Rustic Pathways Foundation

If you’re reading this, you’re probably familiar with the Rustic Pathways ethos: Education, Travel, Philanthropy. We pride ourselves on being a leader in student travel and providing young people with life-changing educational experiences, and we think we’re pretty darn good at that. What you may not know is that we are also an impact driven company that believes strongly in our responsibility to actively contribute to the communities where we travel. One of the ways we do this is through the Rustic Pathways Foundation—a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting high-priority needs within the…continue reading →

Today is Giving Tuesday and it’s never been easier to get involved! The Rustic Pathways Foundation supports locally-driven projects and programs in the regions where we travel. In 2016 alone we raised more than $250,000 to support 15 projects in 10 countries. We work directly with communities to identify high priority needs and then collect donations from amazing people like you—the students, parents, and educators who feel moved to make a difference. Supporting the Rustic Pathways Foundation is simple. Here are 3 easy ways to give: 1. Give At No Cost to You—Seriously…continue reading →

Altagracia Bautista and her family slept in the same room in the wood and tin house they built from debris in Monte Coca batey in the Dominican Republic after Hurricane George destroyed their home in 1998. But they moved in April. Now they live in a stone house with enough space that Altagracia hopes will be a cleaner and healthier environment, especially for her 9-year-old daughter Ramona and 6-year-old granddaughter Eridania. "The time that I endured was hard times, and now I feel happy and contented because I am not getting wet anymore,"…continue reading →

The Monte Coca Batey housing project was one of the Foundation’s biggest successes in 2015, with over $24,000 raised by our passionate Development Ambassadors. “Since the project began in June 2014, we’ve built seven houses and are working on the eighth this summer,” Dominican Republic Country Manager Kate Lubina says. “In total, this has directly benefitted 30 people in the community to date.” By the end of summer 2016, five houses will be completed, three of which will have been fully funded by the RP Foundation. The other two will be built thanks…continue reading →

The Nasivikoso School in Fiji is now equipped with brand new furniture in the school and teachers’ houses thanks to the more than $10,000 raised by RP Foundation Development Ambassadors in 2015. The school purchased six beds with mattresses, three dining tables with chair, four dresser tables, thirty school desks with chairs, and three teachers’ tables with chairs. Until 2012, the Nasivikoso village didn’t have a local primary school, which meant students had to spend each week away from their families and sometimes missed school as a result of unsafe travel conditions or…continue reading →

Our dedicated Development Ambassadors raised more than $16,000 in support of the Sacred Valley Project in Peru last year. The project provides a safe living space, nutritious meals, and supplementary education to young women in rural communities in the Andes so that they can avoid the often dangerous and time-consuming journey to and from school, and pursue secondary education with extra support. In 2015, the Sacred Valley Project was able to expand their reach by opening a second facility in Calca, Peru, in addition to the pilot location in Ollantaytambo. The project now…continue reading →

In 2015, the Foundation raised over $10,000 for the Rustic Pathways Children’s Home (RPCH) thanks to our Development Ambassadors and donors. These funds provided meals, school supplies, transportation, clothing, and toiletries to students, in service of RPCH’s mission to increase access to secondary education for rural students in Thailand. Many new faces have arrived at the Children’s Home in 2016. In March, Sriwon "Fueng" Nitinaikirti was hired as a new house mother and student caretaker. She graduated from Chiang Mai Rajabaht University with a major in English, focused on teaching. Fueng joins the…continue reading →

A lot of progress has been made at Nambark Ethnic School in the last year. The construction of a two-story dormitory, an indoor bathing room, and a new toilet block is complete. Rural students in Northern Laos, especially members of ethnic minorities, often struggle in their pursuit of secondary education. Some high schoolers travel long distances to attend the Nambark Ethnic School, where they live for most of the school year. The facilities currently serve more than 200 students, many of them female. UNICEF and the World Health Organization report that 1 in…continue reading →

The elementary school in Prek Toal, Cambodia, is sinking. In a demonstration of its commitment to this project, the Rustic Pathways Foundation has pledged $25,000 from its discretionary fund to support the construction of a brand new, five-classroom, cement schoolhouse, adding to the over $15,000 already raised by our passionate donors and Development Ambassadors. This brings us closer to our goal of $100,000, but we still have a ways to go before construction can begin. Prek Toal is struggling due to its growing population and increasingly challenging fishing conditions, which threaten the industry…continue reading →

We are excited to announce that 75 additional students in Kampong Cham, Cambodia will receive scholarships thanks to over $16,000 raised by our Development Ambassadors in 2015. We are proud to partner with Buddhism for Social Development Action (BSDA) on their initiative, Education for All. Founded in 2005 by a group of Buddhist monks, BSDA is a nonprofit organization based in Kampong Cham, Cambodia, that has grown substantially and boasts over 5,000 beneficiaries in five provinces. The Education for All initiative aims to provide vulnerable students from all over the country with the…continue reading →

The Rustic Pathways Foundation is excited to announce the election of three new members to the RPF Board of Directors. We are working hard to expand our impact and collaborate with experienced individuals passionate about supporting locally-driven, sustainable development in global communities. Each new board member brings a unique skill set that will help the Foundation to maximize its positive impact globally. Please join the Rustic Pathways community in welcoming Laura Budzyna, Robb Gibson, and Hillary Proctor. Laura Budzyna is the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager at the International Development Innovation Network (IDIN),…continue reading →

The Rustic Pathways Foundation is proud to announce that its 2015 end-of-year campaign was its most successful fundraising campaign in the organization’s history. Nearly 170 staff, alumni, and friends of Rustic Pathways volunteered their time to fundraise for the foundation’s six projects, in addition to its general fund. An astounding 1,050 new donors were generous enough to contribute to the foundation’s projects. Checks from 2015 continue to flow in, pushing the campaign’s six-week total to nearly $120,000. While most alumni and staff received donations through the foundation’s online fundraising platform, many alumni raised…continue reading →

OLLANTAYTAMBO, Peru-- Sacred Valley Project Founder and Rustic Pathways Peru Country Manager Alex Ball was recently highlighted in an article published by Matador Network. He was hailed as a “hero working to empower women throughout the world.” Also highlighted in the article was Malala Yousafzai, the women’s education activist who was shot for defying the Taliban in Pakistan.   Alex founded the Sacred Valley Project five years ago in Ollantaytambo, Peru, a high altitude town close to the larger city of Cusco. In a country where only three in ten rural Andean girls…continue reading →

Editor’s Note: In an effort to spread awareness of our global projects and celebrate the passionate and courageous individuals that support the Rustic Pathways Foundation, we are launching a series of blog posts that will attempt to illuminate the perspectives of those who work on our projects on a daily basis. We begin this series with Wanalapa “Nan” Loedbunlattana, the housemother, mentor, and head cook of the Rustic Pathways Children’s Home. In 2010, when the Rustic Pathways Children’s Home opened its doors to its first class of female students, a local teacher at…continue reading →