AARP Hearing Center
Exploring striking, picturesque places while on vacation and contributing to meaningful causes are goals that many of us share. But how many of us consider the possibility of combining these desires? Making this possibility a reality is the mission of Discover Corps, which has been running volunteer vacations since 2012. The San Diego-based organization enables adventurous and philanthropic travelers to experience and make a difference in exotic destinations such as Tanzania, Peru, South Africa, Thailand and Cuba.
The volunteer projects that Discover Corps offers are both varied and unusual. You can bond with sea lions and sea turtles while helping out at a tortoise reserve in the Galápagos Islands; handle and collect data on endangered manatees in lagoons and rivers in Belize, as well as learn to check water salinity; and get to know youths in Cuba while assisting them with art projects and participating in sports. One program in Peru, Discover Corps founder Andrew Motiwalla says, has guests prepare a meal in an orphanage.
Motiwalla understands, on a personal level, the value of experiencing a country not just as a tourist but by living like a local; he was a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras for a couple of years in the 1990s. After he learned so much from the community members, what immediately came to his mind was, How can you make travel have that — give you a reason to be there? When you have that sense of purpose, Motiwalla says, “the doors and the hearts of the local people open to you, and it’s a beautiful experience.”
Fast-forward many years later, when Motiwalla began taking vacations with his immediate and extended family and gained a strong appreciation of the bonds that multigenerational vacations help form. Thus, Discover Corps was set in motion.
“We have expert local guides in all these places and develop itineraries in partnership with them,” Motiwalla says. “Our guests don’t want to just see tourist stuff.” With that in mind, Discover Corps staffers make sure to give travelers experiences that go below the surface. So they may have meals in local people’s houses, as well as cook with them; visit the home of a shaman in Peru; or, in Cuba, have lunch on a farm and go to a local artist’s residence for cocktails, where they learn what it’s like to be an artist in a country long closed off to Americans. (U.S. residents make up 98 percent of Discover Corps’ clientele.)
Having an average group size of 10 people on its trips is an advantage, Motiwalla says, as this enables the organization to provide “a really authentic experience and to do off-the-beaten-path activities.” Without large numbers of guests, Discover Corps can tailor programs to individual travelers’ interests.
