The tour company my wife and I usually use when we travel is called Gate 1 Travel. The tours are very affordable, yet not "cheap." The tours generally include airfare, transportation to/from the airports, baggage handling, hotels, numerous meals, admission to attractions, an English-speaking tour guide and a driver. It generally involves very little planning on our part. More importantly, Gate 1 Travel has a foundation called Gate 1 Foundation that focuses on education in underdeveloped areas. In Morocco, they have helped restore a school in Rissani called Ziz Accueil. This project includes a school for children as well as a women's workshop to teach local women a trade.
As part of our tour, we were provided the opportunity to visit the school children. We were advised ahead of time so we could bring gifts for the children. My wife and I stocked up at the dollar store, carrying a variety of pens, pencils, crayons, erasers and other staples for the children to use. We also had an old iPad that we wiped so that the school teacher would have an additional teaching aid. The children welcomed us and were were given an opportunity to interact with the children.
The kids were ready for us with tea and nuts. They gave us a little song and then we were able to speak with the teacher a bit as well. The teacher told us about the school, with our guide as interpreter, and we were able to ask questions. It was an interesting way to spend an hour of our tour and it was an opportunity to give back. I appreciate that our tour company has projects like this in several countries.
Gate 1 Foundation has projects like this school in Argentina, Canada, Columbia, Costa Rica, India, Morocco, Peru, Nepal, Thailand and Turkey. It is awesome to know that a company you support finds ways to give back to the communities. Particularly a travel agency giving back to those who live in the destination countries that they service. Morocco is a beautiful country with warm, engaging people. I am happy that we had the opportunity to interact with some of them in a genuine, giving way.
All photos are my own. I have obscured the faces of the children for their privacy.