It’s no secret that gender equality is a basic human right. Not only that, but gender equality is essential for having a diplomatic, prosperous world, yet women and girls around the world still face significant challenges.
To help empower women around the world, Exodus Travel have taken matters into their own hands by developing their very own Exodus Travel Foundation. Exodus Travels, specialists in adventure, walking and cycling tours developed the foundation to help the countries and communities in which they visit.
Passionate about helping women across the globe, read on to find out about the wonderful empowerment projects Exodus have achieved so far, along with their big plans for the future.
Named after one of the fiercest beasts in the animal kingdom, the Mountain Lioness scholarship in Africa was named after Lucia Kivoi, nicknamed “lioness” because of her pioneering spirit as a senior guide and woman who helped to spearhead the approval of female porters on Kilimanjaro.
For over 10 years, Exodus has proudly supported female guides and porters on Mount Kilimanjaro. Traditionally, guides and porters leading the trek up Kilimanjaro would be solely men, with women on the mountain virtually unheard of.
Yet, in the past decade, Exodus have helped transform male-dominated treks into one where women are often trailblazing and leading the way.
The Mountain Lioness scholarship is aimed at awarding women with guide training scholarships, providing women with the skills to become certified and take the step from porter to guide. By empowering women to become guides, they benefit from a stable income that can go towards supporting their family in communities nestled into the foothills of Kilimanjaro.
Nowadays, women can be said to be the backbone of the Kilimanjaro treks – in part thanks to the incredible work of Exodus Travel.
As part of their work to help empower women worldwide, Exodus Travel have produced innovative ways to get women earning money. One of those ways is through “flat felting”.
Flat felting is the process whereby wool is dampened, making it easy to make felt items that can be sold on. By teaching women the valuable skills and processes to make goods by flat felting, women can then make souvenirs that can then be sold to tourists trekking the mountains.
Not only does this provide the women of Nepal and India a new skill, but this craft can be used to help families gain extra income through winter months to help their families and communities.
Chhaupadi is an ancient tradition originating from certain parts of rural Nepal. Under this tradition, menstruating women and young girls are banished to mud huts or sheds, deemed a bad omen. Although this is now illegal (and has been since 2005), many communities still practice this.
In a bid to end the taboo around menstruation in Nepal, Exodus Travel launched the Freedom Kit Bag initiative. Devised to help provide women access to proper sanitary provisions, the kit bags contain washable pads for day and nighttime use, pad holders and other goods to help arm women with all they need to menstruate safely.
To date, Exodus have supplied hundreds of Freedom Kit Bags and have even gone one step further to provide sewing rooms, sewing machines and materials needed to supply local women with the means to make their very own Freedom Bit Bags.
The bottom line…
The bottom line is that although there is a long way to go until we reach gender equality, the good news is that companies such as Exodus Travel are doing their bit to help women around the world. By empowering women to take charge of their careers, learn new skills and earn valuable income, we can begin to create a fair and equal society.
