Share A Dream
Donation protected
Hi everyone, we are Share A Dream, and this is our story, told by Niklas our amazing president.
"Since I was a small boy… no, just kidding, I won’t make it that cheesy.
The real reflection started when I decided to take a break in my studies to widen my horizon beyond the tightly knit academic world and our lovely but protected life in Switzerland. Backpacking off the beaten tracks took me out of my comfort zone and opened my eyes to countries, cultures and most importantly people, whose challenges are so profoundly different from ours.
In order to enrich my experience I had looked for humanitarian projects and local NGOs along my planned route. To my great frustration it was extremely difficult to find projects that seemed authentic. There is an easily accessible list of NGOs looking for volunteers, offering expensive all-inclusive packages that sound more like Club Med than real humanitarian work.
It was only through a personal contact that I was able to find two small orphanages and schools in Tanzania and Cambodia. Interacting with local actors in the field and children in need creates a strikingly intimate link with people from a completely different origin and culture. No books or news reports are able to connect people in this way and induce comparable empathy and compassion, nor the will to spare no effort to improve their situation.
Unfortunately not everyone is able to undergo such an experience. I thus started thinking about ways that could virtually reproduce such an encounter and would make people want to take action and make a change.
When leaving the orphanage and school in Cambodia, I asked the local head how I could continue to help back in Switzerland. His answer was simple: “ You can help us by talking to your friends and family about what you experienced here and tell them that we need their help. This can be in the form of raising social awareness by talking about the project, by donating money or by coming to Cambodia as a volunteer.”
Moved by the experiences I had accumulated during my travels I met up with a group of friends back in Switzerland and told them about the observations I made:
- It is extremely difficult to find authentic local NGOs and projects without having personal contacts.
- There must be a way to reproduce the change in state of mind you can experience by doing work in the humanitarian field without people actually having to move.
- Local NGOs struggle to communicate their cause and are in great need of donations and volunteers.
With our heads stuck together, trying to solve these challenges, something beautiful happened. Bringing in our individual strengths and experiences, ideas started flowing and “Share A Dream” took shape. Our idea is to combine social action with responsible traveling. Our project aims at providing communication tools to the NGOs and projects we portrait while traveling.
Share A Dream is meant to be a platform where:
- Travellers can produce footage (photos, videos, and interviews) about the people and projects they are encountering.
- NGOs and local actors can express their hopes and needs to the people that might hold the keys to accomplish them.
- People from all around the world can discover projects and NGOs in an intimate kind of way and help them directly by donating their time, money or expertise.
We will start this project by going to South America for 5 months to meet local NGOs and stay with them for several days. We will get to know them and then produce videos, photos and interviews about the dreams of the people we encounter. The goal is to create an intimate link, giving you the impression of being right there with us. You will be able to directly impact the lives of the people you see by means of the crowd funding opportunities we will set up.
Today, we are asking for your help. In order for this project to reach its ambitions, we need financial support to cover travelling expenses (van, petrol, etc.) and video material. Please feel free to donate any amount you wish, even the smallest contribution will be highly valued in our hearts.
Our dream started out small but if you help us spread the word or contribute to our activities, we will be able to build something big and beautiful together.
Please join our community, and help us share dreams and make them come true. "
"Since I was a small boy… no, just kidding, I won’t make it that cheesy.
The real reflection started when I decided to take a break in my studies to widen my horizon beyond the tightly knit academic world and our lovely but protected life in Switzerland. Backpacking off the beaten tracks took me out of my comfort zone and opened my eyes to countries, cultures and most importantly people, whose challenges are so profoundly different from ours.
In order to enrich my experience I had looked for humanitarian projects and local NGOs along my planned route. To my great frustration it was extremely difficult to find projects that seemed authentic. There is an easily accessible list of NGOs looking for volunteers, offering expensive all-inclusive packages that sound more like Club Med than real humanitarian work.
It was only through a personal contact that I was able to find two small orphanages and schools in Tanzania and Cambodia. Interacting with local actors in the field and children in need creates a strikingly intimate link with people from a completely different origin and culture. No books or news reports are able to connect people in this way and induce comparable empathy and compassion, nor the will to spare no effort to improve their situation.
Unfortunately not everyone is able to undergo such an experience. I thus started thinking about ways that could virtually reproduce such an encounter and would make people want to take action and make a change.
When leaving the orphanage and school in Cambodia, I asked the local head how I could continue to help back in Switzerland. His answer was simple: “ You can help us by talking to your friends and family about what you experienced here and tell them that we need their help. This can be in the form of raising social awareness by talking about the project, by donating money or by coming to Cambodia as a volunteer.”
Moved by the experiences I had accumulated during my travels I met up with a group of friends back in Switzerland and told them about the observations I made:
- It is extremely difficult to find authentic local NGOs and projects without having personal contacts.
- There must be a way to reproduce the change in state of mind you can experience by doing work in the humanitarian field without people actually having to move.
- Local NGOs struggle to communicate their cause and are in great need of donations and volunteers.
With our heads stuck together, trying to solve these challenges, something beautiful happened. Bringing in our individual strengths and experiences, ideas started flowing and “Share A Dream” took shape. Our idea is to combine social action with responsible traveling. Our project aims at providing communication tools to the NGOs and projects we portrait while traveling.
Share A Dream is meant to be a platform where:
- Travellers can produce footage (photos, videos, and interviews) about the people and projects they are encountering.
- NGOs and local actors can express their hopes and needs to the people that might hold the keys to accomplish them.
- People from all around the world can discover projects and NGOs in an intimate kind of way and help them directly by donating their time, money or expertise.
We will start this project by going to South America for 5 months to meet local NGOs and stay with them for several days. We will get to know them and then produce videos, photos and interviews about the dreams of the people we encounter. The goal is to create an intimate link, giving you the impression of being right there with us. You will be able to directly impact the lives of the people you see by means of the crowd funding opportunities we will set up.
Today, we are asking for your help. In order for this project to reach its ambitions, we need financial support to cover travelling expenses (van, petrol, etc.) and video material. Please feel free to donate any amount you wish, even the smallest contribution will be highly valued in our hearts.
Our dream started out small but if you help us spread the word or contribute to our activities, we will be able to build something big and beautiful together.
Please join our community, and help us share dreams and make them come true. "
Organizer
Raphaël Jüngling
Organizer
