One Tree Planted is one of the key charities we support, following is an update on the fantastic work this organisation has delivered in 2021.
2021 was the biggest year yet at One Tree Planted. 23 million trees were planted thanks to your support!
2021 was a weird year. The world is a different place now, but despite all the hardship and challenges, your perseverance has not been shaken. Because through it all…You have planted
23. Million. Trees.
That's more than double what you accomplished in 2020, and with 25 million already committed to 2022. You've restored over 37,000 hectares, across 139 projects in 45 countries! Your efforts are creating jobs, restoring habitats, protecting biodiversity and capturing millions of tonnes of CO2.
At One Tree Planted, we have been busy expanding our operations, struck partnerships with some incredible brands and organizations, and our network of planting projects across the globe continues to grow. We're also working on planting trees in urban areas, building a network of nursery partnerships in the US, and expanding our monitoring technology program for planting partners.
Most inspiring of all, your participation in your local communities has continued to be outstanding. This year, over 10,000 of you came out to more than 300 of our tree planting events across 42 countries and 153 cities.
We can't wait to see what the new year will bring for reforestation and ecological restoration. And as always, we aim to make sure every tree is planted responsibly and with great care.
So from all of us at One Tree Planted, thank you. Thank you to our planting partners, our donors, our volunteers, students and teachers, and all the organizations we work with. You make this progress possible - and you are the reason that we do what we do. So here's to our forests, our nature, and our planet.

🌲 About One Tree Planted:
 One Tree Planted is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and we plant trees! We are a tree planting charity with a goal: to make it as simple as possible for anyone to plant trees. One dollar. One Tree.
🙋‍♀️ We also run hundreds of tree planting events around the world for people to get outdoors and plant trees in their local communities.

A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION FOCUSED ON GLOBAL REFORESTATION


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With all the hardships of 2021, One Tree Planted and their contributors have managed to plant 23 million trees.


WhereNext | One Tree Planted plants 23 million trees

Planting 23 MILLION Trees 

Finally, after two years of tight border restrictions, Japan is reopening fully for international tourism. Starting on October 11, the country will once again allow visa-free entry and independent travel by foreign tourists. The daily entry cap will also be scrapped along with the red-yellow-blue country classification scheme.

## No more quarantine 
From October 11, tourists from countries previously deemed to be ‘high-risk’ for Covid-19 will no longer be required to undergo a mandatory quarantine period upon arrival. Only those travellers exhibiting symptoms of Covid-19 will be tested for the disease.

## Tourists no longer need organised tours
Tourists won't be required to book their accommodation and flight tickets through travel agencies starting October 11, this is great news for travellers that want a more flexible and unconstrained schedule

## Visa-free travel
Visa free travel is available again for 68 countries on this list: https://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/short/novisa.html

## No pre-arrival PCR tests for triple-vaccinated travellers 
This September, Japan changed the entry rules to exempt fully-vaccinated (booster dose included) travellers from pre-arrival PCR tests. Non-vaccinated travellers will be required to submit a negative PCR test 72 hours before departing for Japan. 

## Accepted vaccines
Japan currently accepts Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen, Bharat Biotech and Novavax vaccines, Japan will accept Sinopharm, Sinovac and Convidecia vaccines from October 11.

See the **Related Experiences** section below for our current volunteer experiences in Japan.


Tourist travel is back starting the 11th of October

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Shibuya Crossing is the world's busiest pedestrian crossing, with as many as 3,000 people crossing at a time

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Known for receiving the world's best powder snow throughout winter

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Japan reopens for tourism, tourist visa, accepted Covid-19 vaccines and other border rules for tourists visiting Japan – effective October 11

Japan reopens for tourism from October 11

Japan reopens for Tourism

Yvon Chouinard, the founder of outdoor clothing business, Patagonia, is giving away the ownership of his US$3 billion company to fight climate change. A reluctant businessman and an even more shy billionaire, Chouinard looked at the different options to transition the company he founded to new ownership.

Going public was one option, however, public companies out of their duty to shareholders, often chase short term goals over environmental responsibility. The other option was to sell the company and donate the profits, however, both options couldn't safeguard the company values and the livelihoods of the 2736 (LinkedIn estimate) employees. 



So Chouinard came up with another option, to transfer the company ownership to a trust and non-profit organisation where all of the profits (estimated at US$100M/year) will to be donated to combat climate change via activist organisations around the world. 

Whilst on a 4WD trip in 2021 from Noosa to Margaret River around the remote Northern Australia, I had plenty of time driving the immense distances to listen to audio books. One of my favourite was "Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman" by Yvon Chouinard. The book details the founding of Patagonia and the infusion of environmental causes, mountain climbing and sustainability into the company culture. 

The book provided inspiration for the WhereNext Experiences mission and prompted us to join the 1% Percent for the Planet organisation where 1% of gross revenue is donated to approved charities. This simple and audited metric prevents the "greenwashing" that sometimes occurs with environmental missions. The book also explains the philosophy and company culture that Chouinard created and how a for profit business can provide a positive impact on the environment. 

## Read the book at: 







 

Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman available at Amazon in multiple formats

For more information on the 1% for the Planet organisation please visit their website below. 1% for the Planet represents a global network of businesses, individuals and environmental organizations tackling our planet's most pressing environmental issues.

## Join 1% for the Planet


1% for the Planet is a global movement inspiring businesses and individuals to support environmental solutions through memberships and everyday actions.

## Read the statement by Yvon Chouinard



Earth is now our only shareholder.

If we have any hope of a thriving planet—much less a business—it is going to take all of us doing what we can with the resources we have.
This is what we can do.

By Yvon Chouinard

## Further reading/watching

Read more at the New York Times and watch the brief interview on YouTube about this inspirational entrepreneur. 

Yvon Chouinard has forfeited ownership of the company he founded 49 years ago. The profits will now be used to fight climate change.

Yvon Chouinard, an inspirational company leader. 

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Los Glaciares National Park is located in the Southwest of Santa Cruz Province in the Argentine part of Patagonia.

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The famous brand started in 1973 by Yvon Chouinard in 1973 catering for climbers

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Yvon Chouinard, the founder of outdoor clothing business Patagonia, is giving away the ownership of his US$3 billion company to fight climate change.

Patagonia's owner donates company to fight climate change

Patagonia's owner donates company

Some good news in the world of animal conservation. The Nepalese government has announced that the country's wild tiger population has increased by 190% since 2009, thanks to conservation efforts. This success story provides a model for other countries where tigers are in danger of extinction.

Nepal's National Tiger and Prey Survey 2022 found there are now 355 wild tigers in the country.

Two key points stood out to me. First, eco tourism has been a key driver of the conservation efforts with protected national parks for tigers becoming key tourist attractions and bringing money into local communities. Second, the strategy has been very community oriented, employing locals for reforestation and habitat maintenance. 

Tigers have gone extinct in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos since 2000 these countries may benefit from the strategies used in Nepal and India. 

There are around 3,900 tigers in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund, and the species is considered endangered.

Read more at CNN using the link below.

Wild tigers in Nepal have clawed their way back from the brink of extinction. There are now almost three times as many wild tigers in the country as there were in 2009, according to the Nepalese government.

Saved from the brink of extinction since 2009

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Ecotourism has been a key driver to increase tiger populations

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Wild tigers in Nepal are recovering from the brink of extinction. There are now almost three times as many wild tigers in the country as there were in 2009

WhereNext | Saving tigers from extinction in Nepal

Tiger Populations Tripled in Nepal

## Overview

My two colleagues and I work at Salesforce, and as part of our commitment to volunteering, we made the trip to Phuket in May 2022 to volunteer at Soi Dog for 5 days. This was our second time volunteering at Soi Dog and it was great to be back. Our last trip was just before COVID in February 2020. The facility and operation had expanded since our last trip as had the number of dogs in the shelter (close to 1200). It’s a very heartwarming activity for anyone that cares for animals and is passionate about animal welfare. 

## Objectives

The primary role of a volunteer at Soi Dog is to socialise and walk the dogs, as well as socialising and playing with the cats. The minimum volunteering period is two days. To be adopted into homes, it is essential to teach the dogs and cats at the sanctuary to trust people and to teach the dogs to walk on a lead.  
For cat lovers: You get to spend as much time as you like in the indoor/outdoor cat suites with our adorable felines, playing and socialising. 
For dog lovers: After your introductory tour and familiarisation exercise, you will be introduced to the dogs you will take responsibility for during your time at Soi Dog. 
There are approximately 25 dogs in each 'run'. Once you've spent time socialising with and getting to know the dogs in your run, you can begin to walk them. Each run has a QR code that you scan to give you details about each dog you are given to take for a walk. Every dog will be a bit different in character, temperament, physical ability, and social skills with both humans and other dogs.
The sanctuary has extensive dog walking routes and an off-lead area where you can take your dogs for some quality, off-lead fun - chasing toys and expending energy (if they’re allowed). 
Almost all of the animals are former street animals who have never even been indoors and need to learn to feel comfortable around people. Socialisation is especially important for shy animals and for those who have been abused. Many adopters say their new companions are very friendly and comfortable with them, even as soon as they arrive from Thailand. This is because of the amazing efforts of shelter volunteers.



## Itinerary

On your first morning at Soi Dog, you will be provided with a volunteer induction and orientation. After that, you are ready to meet the dogs. On your second day and beyond, you are free to start walking from your arrival at 9am.

A typical day starts at 9am, then breaks for lunch around 11:45am until 1pm, and your day would finish around 4pm. 

Our hotel had a swimming pool which was the perfect remedy after a full day of walking dogs in the hot and humid weather. 

Unfortunately, COVID resulted in a lot of local businesses and restaurants shutting down	 in Mai Khao. We did dinner in a couple of the restaurants that were still open to support them, otherwise we ventured into Nai Yang where there were more restaurant options on the beach and a bit more night life.

Where to stay: There are numerous options for various standards of accommodation in and around Nai Yang and Mai Khao. Most volunteers stay in the same area and, often, the same guesthouses. We stayed at the [Maikhao Beach Residence](https://maikhaobeachresidence.zoombookdirect.com/). It’s a very comfortable and clean hotel run by a family. It’s also about a 800m walk to the sanctuary so highly recommended. 

Getting there: The Soi Dog songthaew (local style bus) runs from Nai Yang to the sanctuary in Mai Khao in the morning and back again in the afternoon. It stops at five pick-up points around Nai Yang from around 8:25am and returns to Nai Yang in the afternoon, departing the sanctuary at 4pm, for a small fee of 100 THB pp, per day. 

## How you can help? 

Visit the Soi Dog website for information on how you can contribute to this worthwhile cause.

Soi Dog Foundation (Soi Dog) was established in 2003 in Phuket, Thailand, to help the street dogs and cats who had no-one else to care for them. 

Volunteering at Soi Dog Foundation supports their work in fighting the Asian dog meat trade

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Soi Dog also looks after the stray cats of Phuket

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This dog is being cared for and nursed back to health

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Volunteering at Soi Dog Foundation (Soi Dog) supports their work in fighting the Asian dog meat trade. They do this through a holistic approach of rescuing stray dogs and cats, sterilization, vaccination, medical treatment, shelter, and finally adoption.

Saro Minassian (Salesforce) describes his volunteer experience at the Soi Dog Foundation in Phuket, Thailand in their efforts to fight the Asian dog meat trade.

WhereNext | Volunteering at Soi Dog Foundation

Help End the Asian Dog Meat Trade

## Overview

In June 2022 we had an amazingly inspirational week for several of [Twilio's](https://www.linkedin.com/company/twilio-inc-/) leaders in APAC & Japan, combining the opportunity to support Volunteer Building Cambodia to build not one but two houses in rural Siem Reap, along with leadership and personal development, led by the inimitable [Lee Hawksley](https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehawksley/). All this while in a beautiful country dotted with ancient temples.

At the same time as we were giving back to the community through literally building houses with our bare hands, we were exploring questions of personal values and leading with our own particular purposes. Without a doubt, this will make all of us more effective leaders.

The ability to make time to come together was made possible by Twilio's highly innovative concept of Think Week, where employees are encouraged to cancel regular meetings and focus on their own projects and development. It's safe to say we did that in spades.

## Objectives

The objective of this trip was to build two houses for deserving Cambodian families in conjunction with a team building meeting for the Twilio APAC and Japan leadership team. Our trip also supported the local tourism-driven community, that has suffered dramatically from the last two years of COVID. 






## Itinerary

Team members arrived in Siem Reap on either the Saturday or the Sunday, and used the rest of the weekend to get settled in and explore the city.

Each morning, we left the hotel at around 7 am, taking a bus to the building site. We worked until midday, then returned to the hotel for our leadership sessions.

The days’ building activities were very carefully planned, with lots of sawing, painting, hammering and chiseling, as well as ceremonies for blessing the houses. We also had an opportunity to visit the school run by Volunteer Building Cambodia, seeing the facilities and meeting some of the staff and students.

The week was rounded out by the blessing of the houses and a handover ceremony. Once complete, the team received a water blessing at a nearby temple!

On different evenings we participated in different activities, including a tour to visit Angkor Wat temple (great while tourist numbers are low), a visit to the astounding Phare Circus, as well as local and international fine dining options.

For team members who stayed until the weekend, there was the opportunity to visit more temples, including Ta Prohm (overrun by trees and made famous by the Tomb Raider movies). It was amazing to be able to see some of Cambodia’s ancient history.

## Perspectives and Impact

The work that we did had a very profound impact on two families in particular: the owners of the new houses! Both of these families lost their previous houses, and having a secure place to live now gives them a level of certainty and independence that previously wasn’t possible. We’re hopeful it has a big positive impact on their lives.

On a bigger scale, the work and money we raised helps to support VBC’s work in lifting up the whole community in Siem Reap. Through the work of their amazing founder, Sinn, VBC has established a school to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds get ready for the world.

For me personally, it was great to be able to make a material difference to someone’s life, while also doing it with my peers and strengthening those bonds. We are very fortunate that Twilio offers us 20 hours of Volunteer Time Off (VTO) per year, as well as a generous allotment of Company Breaks. This means we are encouraged to use the privileges we have to give back to our local and global communities, and it’s something I would encourage more companies to do.


## Money Raised

Together Twilio raised over $6,000 USD to fund the construction of the two traditional Khmer wooden houses, as well as contributions to the ongoing running of the school.

## How you can help?
Visit the Volunteer Building Cambodia website and see how you can help this worthy cause. 

We work with volunteers from around the globe to build safe, dry housing for rural Cambodian families. Volunteers work under the guidance of our skilled Cambodian building team to construct a house in one week.

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Cutting beams to size for building the house frame

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Giving back to the community and team building for the Twilio APAC and Japan leadership organization

Join David Coghill and the Twilio team in Cambodia as they build houses for underprivileged families and strengthen the bonds of the APAC/Japan leadership team

WhereNext | Building Houses (and Teams) in Cambodia

Building Houses (and Teams) in Cambodia

### Overview
Wombat Stomp, is an animal rescue and rehabilitation center located in Windellama, approximately 40km south east of Goulburn, New South Wales. The property covers 30 acres with local vegetation types including a variety of native bush vegetation such as eucalypt, banksia, and acacia species. Owned and operated by Beth Nasser and George Morton they devote their time to rescue and rehabilitate Macropods, Reptiles, Wombats and Echidnas for release back into beautiful untouched, natural bushland.

### Activity Details

Volunteers are able to help with a variety of tasks including helping with the construction of wombat and joey enclosures, making and painting of possum boxes, general maintenance and more. And of course enjoy the rewards of seeing some beautiful wombats and joeys and sometimes enjoy a cuddle!


Like other marsupials, the wombat gives birth to tiny, undeveloped young that crawl into a pouch on their mother's belly. A wombat baby remains in its mother's pouch for about five months before emerging. Even after it leaves the pouch, the young animal will frequently crawl back in to nurse or to escape danger.


### Impact
Each volunteer makes a valuable contribution to Wombat Stomp by donating their time, energy and skills. As a volunteer, you will actively contribute to creating a brighter future for native Australian wildlife. Whatever your contribution, you can be assured that you are adding to the positive impact and strength of Wombat Stomp.

### Suggested Charities
If you would like to learn more about Womb Stomp Wildlife and help their work protecting Wombats and Kangaroos please visit:

This organisation focuses on rescuing, rehabilitating and realising wombats/kangaroos around the Windellama area of  New South Wales in Australia.


This volunteer experience assists Womb Stomp Wildlife who focus on rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing wombats and kangaroos around the Windellama area in NSW.


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The young wombat on the left was born on Halloween, so her name is Boo, and her mother is called Poppy.

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A volunteer (VTO) experience to help protect wombats in NSW

A volunteer time off (VTO) experience to protect wombats outside of Sydney in New South Wales with Dawn Uchida from Salesforce.

WhereNext | Protecting Wombats in Australia

Protecting Wombats in Australia

In 2019 the Salesforce UK channel and alliances arranged a climb up Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise funds for WorldReader, a fantastic charity dedicated to helping children through reading, technology and programming. Through this initiative a team of 9 raised more than USD $250k to go toward e-reading programs in Kenya. This experience was truly mind blowing, I will be forever grateful. I don’t think I could quite put it into words but I'll try. 

There are seven established routes to the Kilimanjaro Summit. We hiked the Lemosho route, the most scenic trail with a modest 3% fatality rate. The entire journey took 8 days, walking 72 kilometers (44.7. miles) and scaling almost 6,000 meters (almost 20k feet) into the sky. For perspective, this is almost twice as high as New Zealand's largest mountain, Mt. Cook and almost 3,000 meters shy of Mt. Everest. The final ascent felt like we were scaling a skyscraper; the view from above the clouds was remarkable, personally I would do this trip again for the view alone.

We took several days to gradually acclimatize to altitude, by the time we hit 2,000 meters, hands and feet start to swell and turn purple and breathing becomes shallow. After we made camp on the 2nd night, we made a short trek on a steep incline directly up the mountain, roughly 500 meters higher to help acclimatize for the next day. As the main cause of fatality on the mountain, altitude sickness was taken very seriously. I know we all felt comfort that the experienced porters assisting our climb were diligent about making this a safe climb. An upside to spending long periods of time at altitude is that it promotes the generation of white blood cells in your body and for weeks after the climb I felt amazing. In addition to this, the high you feel when you descend as more oxygen fills your lungs is incredibly satisfying. The mental and physical wellness that came with this experience was a highlight for me and certainly worth mentioning. 

Day four of the climb we set up camp at a central junction for several routes up the mountain, this was the busiest camp and the only place on the mountain with coverage. This point in the climb was memorable to me because I spoke to my brother back in New Zealand and he told me he had proposed to my now sister-in-law, which made my day. 

The very next day we were faced with ‘The Wall’, the Wall is exactly what it sounds like, a giant wall in which we needed to scale over that day. Definitely the most technical part of the climb, the wall had us jumping over crevices and edging across the rock face to scale the obstacle.


The team stops for a picture at Kilimanjaro National Park Gate.



The porters would carry packs of up to 40kgs

Woohoo! The team arrives at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.



The ceremony after the fund raising grant.



It is worth mentioning the porters who assisted our climb, while we each carried a 10kg pack each, porters would carry packs of up to 40kgs with much faster pace than us… carrying their load on their heads. They would race ahead, set up camp and prepare meals. This wasn’t a luxury trip, the necessary level of support from our porters only spoke to the conditions of the mountain. For a small wage, these men and women would risk their lives on a regular basis trekking Kilimanjaro with tourists like us, and while we trusted that workers were treated ethically by current standards, the disparity between our cultures was not lost on us. The kind hearted nature of our Tanzanian porters will remain a highlight in my memory. 



### Ready to help?





Worldreader works globally with partners to support vulnerable and underserved communities with digital reading solutions that help improve learning outcomes, workforce readiness, and gender equity.


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In 2019 the Salesforce UK channel and alliances arranged a trip up Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise funds for WorldReader, a fantastic charity dedicated to helping children through reading, technology and programming. 

The UK Salesforce Alliances team arranged a volunteer (VTO) trip to Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to raise funds for the WorldReader charity.

WhereNext | Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for charity

Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro

In late September 2019, a group of us travelled to Nepal from Singapore, Australia and the United States. We all had been working on fund raising for this project for months and were excited to get to Kathmandu and begin our various projects. 

### Background
Jahni Izzard visited Nepal on a mission trip with her school in 2014. They visited hostels dedicated to helping girls who had been rescued from brothels in India and were determined to help. Her mother, Racquel, joined her the following year and the Badi Project was born. At first, the Badi Project started by holding small fundraisers. movie nights, silent auctions and selling yak blankets. After the third trip and selling many yak blankets, Racquel knew the need was much greater. She reached out to a family friend who worked for Salesforce, as the company has a volunteer time off (VTO) program to encourage staff give back to community initiatives. Jess and Olivia came the first year and Nepal captured their hearts. They have now been 5 years running with the team growing each year.  The impact now being far greater than from selling yak blankets!










### Objectives
The objective for our team was to help Asha Nepal, a small NGO on the outskirts of Kathmandu. Their mission is devoted to preventing the trafficking and abuse of girls and caring for survivors, with the aim of their safe reintegration into the community. The task of the week was to help them renovate the property which has become a sanctuary for the victims of human trafficking and abuse in Nepal and India. 

The other team, where the requirement was to in "cross-fit" condition was to travel outside of the city to build sanitation facilities for a children's hostel. 



### Activities
The journey to Nepal for our group from Singapore was on Malindo Air. There was some stress getting all of the donated supplies checked in without an enormous excess luggage bill. With some prior calls to explain the purpose our trip and very accomodating check-in staff we were on our way. With a short stopover in Kuala Lumpur we arrived in Kathmandu at 9:30pm and were met by other volunteers who had arrived early to get our baggage to the hotel and meet the rest of the team.

The following day we went sightseeing around Kathmandu and ended up grabbing some lunch of traditional Momo's (Nepalese dumplings) at Paddy Foley's Irish pub and watched the football. That night we had a group dinner with our volunteer team at the hotel.

The next day we packed up and headed off to lunch at the Dwarika's Hotel which has some beautiful gardens that offer a tranquil respite from the noisy and hectic streets of Kathmandu. Then off to our bed and breakfast in the outlying suburbs of Kathmandu to begin our week at Asha Nepal. 

The week entailed cleaning and renovation of the buildings in the Asha Nepal sanctuary with a complete remodel of the top floor kitchen and roof top area along with cleaning and painting of the other buildings in the complex. Our team also rejuvenated the vegetable garden and organised a sign writer to redo the entrance sign. It was exhausting work to be honest and quite the break from our desk jobs in Singapore, the first night I fell into bed at 7pm! 

In our free time and evenings we were able to go on hikes in the surrounding mountainside, cook some amazing dinners and spent a lot of time getting to know the girls who were staying there. Some of the stories were heartbreaking and gave us an opportunity to reflect on how lucky we are and the things we take for granted in life. The most basic things like where you were born, your parents and your citizenship gave all of us a major head start in life. These girls had gone through some traumatic events in their lives and still maintained a positive attitude with beaming smiles and willingness to dive into all the opportunities that were provided to them. 











Playing guitar in the evenings at Asha Nepal

Rejuvenating the vegetable garden at Asha Nepal 

Happy smiles after the week end celebration 

### Perspectives 
It was an inspiring week with some amazingly strong women who have gone through some extremely tough challenges and yet maintain such a positive outlook and radiance in life. Even though we raised a good amount of money and worked hard to create a more welcoming refuge we couldn't help to think that more was needed to help provide for the victims of human trafficking in this region. 

### Money Raised
$50k USD for two different NGO's. Fund Raising activities included a wine auction and various social events. Staff and friends donated clothing and toys which we took with us to Nepal. We also used the Salesforce charity match scheme where each employee donations are 100% matched up to USD$5000/year.

### Ready to help? 
Please visit Asha Nepal's website below to learn more.

ASHA NEPAL is a small organisation in Kathmandu devoted to preventing the trafficking and abuse of girls and caring for survivors, with the aim of their safe reintegration into the community.

The kids staying at Asha Nepal during a celebration lunch

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Scenic shot of the valley outside of Asha Nepal with the snow capped mountains in the distance.


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A group shot of the volunteers before heading back to our home countries.

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A volunteer (VTO) experience where a group of Salesforce staff and friends travel to Nepal to help disadvantaged people live a better life

In 2019 a group of us from Salesforce and other companies travelled to Nepal to help renovate a women's refuge and build a toilet block for a hostel.  

WhereNext | Volunteer Experience in Nepal

The Badi Project in Nepal

Puff: Wonders of the Reef is a wonderful little nature documentary and a perfect treat for families to enjoy. With Rose Byrne on narration duties, this hour-long documentary charts the wonders of the coral reef, following the journey of a baby Pufferfish from birth to adulthood.

The story is relatively straightforward but much like David Attenborough’s Seven Worlds One Kingdom, the focus here is on a single creature and showing their trials and tribulations through life. Instead of hunting dogs or a group of chimps though, our focus descends under the ocean.

Our journey takes place deep in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef, with a baby pufferfish called Puff. With slick camera work, this documentary then follows this little fish as it navigates the dangerous fish-eat-fish world of the blue world it inhabits.

Checkout this amazing movie on https://www.netflix.com


A baby pufferfish travels through a wondrous, microworld full of fantastical creatures as he searches for a home on the Great Barrier Reef.


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Puff, the sharp-nosed Pufferfish, is shown to be beginning his life in the Great Barrier Reef. Here, a world exists that’s smaller than our thumb. We see the intricate workings of nature.

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A baby pufferfish travels through a wondrous, microworld full of fantastical creatures as he searches for a home on the Great Barrier Reef.

A baby pufferfish travels through a wondrous, microworld full of fantastical creatures as he searches for a home on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

WhereNext | Wonders of the Reef by Netflix

Puff: Wonders of the Reef by Netflix

### Overview
The panda volunteer experience is an unforgettable week that provides an opportunity to help protect the giant panda in rural China. This volunteer project has different activities to help the staff at the sanctuary care for the pandas including enclosure cleaning, food preparation and scientific research. The experience also includes a cultural immersion in the traditions of China with language and calligraphy lessons along with time to explore Chengdu city and experience spicy Sichuan food.

### Objectives
This volunteer trip was a bucket list experience to work with giant pandas in China. The objective was to learn about these beautiful animals and understand more about China’s conservation and breeding programs. 

One of the main reasons that panda populations have declined is habitat destruction. As the human population in China continues to grow, panda habitat gets overtaken over by development, pushing them into smaller and less liveable areas. Habitat destruction also leads to food shortages.

The good news is that giant pandas are no longer endangered, their status was updated to “vulnerable” in 2016 with the success of breeding programs like the one at the Bifengxia Panda Centre. 

Morning clean of the panda enclosures at the Bifengxia Panda Centre

### Activities
The volunteer experience starts in Chengdu, I was met by my tour guide at the airport and taken to my accomodation at Mrs Panda Hostel. I had some free time to explore the city and sample some local spicy Sichuan cuisine. 

The following day we met up with the rest of the volunteer group and visited the "Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding"
to learn more about the work done to protect giant and red pandas. We then went on a walking tour of Chengdu and went to traditional hotpot restaurant for dinner and retired early to get some sleep. 

After a 6am start and a two hour bus journey we arrived at the Bifengxia Panda Reserve in Ya'an, where the project is based. Project orientation included the provision of uniforms, an explanation of the research and a light lunch. As the weather was cloudy with some rain, we bundled up and went for a long hike through the reserve. There were some lovely waterfalls, wooden bridges and a cultural centre along the way. To my surprise there were some roadside food stalls in the reserve who accepted payment with a quick scan of a QR code with Alipay or WeChat pay.

Following an early start, we had a traditional Chinese breakfast at our hotel and then met our keepers. Each keeper looked after two pandas that are kept in separate enclosures. Each panda has a large outside area with a playground and also a sheltered caged section. The keepers put us to work breaking up bamboo, cleaning the shelters and cleaning the outside enclosures of old bamboo and panda dung. 

After lunch we had time to visit the panda nursery, it is so amazing to see these young panda cubs playing with each other. Unfortunately you aren't allowed to touch any of the pandas. The cubs develop relationships with their keepers and are prone to infection so visitors can just look from afar. The rest of the day consisted of more bamboo chopping and then feeding the pandas some treats of apples, carrots and bamboo root bulbs.. On some days we headed to the kitchen to make panda bread, a nutritious mixture of soybean, rice and corn along with eggs, calcium, oil and water. The ingredients and mixed together to form a dough and then moulded into cakes to be baked in the oven. Most days had similar duties to care for the pandas, you never tire from seeing these amazing creatures up close. 

The evenings were a mix of cultural activities like learning some Chinese, which was quite entertaining for the mostly Chinese group seeing the only two westerners in the group struggle with the tones of the language. We also had a calligraphy class and visited a local small town along with trying to learn how to play mahjong with our group.















### Perspectives

This was a thoroughly enjoyable volunteer week, going from Bondi Beach in the middle of summer to the cold winter in rural China to work with giant panda’s was something I will never forget. 

The work we provided helped the panda keepers take a small break in their dedicated work ensuring their pandas remained healthy and happy. We learnt a great deal about pandas, their diet, habitat and breeding programs.

There was some impact to the conservation centre and surrounding communities with money coming in from the volunteers. The key impact was probably more for the perspectives of the volunteers and their understanding of the importance of animal conservation and the effects of humans encroaching on wildlife habitats. 


### Suggested Charities
Are you looking for charities that help in Panda conservation? Here are two that may be interesting. 

The giant panda is the flagship species of WWF. Adopting one is a symbol of your compassion for all endangered species and their homes, locally and globally.

A volunteer experience working on Panda conservation in rural China. This trip was part of a Volunteer Time Off (VTO) project with Salesforce. 

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Rob HollidayFounder, WhereNext Experiences

Rob is a passionate traveler, with a surname of "Holliday" it was inevitable. His goal is to deliver meaningful experiences while providing a positive impact on sustainability initiatives and animal conservation efforts.

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Rob Holliday
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