranging a trip with Camps International to Camp Kenya.
James, having built a successful career growing multiple businesses, would be the first to admit that he looked forward to having downtime with his wife and twin daughters. Together they have been fortunate enough to have enjoyed a wealth of luxury holidays but this time the Sheppard family wanted to try something different. They wanted to put the desire of giving back into practice so they packed their bags and headed to East Africa.
The trip to Kenya
The party flew overnight from Gatwick to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Nairobi and Nairobi to Mombasa. After a very long and gruelling journey, the two families arrived in Mombasa where they were collected and taken on a further 4 hour drive to Camps International “Camp Kenya”. This is located in the Tsavo area at Itinyi Village. After arriving safely, the group albeit exhausted, were excited to catch a glimpse of where they would be staying.
“When we arrived in Tsavo base camp,” said James. “We were shown to where we would be sleeping, a wood and bamboo hut inside a secure compound. It was very basic but clean. They had cold water for everything meaning our illusions of having a warm shower after our long journey were quickly smashed. But we soon settled into camp life and enjoyed the simple but good local food from Joffrey the head chef. At night you could hear the monkeys chattering in the trees and other weird and wonderful sounds, I enjoyed re-reading an old Wilbur Smith novel.”