Our Story

"The idea of linking tourism to development work was new to me in January 2005," says Julian Page, the Founder of the Trust, "before that holidays were slightly self-indulgent activities, even if it was done independently."

"Watching one of the Red Nose Day programmes one year I was particularly moved by the story of two street children in Dar-es-salaam aged 1 and 3. The 3-year-old was looking after her 1-year-old sister who could not walk because her feet had been eaten by rats.

There are many dreadful things in the world, but to me, this was the worst ever and I started to cry. I have two nephews of the same age and they wouldn't begin to know where to start fending for themselves, let alone support each other! I gave money but it didn't make me feel any better and those two kids haunted my every thought.

Then an opportunity arose for me to rethink my career path and I sat down with some trusted friends and I told them I wanted to help these street kids. They very kindly pointed out to me that I had none of the skills necessary to look after street children and suggested I rethink and use what skills I did have. So we analysed my strengths and weaknesses, what I enjoyed doing and what I didn't and concluded that travel mixed with a desire to help people and make things right was somehow the future for me. This led me to do a Masters Degree in Development Management with Sustainable Tourism.

It was whilst on this course that the idea of the Livingstone Tanzania Trust started to form. Talking the idea through with Clive, he convinced me that this was achievable, that the idea could work and that people really would want to go on a holiday that was doing good things for the local community as long as the holiday was still fun and a not real life guilt trip. I took the idea to one of the Professors at the University who also thought it would work, and between the three of us we hammered out the details. I then went on a research programme in Tanzania for 4 months where I found Joas, a cultural tour operator using his own profits to build local schools. Our ideas were very similar, we got on famously and Joas quickly joined the team.

Since our first meeting in November 2007, we have added to the existing trips and enhanced his operation, renovated numerous classrooms, built toilets, renovated a teachers house, brought electricity to the school, we are building a school farm, we sponsor the medicines needed by a young epileptic girl so that she can lead a normal life, and a deaf boy so he can get a better education at a special school, we sponsor orphans to go to secondary school. We have joined forces with an ethical volunteering organisation and bring volunteers to help build alongside, not instead of, local builders, and they learn first hand what life is like in developing countries and what extreme poverty means. We have developed our first "pro-poor product" and we are setting up numerous really exciting projects that will make a far greater impact on the community that I had ever envisioned. I am so excited by my work and not for one minute of one day have I ever regretted not working in the city, despite the loss of income.

I have met so many fantastic people who are giving their money, their time, their efforts for the benefit of others and it has restored my faith in human kind. I want to thank my fellow trustees who are just brilliant and I am extremely grateful for all that they have done, not to mention the generosity of everyone who has helped us get to where we are and I hope will help us get further. I must also thank my parents who are housing me during these early stages.