Country: United States

Organization: Utu Social Ventures

Year the initiative began: 2006

Project Website: globalbuddies.net

Positioning in the Mosaic of solutions:

• Main barrier addressed: Cross-cultural myopia
• Main insight addressed: Education through hands-on experience

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What is the goal of your innovation?
Inspire children and families—both travelers and local residents—to become lifelong global citizens and environmental stewards who understand their own power to make a difference in the world.

How does your approach support or embody geotourism?
Global Buddies offers family trips to Africa and Asia that foster authentic personal connections between travelers and residents of the communities they visit. More than just a travel program, we are building a platform for social change that gives families from developed and developing countries an experience of shared humanity that changes the way children in both groups grow up. This project is a joint initiative of UTU Social Ventures and the UCLA Global Center for Children & Families.

Global Buddies is based on a spirit of equal and mutual exchange between tourists and locals. Our trips consist of a 10-day program of cultural exchange, service and celebration offered in partnership with a host NGO. Visiting and local children participate in joint activities—dance, music, sports, media training, etc.—while parents volunteer on community-identified projects. The entire group goes together to key tourist destinations, like museums, beaches and restaurants, that residents of a region’s poorest communities rarely visit on their own. Through shared experiences, children and families develop lasting friendships across cultural and geographic boundaries.

Relationships and personal connections are at the heart of our approach to geotourism. We enhance the geographical character of places we visit in part by contributing material resources and strengthening local capacity. At a deeper level, we build relationships that help local residents see themselves and their culture in a different light. When visitors from abroad show interest in their lives and traditions—when they try to learn the language, express caring for their children, appreciate their aesthetics—locals’ pride in their own heritage increases. Residents’ long-term well-being is enhanced by this new perspective on their place in the world, the resources available to them, and their ability to create change.

Describe your approach in detial. How is it innovative?
Three core innovations characterize Global Buddies:

– Our trips are designed as family experiences for children ages 7 – 17. While most youth-oriented global exchange programs serve teens—usually traveling on their own—we provide direct participation in other cultures for younger children also. By offering programs in which parents and children take part together, we help participants incorporate a global view into their identity as a family. Our trips strengthen family bonds of shared values and experiences that support youth in becoming lifelong global citizens.

– Community partnerships form the heart of our program. We develop all our trips in collaboration with host NGOs who invite us in to their communities. While trips to each place occur a few times per year, we maintain year-round relationships with partner NGOs. We work with them to help develop resources, achieve their goals and improve conditions in their community. These partnerships create the trust that underlies the warm welcome Global Buddies’ travelers receive when they visit a community—making it possible for participants to form meaningful personal relationships in a brief time. Our work in communities builds on the strengths of the local culture, highlighting what is good in residents’ lives and affirming the deeply positive aspects of their heritage that poverty cannot diminish.

– We aim to unite tourists and local families in a global community that sustains the personal connections established, supports collaborative action, and reinforces a sense of power to create change in the world. Our relationship with travelers and locals begins long before a trip happens and continues after. Through newsletters, online networks, pre- and post-trip meetings, and involvement with organizational capacity-building and youth development, we help participants maintain ongoing contact to support the next generation of global citizens and leaders in both countries.

What types of partnerships or professional developement would be most beneficial in spearding your innovation?
Our expertise lies in our ability to build strong community ties and create culturally respectful, age-appropriate programs. Professional development would help us position our initiative within the travel industry, in order to build a successful social entrepreneurial business.

We seek partnerships with schools, community groups, travel companies and professional organizations to increase marketing and publicity. We currently fill trips through word of mouth, but long-term growth and sustainability requires attracting an ongoing stream of families from a broader market.

We have created a clear demand from both travelers and communities. Families are calling us to find out about existing trips and inquire about future trips to other countries. Communities are requesting Global Buddies programs in their region. Partnerships that leverage our community ties, create more efficient labor divisions and bring greater economies of scale will help us spread this innovation.

In one sentence describe what kind of impact, change, or reform your approach is intended to achieve.
Help families develop international connections and partnerships that build a sense of global citizenship and motivate action to improve their lives, communities, and the world they share with others.

Describe the degree of success of your approach to date. Clearly define how you measure quantitative and qualitative impact in terms of how your approach contributes to the sustainability or enhancement of local culture, environment, heritage, or aesthetics? How does your approach minimize negative impacts?
We piloted our model with a 2007 trip to Mfuleni township in Cape Town, South Africa and just completed a second South African trip. We have begun planning two South Africa trips for 2009 and a new trip to Uganda. We measure quantitative impact by number of participants, community projects undertaken and financial resources generated.

In 2007, 5 American families joined 10 African families, plus grassroots members of our host NGO, as “global buddies.” The total number of direct participants was 42: 7 American and 20 African adults; 5 American and 10 African children. 50 other African children participated indirectly.

In 2008, we had 9 American and 20 African families, with 73 direct participants: 12 American and 30 African adults; 11 American and 20 African children; 50 indirect participants.

In 2007, participants raised $4,300 to support community needs in Mfuleni; in 2008, $35,000 was raised. Funds have supported joint service projects with host organization Women for Peace (WFP), such as building a playground, planting community gardens, purchasing school uniforms, and increasing access to university scholarships.

We assess qualitative impact by changed attitudes, new skills, and capacities created in the community. The 2008 playground project occured because one American girl led her family in a grassroots fundraising effort, involving 2,500 children and adults and raising $30,000. The new facilities made WFP eligible for government funding for its after-school program, enhancing WFP’s sustainability and ability to create positive community change.

We also help build a sense of hope and invigoration. Our media program leaves youth with skills in photography, interviewing and digital technology, along with excitement at telling their stories to the world. News coverage includes Los Angeles Times, Daily Breeze, Orange County Register, Cape Town Argus. Links: globalbuddies.net and globalbuddies.wordpress.com.

How does your program promote traveler enthusiasm, satisfaction, and engagement with the locale?
Our approach gives travelers a unique opportunity to form authentic personal connections with local residents, to feel like part of the community for a brief time. We attribute this to the atmosphere of trust created by our local partnerships and the program’s focus on fostering friendships between children. When people from different cultures connect around their children, it removes barriers and helps them see how much they have in common.

We could not imagine a higher level of traveler enthusiasm and engagement, both during and after trips. Children and adults on both of our South African trips report being inspired by the Africans’ spirit of hope and happiness, their capacity for joy amid very difficult life circumstances. Remarkably, four of the five pilot families returned as “alumni” participants in 2008—evidence of the quality of the relationships developed and their value to travelers.

In what ways are local residents actively involved in your innovation, including participation and community input? How has the community responded to or benefited from your approach?
We only work in communities to which we have been invited by local grassroots partners. Host NGOs identify the local children who will participate as “global buddies” each year. These partners develop the program with us to ensure that both children’s activities and service projects align with community needs and respond to community desires. They help us identify projects that are not “hand-outs,” but build local capacity and leverage resources for long-term sustainability.

Since our trips are designed as joint programs in which travelers and locals participate equally, visitors and residents spend the entire trip working, playing and sightseeing together. Local youth participate as equals with visiting children, which fosters a sense of empowerment and belonging to a global community. When people from impoverished communities host a Global Buddies visit, they develop a connection with the outside world that changes their sense of the opportunities available to them.

Describe how your innovation helps travelers and local residents better understand the value of the area's cultural and natural heritage, and educates them on local environmental issues. How do you motivate them to act responsibly in their future travel decisions?
Our program lets tourists experience an area’s heritage from a local perspective and lets residents see aspects of their own heritage for the first time. Poverty (and, in South Africa, the legacy of apartheid) often prevents locals from visiting key cultural sites in their own region. When tourists visit a place like Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned) with local women whose relatives were also captives, their understanding of the culture is much deeper. The richness of this experience changes what they want from travel, motivating them to engage with and give back to places they visit in the future. When locals see visitors’ interest and enthusiasm for their culture, the value they place on their own heritage increases.

Children participate in environmental education to learn about issues that impact both countries, like global warming and resource use. This builds a sense of stewardship and awareness that actions in one country affect people around the world.

Is your initiative financially and organizationally sustainable? If not, what is required to make it so? What is the potential demand for your innovation?
Our initiative is not yet financially sustainable, in part because it was necessary to invest significant resources in the early years to develop our model. In addition, we have not yet booked trips to capacity.

To make our initiative sustainable, we need to develop marketing strategies and partnerships that will attract a steady stream of families to fill future trips. We also need to expand the number of trips offered, in order to recoup our early investment in the model. We are confident of our ability to reach sustainability within the next three years.

The potential demand for this model is very high. Parents are increasingly aware of the need to educate children as global citizens—both to serve as leaders in the global village and to be effective members of the global workforce. Very few programs provide geotourism or volunteer travel opportunities for families with school-age children.

How is your initiative currently financed? If available, provide information on your finances and organization that could help others. Please list: Annual budget, annual revenue generated, size of part-time, full-time and volunteer staff.
Our initiative is currently financed through trip fees, participant fundraising, volunteer efforts, and a small amount of donated staff time from our partner organization, UCLA Global Center for Children and Families. We currently fundraise to cover costs for local residents to participate fully in the program (meals, supplies, destination fees).

Annual budget: $145,200 (2008); $247,500 (2009) Annual revenue: $150,400 (2008); $254,400 (2009) Size of part-time staff: 2; full-time staff: 0; volunteer staff: 4.

What is your plan to expand your approach? Please indicate where/how you would like to grow or enhance your innovation, or have others do so.
We want to grow our innovation by expanding to different locales and increasing the number of trips offered. We are planning two South Africa trips in 2009, and we have been invited to develop a Uganda program as well. Our first Global Buddies trip to Uganda is also scheduled for 2009. We are laying the groundwork for additional trips to other parts of South Africa in 2010, along with expeditions to several Asian countries. As we expand our trip roster, we will increase outreach, using industry conferences, educational networks and the internet to attract families.

We are eager to share our unique model for building global citizenship in children and families with others who might replicate it. Eventually, we will explore partnerships with larger tour operators to further increase the project’s scale.

What are the main barriers you encounter in managing, implementing, or replicating your innovation? What barriers keep your program from having greater impact?
A primary barrier in replicating our innovation lies in the capital-intensive nature of building a business. While we have proven that trip fees will cover expenses on a trip-by-trip basis, developing trips to new locations requires a significant capital investment. The challenges of accessing this capital represents a barrier to expanding our program. We are confident we can eventually secure the capital investment required, but it will take time and resources.

Another barrier arises directly from what is also our greatest asset and distinguishing characteristic: a highly personalized approach built on in-depth community linkages, long-term relationships with NGOs, and individualized pre- and post-trip contact with travelers. It is also the one element of our program that cannot be contracted to outside tour operators.

Maintaining ongoing relationships with local partner NGOs is time-consuming, but it is essential to all aspects of our program. These partnerships ensure that programs benefit the local community, create the spirit of equal exchange that is our program’s hallmark, and provide the basis for the warm personal connections that form between travelers and residents.

We also maintain close relationships with trip participants: orienting them beforehand, working with schools to develop related curriculum, and coordinating ongoing philanthropy and other post-travel follow-up. We provide ongoing support to sustain a Global Buddies community that connects participants from all countries in a lasting way.

We plan to address this barrier by growing our program to generate increased trip fees and other sales revenue, and by offering more than one trip to the same location. This will help cover the costs of staff time needed to nurture all of these essential relationships. Fundraising from individuals, corporate donors and foundations will supplement earned income.

What is the origin of your innovation? Tell your story.
The idea for Global Buddies originated in conversations I had with a small group of parents at the private school in Los Angeles that my nine-year-old daughter attends. My work with UCLA’s Global Center for Children and Families was taking me to countries in Africa and Asia, where I was involved with projects in a number of impoverished communities. After spending time in these communities, I became increasingly concerned about the lessons my daughter was learning from growing up in an extraordinarily privileged environment.

The other parents I spoke with all agreed that while we were grateful for what we could give our children, we wanted something fundamentally different for them. We wanted them to understand how much they have, on a material scale, in comparison to much of the rest of the world. We wanted them to have contact with people whose sense of well-being comes not from what they have, but from who they are and their connections with friends and family. And we wanted them to have a stronger sense of what it means to be a global citizen in an increasingly interconnected world.

At the same time, research we were seeing at UCLA showed alarming rates of emotional distress—depression, anxiety, disconnection—among children and families in the U.S. The indicators of well-being suggested that U.S. families were not thriving, that raising healthy children was not easy in a consumer-dominated culture that has made “too much” as real a problem as “too little.” And we saw that despite their poverty and genuine hardships, children and families in countries like South Africa seemed happier and more content than those in the U.S.

While I was observing these things professionally, I was also taking my daughter with me on most of my trips. As a mother, I saw how much she grew each time she traveled. She learned how to play without special equipment, how to deal with unstructured time, and how to negotiate and interact with children from very different backgrounds and cultures.

As I talked with other parents about these issues, experiences and observations, we began to get excited about the idea of creating a formal program so their children could have similar experiences. We also thought this kind of cultural exchange could represent a new model of community development. By fostering ties between communities based on personal relationships and direct experience of other cultures, we could bring together small efforts by a lot of people together to make a large difference in the world—especially in developing countries, where small contributions can go a very long way.

From these conversations, the first Global Buddies’ trip to South Africa was born. When we saw how successful the first trip was, we knew we had hit on something important and worth continuing. At this point I decided to create UTU Social Ventures to offer this experience to families beyond my personal network, building Global Buddies into an ongoing program and a financially sustainable venture.

Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers' marketing material.
I am the co-director of Global Center for Children and Families at UCLA, and I volunteer as president of UTU Social Ventures, which I founded to incubate innovative programs like Global Buddies that benefit families around the world. Prior to joining UCLA I founded Juma Ventures—recognized by the Harvard Business Review as an outstanding example in the field of social entrepreneurship—where I created nine successful social enterprises to employ and train at-risk youth in San Francisco.

I have traveled extensively in Asia and Africa, both for personal enrichment and in my professional work to improve the lives of children and families in the U.S. and internationally. I have consulted with Street Kids International, served on Bay Area International Adoption Services’ board of directors, and currently serve on the advisory board of Women for Peace of the Western Cape in South Africa.

Please write an overview of your project. This text will appear when people scroll over the icon for your entry on the Google map located on teh competition homepage.
Global Buddies uses travel as a vehicle to bring together families and children around the world to create a better future for all. We provide opportunities for families with children ages 7-17 to travel to countries in Africa and Asia for an intensive cultural exchange and joint service program with families from the host community. In this way we strengthen families and communities, inspire lifelong global citizens, and build the next generation of leaders.

We aim to open minds to the interconnectedness of the world, helping travelers and local residents see themselves and the world around them differently. Families recognize what they have in common, what they can learn from each other, and the power they share to create change. As part of a global community, children and adults can take collaborative action to help solve local and worldwide problems.

Personal relationships, community partnerships and hands-on experience form our program’s core. Our framework allows travelers and residents of the places they visit to develop authentic personal connections that change the lives of both groups. All our trips are conducted in a spirit of equal exchange, in collaboration with partner NGOs in the host community.

More than just a travel program, we are building a platform for social change and a new model for community development. When travelers connect with residents of impoverished communities, they bring material resources, open doors to the future, and stimulate a renewed appreciation of local culture among residents. Travelers simultaneously gain a different perspective on their own lives, seeing the ways that joy exists outside of material things. These connections broaden the perspective of travelers and local families alike.

A joint initiative of UTU Social Ventures and UCLA’s Global Center for Children & Families, Global Buddies offers trips to South Africa and Uganda, with trips to more countries planned in coming years.

Contact Information
Dr. Diane Flannery
Executive Director
Utu Social Ventures
10920 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 350; Los Angeles, CA 90024
DFlannery@mednet.ucla.edu