Charity Travel Makes A Better World

1KG MORE is a Chinese charity travel website which advocates an innovative concept of travel. They believe every traveller should help local the rural communityand have set up a website whereby they encourage travelers to carry a 1kg more of books or stationery to rural schools. Upon completion, information on the rural schools and travel experiences are collected and shared among travelers online.

Since April 2004, over 10,000 participators have carried out these ’1kg-more travels’ and now, in almost all the major cities of China, volunteer groups have been organized. However the online community remains a hub for these newly popularized volunteering activities.

Now, charity travel is not only run by organizations such as 1kg-more, but it has also inspired Chinese youth to do their part in their own way. My friend Dana is a photographer and chinese teacher, she has traveled to both Yunnan and Guizhou. When travelling she stayed at local minorities’ homes and took photos to document their lives. After she got back, she held her own photograpy exhibition and all the proceeds from the exhibition were given to the children of local schools she visited.

For more of Dana’s photography visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/danahh