As part of the Responsible Cape Town pilot project, a workshop on World Tourism Day 2012 saw several leading Responsible Tourism businesses sharing their practices and recent actions. This presentation highlights the work that The Backpack has been doing with a local NGO called Greater Commission United (GCU).

2. ABOUT BACKPACK
• Accredited Fair Trade Backpackers
• Invest in people and communities
• Provide meaningful and relaxed experiences
• Investigate our travellers choices

3. PHILOSOPHY
By doing one small thing,
its ripple effect will
lead to bigger change

4. GREATER COMMISSION UNITED
• Met to Mario who is the Founder of an NGO
called Greater Commission United (GMU)
• where he trains coaches and keeps children off the streets of Heideveld by
playing soccer, basketball and rope skipping and not doing drugs.
• Started by collecting second hand football boots
and soccer kit
• Put the request on our website for to encourage
guests to bring along and donate

7. GCU CONT…
• Got more involved by paying for skipping ropes
for girls and then the whole school every week
• This was done for two years
• Programme for whole school bombed out, but
kept the skipping for girls and tutoring
• Also pay GCU towards coaching

8. GCU LIBRARY
• Donations received by Old
Mutual to resurrect
Library
• We painted and built
shelves
• We also bought books

9. • We painted
and built shelves

10. • We also
bought books

11. GCU GARDEN
• We started a vegetable garden that flourished
• And died, flourished and died again
• Now have an intervention by a group of German
Landscape architects who planted more indigenous
flowers (that will sustain themselves during the hot
summer holidays)
• And a vegie patch that would be more manageable.

17. GCU CONT…
• The classrooms are over supplied with children
and under supplied with teachers
• Gangsters often break into the school
• The steal the piping for toilets,
the sinks, computers, wiring and
whatever else they can lay their
hands on.

19. GCU CONT…
• The children often come from abused homes
• Children are given drugs for breakfast to keep
the hunger at bay
• There are no fun things in the day like gym and
art

25. GCU CONT…
• We have twinned the school with a group in
Scotland that has donated money and has made
contact via Skype with our school and are coming
here to interact with them and see what else they
can do.
• 10 of our skipping girls got their WP Colours and
are going to Pretoria to compete in the Nationals

28. GCU WAY FORWARD
• This is about community for community and we
hope that fostering a healthier way of life in every
aspect will help children to grow in a manner and
also that once they have achieved their dreams
and goals, they will want give back and make a
difference in their community.
• In Mario’s words
“To Stand Up and Stand Out”

29. CONTACT DETAILS
ADDRESS
74 New Church Street, Tamboerksloof
Cape Town 8001, South Africa
‎
TELEPHONE NUMBER
021 423 5555
021 423 4530
WEBSITE
www.backpackers.co.za