Olivia Gives Back
Guided by our passion for travel, the well-being of women and the LGBTQ+ community, we integrate philanthropic, environmental, and humanitarian efforts into our daily work. Olivia Gives Back by empowering people and preserving our planet as we pursue our purpose of a more sustainable world.
Hope for Girls and Women Tanzania
Started by Rhobi Samwelly, Hope for Girls operates two safe houses in Tanzania for girls fleeing female genital mutilation (FGM) and gender-based violence. They also provide empowering community education in the hope of altering the culture around FGM. Hope for Girls works closely with the local police to enforce laws in place against FGM and assault.
Giving Tuesday 2023: Olivians donated $8,252 to our 2023 Giving Tuesday campaign. Olivia Travel super-matched these donations, giving $15,000 to the cause. In honor of our 50th Anniversary, Holland America donated another $5,000, making our total contribution to Hope for Girls's efforts $28,252.
Giving Tuesday 2024: Olivians came together to donate $9,001, and Olivia Travel super-matched your generosity with $14,000, bringing the total to $23,001 in support of Hope for Girls.
Together, we’re making a meaningful difference and helping to create a brighter future.
Nepal Youth Foundation’s Freed Kamlari Program
Over the course of two years, Olivia Travel raised ~$250,000 for the Nepal Youth Foundation’s Freed Kamlari program from 2014 to 2016. This program focused on rescuing girls from indentured servitude, providing them with an education, and giving them opportunities of economic empowerment. Rachel Wahba and granddaughter Rebecca visited Nepal in 2014 to see the work of NYF and were blown away by all that they accomplished. In addition to developing the Freed Kamlari program, the organization has many other programs including a home for children, nutrition rehabilitation homes, children’s counseling and more. We are very proud of the work we did with the Nepal Youth Foundation.
Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic (LEX-NG) Fund
Over the years, Olivians have contributed more than $70,000 through the Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic (LEX-NG) Fund to assist women and children in both the Peruvian Amazon and the Galápagos and to protect the Galápagos’s fragile ecosystem. For example, in the Peruvian Amazon, Olivian support of the LEX-NG Fund supported Minga Peru, a radio program run by women that educates listeners on critical social themes such as domestic violence prevention, reproductive and sexual health, gender equality, and natural resource management. In the Galapagos, Olivians supported the creation of an education center—with a special emphasis on island ecology and wildlife protection—for the children of the Galápagos by the Charles Darwin Research Center.
Micato-AmericaShare Project
Since our first African safari trip in 2006, Olivians have donated approximately $50,000 to the Micato-AmericaShare project—supporting a program that helps extricate girls from the Mukuru slums of Nairobi or from abusive or neglectful families and houses, feeds, clothes, and educates them—and following our visits, several Olivians have sponsored Nairobi schoolgirls, providing $1,000 a year to cover their meals, boarding, uniforms, and school supplies. Olivians have also been generous with in-kind donations. In 2006, 120+ Olivians brought more than 45 bags of toys, school supplies, and clothing to a school in the Mukuru slums, benefitting more than 400 children, and this act of generosity was repeated in 2010. On two trips in 2019, Olivians helped support the Harambee Community Centre, which provides a library, tutoring and job support, computer access, and much more—including washable sanitary pads for school-age girls, who otherwise would miss school for lack of access to sanitary products.