Empowerment tourism differs from ‘voluntourism’. Travellers in developing countries are often faced with the reality of people living in poverty and lacking the kinds of opportunity most travelers take for granted. Most can’t help feeling sorry, but don’t know what they can do personally to help. Established in 2015, Hands On Journeys gives you that opportunity. Based in Australia it currently runs empowerment tourism tours to Cambodia, Vietnam and India.
Simla Sooboodoo grew up in paradise Mauritius but her life was far from beautiful. She grew up in a home struggling to survive, parents fighting over money, shortages and scrimping, constant tension. Help came in the form of her grandma who intervened in her life and took on the responsibility of a part-time caregiver. But that relief was also short-lived when her granny passed away, leaving young Simla devastated. She was only 16 and with few options left.
But then as they say when the door closes on you a window opens somewhere. And that window to the world came in the form of her aunt and uncle who offered to pay for her studies until she finished high school. Once she finished school Simla would have the biggest life-changing experience with her aunt deciding to relocate her to Australia where they lived.
It was a second chance that was to change Simla’s life forever. In fact, she took flight for the first time not knowing that her life one day will be so much travel and seeing the world. Growing up Simla always wondered where those little planes in the sky which flew above her little island were going and always dreamed that one day she would be on it.
Finally, she was on it, her literal flight to Australia, away from the hard life. As she puts it looking back at that moment she says that one thing changed my life forever. Simla went on to major in accounting and found a job which ended up with her working as a CFO in a large travel company. She was living out her childhood fantasy of travelling the world. Between her team and her, Simla has by now visited around 100 different countries.
But life does work in strange ways. Just when Simla thought she had dealt with her fair share, she was dealt one more tragic blow. She was struck down by a brain aneurysm and haemorrhage on two separate occasions. Simla fought a devastating prognosis of only 10 per cent chance of survival. But she miraculously came back and with that came a new passion for life, to live it differently. It was during her healing in bed that Simla decided to give other people some purpose in life too and what better than do it with a sense of fun and adventure – through travel. And so was born her foundation, the Hands On Journeys.
Today Simla has worked out packages for the traveller with a cause so that they come back with some sense of contributing to the society at large and not remain isolated in their insular lives. Journeys combine an exciting mix of cultural immersion, sightseeing, and an unique empowerment tourism concept. This means that for one day travellers can visit the Taj Mahal, the next morning learn from locals how to cook traditional dishes and by the afternoon, help developing communities open their own business or improve skill sets to grow their income potential.
The travels are meant to be a sensory overload which allows the traveller to maximize vacation time with touring and impacting and powerful experiences. Some of the most satisfying feedback that Simla has got from people who come back from a Hands On Journey is when they say that they would no longer want to travel any other way.
Until now, the focus has heavily been on the Asia region – with India, Cambodia and Vietnam being the core focus. But they are expanding to Fiji, Mexico and Queensland. It’s a massive achievement for the Hands On family and its core values remain to embrace various cultures and ideally, helping as many people possible.
Simla being a woman did come up against many challenges in some of the cultures and communities and so they focus on first the people they are going to work with. They differ from other such operators is that they make initial contact with the communities and work out a strategy on how they can actually support them.
Simla believes two-way conversation, open communication and finding common goals and beliefs are the best way forward. The heart of what she does is based on the local communities being happy and feeling the next steps will bring longterm and sustainable improvements to their day-today life. She feels that honest conversation is truly the key to anything in life.
Growing up, Simla remembers how she used to wave at planes in the skies above Mauritius thinking that she would never be in one of those magical machines in the sky. And strangely her life took such a turn that she took to the sky with so much passion and zeal. Simla truly believes that she has been very fortunate. Even before she started Hands On she had volunteered at many charities and projects around the world. It was during her second long time spent in the hospital that Simla realized that what she had been enjoying doing for a few weeks on vacation she wanted to turn that into her life’s mission. She never forgot that after she came out of hospital and went about to make her dream a reality.
Her venture in life has had a huge impact on Simla’s life and the way she lives it. She feels it has been two-fold, which makes it extra special. Seeing travellers come away from a project or tour with a new outlook on life is truly magical. Many extravellers also often return for other tours or have gone on to set up their own social enterprise in support of communities around the world. This she feels is the payback she cherishes the most.
One of the projects that gave her immense satisfaction was working in the floating villages of Vietnam. It brought together a small community and worked with them to develop the skills to make jewellery which they could sell. Weeks later they’d taken those materials and talents and turned it into nearly $2000! For a community used to earning a few dollars a day, this impact was resounding, and also reassuring that yes, people were actually being helped by what they set out to do.
Simla decided to focus on empowerment tourism and not volunteer tourism because she wanted to have a lasting impact on the communities and help them generate their own incomes and secure their lives rather than just benefit from some volunteer work to build their homes or barns.
In brief, while volunteers may go to build a school, we work with communities to ensure they have an income, so in turn, they can afford to secure their lives and future.
The whole journey has been quite overwhelming emotionally for Simla. But she is very clear that she is not here to save people or show them the right path but to work with them and help them towards a better future. It's just lending a hand not telling them how to lead their lives. Many communities have different ways of living and she does not believe in imposing what the west assumes to be the right way to live. She points out that all communities have worked out their own measure of happiness and live a day-to-day routine and if we share what is common then it is easier to focus on the positives and take the whole thing forward.
Looking back, Simla admits that she is a different person from the one growing up on an island. Today she feels the world is her family and waking up each day has a new meaning for her. She hopes she can inspire others to do the sam