The future of sustainable travel is not cruise ships carrying more and more people overwhelming the places they visit. The future of travel is going slow – staying with locals, living like locals and giving back directly to local economies.
Rosemary Neave Women Travel the World
Halgolla Plantation Home Sri Lanka
Arlene and Emil have retired to their family home in Sri Lanka…Beyond making a living for us, both dependent on old-age and survivor’s pensions, we have tried to “make a difference” in the living conditions of the desperately-poor people in the neighbouring squatter settlements, particularly the women, who don’t even have the mobility of the males in their household who travel by public transport to semi-skilled employment in the building trades every day.
Their spice crops, particularly vanilla which requires very nimble and skilled fingers to hand-pollinate every flower, offer an opportunity to those of limited mobility and without great muscle strength to engage in work that can yield a better income and a better life for them and their families.
Their Homestay on the plantation has always been more than a “stop-over in a spice garden.” A large part of what HPH offers is the personal interaction between guests and hosts, inclusive of meal-time and twilight chats.
It is the most recent listing on our Women’s Accommodation Network and the only listing in Sri Lanka. This network aims to provide women with unique, boutique places to stay. Mostly they are women owned, but we felt that HPH offers something unique to women travelers.I was introduced to HPH through Christy who usually can be found taking people sailing on her boat in the Adriatic – more about Christy here
We have sought to supplement our skimpy pension- and survivor’s- benefits incomes while fulfilling the obligations to society that we were both raised with. As in many “developing countries”, the women of Sri Lanka suffer enormous disadvantages too numerous to detail in a response as brief as this needs to be.
Suffice it to say that we do believe that we are laying the groundwork for not only what might be only a small change for the better in their financial status but assisting them in the effort to increase their belief in themselves.. Your acknowledgement is deeply appreciated and cannot but support our efforts!
thanks Emil