Journeys Within Announces Plan to Continue Myanmar Help

Siem Reap, Kingdom of Cambodia -- July 15, 2008 -- As the focus of the rest of the world moves away from Myanmar, Journeys Within Tour Company announced an unprecedented plan to help bring tourism back to the devastated country as well as simultaneously raise money for the continuation of much needed disaster relief. From December 2008 through December 2009 Journeys Within Tour Company will give 100 percent of the profit of the first 10 tours to the Myanmar relief effort and then continue to give 50 percent of profit of all tours for the full year. The money raised will go to Journeys Within Our Community (JWOC), a non-profit organization working in Southeast Asia and one of the only non profits to have Western aid workers allowed into the stricken country.

"We are hoping that this approach will encourage people to travel to this amazing country. Most of the country has not suffered any damage but is now struggling because the tourism industry has essentially collapsed. Guides, drivers, hotel staff, they are all facing uncertain futures. Our plan is to get our guests into Myanmar so they can see the amazing sights, but also provide jobs within the tourism industry and simultaneously help the Southern Region destroyed by Cyclone Nargis," said Andrea Ross, Journeys Within Tour Company owner and JWOC founder.

Following the model of the Thailand tsunami, Journeys Within hopes to encourage travelers to visit the majority of the country that was not harmed by Nargis, but is still feeling the effects. Then, to ensure that the region in need continues to receive aid, the profit of a limited number of tours will go directly to the JWOC efforts in the Delta Region, followed, for an entire year, by 50 percent of all Burma tour profits.

"We felt this was the right thing to do, it's as simple as that," said Brandon Ross, Journeys Within Tour Company president. "The people of Myanmar need our help and we know them: they are our guides, drivers and friends and we wanted to do everything we could to support them and help restore the country. This isn't about politics, it is about us helping our community."

Jesse Wolfe, JWOC director, has been on the ground in Myanmar working on disaster relief and knows first-hand the struggle the people are facing. JWOC has provided much needed rice in the Delta Region and is also supporting an orphanage damaged in the storm and now running at capacity because of the Nargis orphans.

"For JWOC, we have a lot more work we still want to do," said Jesse. "The people I met need our help now and are going to need it for a while, but already, with the media not focusing on it, the donations are slowing down. Because of this, I think what Journeys Within is doing is key to the re-growth of the country. This is a sustainable way to benefit the entire country as well as the Delta region directly. I hope that people will see this as an amazing opportunity to do good as they travel."

Journeys Within Tour Company has released new Myanmar tours on their website and will also give the profit of any portion of a custom tour in Myanmar.

"Over the years we have used a number of tour companies throughout the world. It is hard to find a tour company that is truly connected with the destinations that it serves. Journey's Within is demonstrating its concern and connection with the people of Myanmar through its commitment to funnel the profits from their tours into relief efforts. We feel fortunate to be working with such a caring organization," said Dennis and Susan Shay, planning a custom tour for January 2009, including Myanmar.

About Journeys Within Tour Company
Journeys Within offers customized trips to Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Burma and Cambodia. Brandon and Andrea Ross live in Cambodia and travel extensively, keeping in touch with all their guides and making sure all accommodations are up to par. By being based in Southeast Asia, Andrea and Brandon truly know the many destinations and can assure the quality of each tour, setting them apart from the competition.

Myanmar Relief

JWOC staff were able to coordinate a highly successful relief effort in Myanmar by working with our local contacts to facilitate getting aid supplies into the delta region. Despite the Myanmar authorities blockade against foreign aid workers, we were able to bypass the checkpoints and bring large amounts of rice and cooking oil to some of the hardest hit villages deep in the delta. Additionally we provided aid to an orphanage which has been inundated with children whose parents were killed in the cyclone. Please continue reading here to hear the stories of what we saw and accomplished...

Loyola Marymount University Volunteers

During the month of May JWOC was priviledged to host an oustanding group of volunteers from the Loyola Marymount University (LMU) near Los Angeles, California. This was the first time that LMU had sent a group of volunteers to Cambodia. The 12 sdtudents and staff worked very hard from beginning to end and accomplished a great deal in a relatively short time. You can learn more about their experiences by reading their blogs at: www.jwoc.blogspot.com

Project Donation Increase

- JWOC consistently evaluates its projects to ensure that they are maintaining a high standard and meeting the needs of the local communities in the most effective way possible. In light of this and after much consideration, the decision was recently made to increase the amount of money required for the wells we install. We are raising the donation amount from $100 to $300 per well. There are several factors that led to this increase in required donation amount:

1.) Inflation - Across much of Southeast Asia the cost of materials, supplies and basic goods has been on the rise over the past year. Cambodia, especially Siem Reap, have not been immune to these drastic rises in cost. Siem Reap is developing at such a rapid rate that there is more demand than supply for many things which means that the price of goods are more here then anywhere else in Cambodia. For this reason it is no longer possible to buy the materials needed and pay the construction crew with $100 for each well.

2.) Location of Need - Since Siem Reap is a major tourist center and millions of people come here every year, much attention has been given to the problem of clean water shortage in Siem Reap. Due to the efforts of generous donors from around the world and local NGOs it is becoming increasingly difficult to find families in Siem Reap who do not have access to a well. Since JWOC has installed more than 250 wells in this area alone, we take this as a sign of our own success that needs in this area are being met. Now what we are doing is putting our wells farther away from Siem Reap in areas that get less attention because they take more time to get to and the expense involved for each well is greater.

3.) Soil Density - As we move into more remote villages and districts farther from the Tonle Sap lake, the ground gets harder and the water table deeper. It requires heavier machinery to drill through the rocks and get far enough down to reach the water. The equipment needed for this kind of work is more expensive and so cannot be used with wells that cost only $100. An increase to $300 will allow us to drill in these more difficult areas and get water where it is vitally needed.

4.) Quality - We want to ensure that our wells last beyond just a couple of years and provide the safest water possible. By increasing the donation amount to $300 we can build better quality, more effective and long lasting wells that will continue to provide for people for years to come.

On May 4, 2008 there was a fundraising concert on behalf of JWOC to help raise funds for the expansion of our projects to Laos this summer. The concert was held at the Highline Ballroom in Manhattan. Our new Laos Country Director, Nicole Long, was on hand to talk about what JWOC is currently doing and our plans for Laos. The concert raised almost $5,000 which will be used to begin JWOC projects in Laos.

Here are some of the photos from the event.

JWOC Expanding to Laos

- JWOC has decided the time is right to expand our projects into Laos where the need is just as great as in Cambodia. A new addition has been added to our staff to make this leap possible. Nicole Long will be the JWOC Country Director for Laos and will be based in Luang Prabang. We anticipate that our projects will be underway there in June. Please check back to see our progress there as we look forward to sharing with you stories about our work there.

New JWOC Assistant Director

- Scholarship student, Chinn Se, was hired as the JWOC Assistant Director this month. Se was selected for this position because of his passion for seeing change enacted in Cambodia and his desire to play a greater role in JWOC. He will be assisting the director in the day to day administartive duties of running the organization as well as helping to manage the ever growing number of scholarship students. Please visit the "Staff" page to read Se's personal bio.

New members added to JWOC Board of Directors

- Within the space of a month JWOC saw two new additions made to its Board of Directors. Travis Carley is the newest officer of the board but has been a supporter of JWOC for quite some time. He lives in Chicago where he works professionally as a fundraising consultant for non-profit organizations. The second addition to the board was Phay Narla who is a former JWOC university scholarship student. Narla has been added to the board as a Country Advisor and will help act as a consultant for all of JWOC's Cambodia projects as well as government liaison. He has worked extensively with each of JWOC's projects and so has a unique perspective to add as the organization grows. Please visit the "Board of Directors" page to read each of these member's personal bios.

10 New Scholarship Students

- When JWOC notified the students at Build Bright University that applications were being accepted for JWOC scholarships, there was an immediate excitement around the campus. So many Cambodian university students have heard of our program that we received approximately 100 applications within two weeks. After JWOC staff reviewed the applications 20 students were selected for interviews. Based on the interviews 10 students were chosen to receive JWOC scholarships which covers the entire cost of their university tuition and textbooks.The total number of active JWOC scholarship students is now at 40. This expansion of scholars provided us with 5 more students to work with the microfinance project and 5 more students to work as teachers in our langauge schools. Each of the new students can be seen in the photos below.

New Art of Photography weekly workshop

- JWOC's volunteer coordinator, Melissa, has started a new class at the Wat Chork Language School. Once a week she is teaching the art of photography to Cambodian students. Not only are the students learning what makes a great photograph but they are also learning digital editing skills. With Siem Reap's exploding tourism industry, Cambodians with photography and digital editing skills will be in high demand. Melissa's goal is to eventually exhibit and market the students photographs both in Cambodia and internationally. Currently she has almost 50 students attending her class weekly. With so many students there is a great need for additional digital cameras for the students to use. If you would like to learn more about the class or how you can donate a camera please contact Melissa at the following address:

Melissa@Journeys-Within.com

Village Fire

- On January 23 a fire swept through a tight cluster of thatch houses located just a few kilometers from Angkor Wat and in a matter of minutes 36 homes were burned to the ground leaving hundreds of people with no shelter and only the clothes they wore. JWOC quickly mobilized the funds required to provide each family with a loan to rebuild their home and in some cases their business. Our donors response was an incredible show of support for the families affected by the tragedy. In one week we received more than $20,000 to aid in the rebuilding of the homes. With the remaining funds JWOC put into place a permanent JWOC Emergency Relief Fund should a similar disaster occur again. Please visit our "Emergency Relief" page to learn more about the fire and the rebuilding that has occurred.