#communitybasedtravel

Ibedii plans to help Indigenous Tribes in Panama to develop sustainable tourism that will enhance their personal lives while protecting their cultural heritage. We hope you will support us in our efforts to help native communities. Thanks. .

Still morning we arrive to the tea plantation of Pfunda. The plantations of the Nyundo based cooperative are flat. The others I visited were in the hills. This means the quality of the leaves aren't as premium as the mountain green leaves but the work is easier. Even though carrying all this weight for miles on your head isn't easy. Today I wanted to get into detail to learn about the problems of the pluckers. Considering the fact that they get paid 0.04 cent a kilo, they have an average salary of less than 50 dollars a month. Rwanda is cheap but not that cheap to survive on 50 dollars a month. The problems of the pluckers is the nationally fixed price of the tea. The deduction of a humidity tax by the factory, the high price of their cane basket and plastic robes to protect their already torn clothing. They have basic security but can not afford healthcare which is 3000 Rwandan francs per person; 4 dollars a year is too much. If you have 4 kids that's 12 dollars. That is huge if you only make a meagre 50 dollars a month. The poverty of the tea workers is striking me. The strategic plan has to be set up that the union can fight for the rights and help these workers. Today we managed to have Fxb Gisenyi on the phone whom we will try to make a partnership with. I have also told Numerien to develop community based travel. Invite tourists to come help pluck tea for a day at a price in cooperation with a tea plucker. The plucked will receive extra money for working along the tourists. Today young people want to have real local experiences and this could be one of them. Numerien is interested. I am going to make this my own philanthropic project and when I return home I will do my best to help Numerien fight for the right of the tea farmers in the cooperatives. My next step is to partner up with a trusted community based travel agent. Days are long and tiring due to being on high altitude but we are slowly getting there.