Cruising for Change

I was nervous. Okay, maybe, I was even a little bit scared. I consider myself a reasonably experienced traveler, but there were a lot of firsts I was facing. It was the first time I had:

• Been on a cruise ship

• Visited the Dominican Republic

• Travelled as just myself and my daughter

• Planted cacao seeds

• Taught English

• Faced the Zika virus!

I needn’t have worried. Our recent trip with the team at Fathom on a ‘service’ trip to the Dominican Republic was lots of things, but it wasn’t scary.

Last week, my daughter and I left the Port of Miami and set sail on the Adonia—a so-called ‘baby-ship’. As a first-time cruiser, the ship looked anything but babyish. 10 stories high? Check. State-of-the-art conference facilities? Check. A pool? Check. It all seemed like a lot to me, but the more experienced sailors described the ship as intimate, friendly. They hailed its lack of a casino. Casino? Good grief, where have I been? Not on ships, clearly. Although the day the “big ship” pulled into port, I understood why ours was considered the “baby”.

We were a motley crew—bargain-seekers taking advantage of Fathom’s incredible discounts as they roll the concept out; faith groups, LGBT travelers, single-parents and kids, big families (including one intrepid group who left three of their 9 kids at home), retirees, individual adventurers, as well as a number of folks in the travel industry keen to check out this whole new concept in travel.

Well, I have to tell you, I’m a convert. I started out cynical — I’ve spent years straddling the business and social sectors, and have a wire that is hyper-tuned to the potential for Greenwashing (when a company makes a big hype of out being environmentally friendly, but is not really doing the right thing). Yet, the team at Fathom had been incredibly thoughtful. From providing cultural, empathy and language training to travelers to thoughtfully selecting ‘impact activities’ from over 100 different NGO partners, to choosing staff with deep and highly relevant expertise, evidence of the effort and intelligence that has gone into developing each and every aspect of the program was everywhere.

Perhaps the approach that stands out the most from the program was the “alongsideness”. Awkward phrasing (it’s not a word!), but a concept that resonates — this is not the idea of a patronizing traveler arriving from elsewhere here to provide unsolicited help, but providing some extra hours, muscles and help to support work that’s being done anyway. That means — the activities that travelers have a chance to get involved in, what Fathom describes as “impact activities”, have been carefully chosen to respond to opportunities that locals have identified as areas in which they’d love some help.

For example, travelers on our ship laid a concrete floor to provide a multipurpose sports area for a school (other travelers provide concrete floors for homes), made and delivered high caliber water-filters, and taught English to families. And when you dig deeper, these things have powerful flow on impacts. We learned of one mother and primary wage-earner who without a concrete floor suffered from debilitating respiratory diseases, and stopped work. With medical bills rapidly escalating and her ability work compromised, her young son had stopped attending school in order to put food on the table, and they were trapped in a rapidly spiraling downward cycle. But after the Fathom travelers laid a floor in their home, things rapidly improved. Her health improved so dramatically that she was able to go back to work, and her son to continue his education.

In terms of our experience, we were placed in a ‘cohort group’, led by a vibrant millennial (Gabe) with a passion for the Dominican Republic. With a background in the peace corps, and on-ground experience working alongside the NGOs and leaders, he was a wellspring of knowledge for the projects and communities. All our stupid questions were answered diplomatically and patiently. We spent time learning some of the basic history of the Dominican Republic, through carefully constructed training exercises that were interesting for the full range of ages in our group (from 7 years to 70+).

After some deliberation, ultimately my daughter and I participated in three activities:

• We spoke English, danced and played sports with kids from a summer school program—access to native English speakers is one thing people have repeatedly asked for, being able to speak English is an important skill for employment opportunities given the importance tourism plays in the local economy).

• We volunteered in a chocolate making factory. We worked alongside NGO partners and female owners of a co-op to help with some of the more labor intensive activities of artisanal chocolate making. We sorted beans, pulled out the cacao nibs, and stamped and helped wrap chocolate bars. We also potted and planted cacao seedlings. Were we as fast as the women and farmers who worked there all the time? No. Did we make a net contribution? Apparently! We planted 150 cacao seedlings, which will then be sold on to growers for income. Not only does output go up on the days the tour groups attend (and Fathom is diligent about tracking their daily, weekly and yearly impact), but we also helped as consumers of the products.

• We helped make recycled paper and craft products with a women’s co-op—tearing up strips of paper, forming the paper from the pulp and smoothing the bumps out of the dried paper by hand.

Again, my radar is pretty finely tuned for whether this is all just a token, feel-good exercise, and this felt like the real deal. I was impressed by the choice of activities and the respect for local processes and autonomy (the local business owners are absolutely driving the process). Of course with any kind of service, there’s a truly selfish element. Yes, I hope we were of use (and we seemed to be), but we also totally enjoyed ourselves. We loved getting to know both the other passengers, and the children, women and men we worked with in each of the activities. There’s nothing like working alongside someone to get to know them a little bit better.

People were patient with my basic Spanish, and relished a chance to practice their English. We were able to learn a lot about each other and I left with a lot of warmth for both the country and the people. It’s worth noting that while we went on the Dominican Republic Option, Fathom is the only US cruise company to have a license to cruise to Cuba.

If you’re looking for a cost-effective travel option, a way to learn more about the world, or a way to connect with friends and family while making a difference — I’d suggest you check it out! For prices and information about upcoming cruises see www.fathom.org.