TNT logo

IMPORTANT CHANGES...April 2009...

Please note that we have made some important changes to the running of the organisation, including moving our office, increased the range of tours we sell (50% of all profits go straight to the project work), increasing the one-off Administration charge (since there has been a lot of inflation recently due to the Worldwide Economic Problems) to $60 and the rent for the Volunteer House to $200 per month. Please read through the information on this website thoroughly and email us if there is anything you don't understand.

THANKS FOR VISITING!

Thanks for visiting our website, here you can learn about Perú, how tourism effects the people here, our organisation and the projects we are working with.

You can also get more information on the tours we offer (50% of all profits goes straight to the projects we work with) and the volunteer options we have available.

If you have any questions, suggestions or comments please contact us, we´d love to hear from you!

ABOUT US

Du Soleil LogoLuis Antonio Chavez (Co-founder and Manager) has over 15 years experience of working in the tourist industry & has previously owned 2 independent tour companies. He also has experience of working with children having set up & run an orphan community project in Venezuela. He is from Huaraz, Peru & he wanted to set up this organisation because he is sensitive about the suffering of the people of Perú.

Du Soleil LogoJay Chavez (Co-founder and Manager) previously volunteered with a conservation project in Malaysia, & a school & an animal refuge in Bolivia (after a few years working as an Administrator for an environmental company). She is from Shropshire, England & has been dreaming of doing something like this for years because it is a whole lot more satifying than filing & health and safety reports!

Luis and Jay are currently living in Bristol, UK and concentrating on raising their son but they are both still very much involved in the management of TNT.

Du Soleil LogoCarmen Chávez Rincón (Administrator and Spanish Teacher) has 14 years experience in education. She has also worked with social projects related to education in rural areas in the past. They say that charity starts at home, it certainly does with us because Carmen is Luis' sister. Although employing her was certainly not an act of charity on our part - more like the other way around! She likes working at Traveller Not Tourist as she finds it more gratifying than teaching in Government run schools.

Brenda (Volunteer Liaison Officer) is currently studying architecture but chose to join our team because she knows what it is like to grow up in difficult circumstances and wants to have a part in building a better future for the children of today. If you contact TNT by email, it will probably her who replies, she is also your first point of contact in the TNT office. She has been a wonderful asset for TNT as she really puts her heart and soul into her work.

Vanessa (Tour Operator) started working with us as a tour guide on our 7 day Colca Tours, in fact, it is her family that hosts the residential section of the tour. She grew up in Colca Canyon and therefore has a lot of knowledge about the area. Her last few years have been spent working as a tour guide and seller for others but now she has agreed to join our team in the important role of Tour Operator. We are very pleased to welcome her to the organisation as we know that she will do a great job of developing this new element of TNT.

OUR VISION AND MISSION

Our VISION for the future is to build an organisation which is self-sustaining and also able to sustain the projects we choose to support whilst raising awareness and attracting donations and volunteers.

Our MISSION is to give foreigners visiting Peru the opportunity to be involved in the true peruvian reality and Peruvians the chance to lift themselves out of poverty and believe in the chance of a better world, and then create it.

Within this mission we also have certain criteria by which we run our organisation, these are:

Bullet point Our primary concern are the needs of the children we work with

Bullet point We work hard to ensure that volunteers who work with us can have a rewarding experience, using the skills and passions they bring with them to enrich the lives of children living in poverty (without having to pay large sums of money).

Bullet point We are a non-profit organisation. All donations are used directly in projects or for legitimate organisation needs. The minimal administration fee we charge is used to employ the staff we need to run the organisation efficiently (on reasonable wages).

Bullet point We take volunteer complaints/comments/suggestions seriously and work with our volunteers to ensure that we are continuously improving the organisation.

Bullet point We provide a safe, supportive environment for our volunteers whilst simultaneously allowing them to experience the reality of poverty in Peru and help to relieve it.

TRAVELLERS vs TOURISTS

We take our name from the premise that there is a distinction between the terms "Traveller" and "Tourist". It has become a widly held belief within travelling communities that aTraveller is someone who considers the environmental and human impact of their journeys and actively strives to reduce the negative and increase the positive influence their presence has on the place they are visiting. In contrast to this a Tourist is someone who does not consider or care about their impact, does not engage with the locals in a meaningful way and may cause a lot of harm through their thoughtlessness. Please note: We don't mean any offence by applying the above labels, we just needed a reasonable way of explaining the differences between the two groups. Obviously, terms such as Eco-tourism and Responsible Tourism kind of confuse the issue. We apologise if anyone does feel offended.

THANKS A LOT!

Of course, we could never have got to this stage without the help and support of a lot of people so we would like to say "Thank You!" to everyone who has helped, be it with kind words, ideas, time, services or donations. Special thanks go to everyone who has volunteered with us. You have really made a difference!

Thank you for your interest! If you like what you see, please spread the word, if not, please let us know what we could do better. Un abrazo (a hug), Jay, Luis, Carmen, Brenda and Vanessa :-)

Website last updated 25th April 2009