Why I’m Starting Women Travel with a Purpose

May 30, 2018 by Sonia Marsh 8 Comments

It’s funny how situations in life can eventually lead to finding your purpose. Had my marriage not fizzled in 2015, I would not have joined the Peace Corps, and I certainly wouldn’t have thought about starting “Women Travel with a Purpose.”

I decided to start “Women Travel with a Purpose,” and lead trips to Africa with various themes such as “local culture, schools and village life,” “elephant and rhino conservation,” “culinary tasting tours in Africa,” and the latest theme is “Botanical Safaris” along the “Garden Route of South Africa.

How did I get the idea to start “Women Travel with a Purpose?”

During my service in Lesotho, women reached out to me and wanted to help the school and orphans in my village with books and clothing. I shared photos depicting children with holes in their sweaters and wearing shoes where the tips were cut off so feet could continue growing. The outpouring of kindness from so many women was overwhelming.

Women wanted to make a difference and to feel connected to the orphans at my school. I took photos of the children wearing their “new” clothes and shoes, and realized that women want to travel, experience something unique, and have a purpose attached to their trip.

When I returned to the U.S. last year, I had no idea what I would end up doing. Writing another memoir was the obvious answer, however, I also needed to support myself. Serendipity offered a career where I could do what I love: motivate women, inspire them to travel, take away their fear, and take them back to where we all originate from: Africa!

I’ve recently moved to a community in Laguna Woods, California with 18,000 residents 55 and over. I love it here, and feel that I can motivate women to follow me on themed trips to Africa.

I’ve designed a culinary-Safari for a small group of women to the pristine, Madikwe Game Reserve for the ultimate Safari and culinary experience at Jamala. There we will meet the award- winning chef Nico Verster, awarded the Best Safari cuisine in Africa 2014/2015. I tasted his exquisite cuisine and dined alfresco, beneath the brilliance of a million stars. Lions were lapping water on the other side of the water hole. Chef Nico will explain his Safaris and Spices cookbook where he offers cuisines from different countries in Africa.

Elephants at the water hole right in front of Jamala Lodge where we meet Chef Nico

Award-winning Chef, Nico Verster at Jamala Lodge in South Africa

“Food aficionados can indulge in modern gastronomic treats served with the chic colonial charm and grace that is unique to Jamala Madikwe. ” Cookbook, Savannah to Sea by Nico Verster.

I’m leading a themed trip together with Roz Berry, Director of the African Child Foundation, in Newport Beach, on September 30^th– October 7^th, 2018. Part of the proceeds will go back to helping the school in Nairobi, Kenya.

African Child Foundation in Nairobi, Kenya

We still have room for two ladies to join this trip. Please e-mail me at Sonia@SoniaMarsh.com if you’re interested in joining our small group on Safari. It will be a ton of fun while doing good at the same time. This is a trip with so many activities you’ll love. Check out the flyer on this post.

Lisa Hart producer of “This Day” TV show in Laguna Woods, California

I look forward to my interview with Lisa Hart tomorrow morning, May 31st, on the Laguna Woods TV show called, “This Day” at 8:30 a.m. Please watch as I talk about the Club I’m starting at Laguna Woods called, “Women Travel with a Purpose.” We are having our first meeting at 5 p.m. on June 11th, Club House #2 in the “Los Olivos” Room. The address is:

Get directions

Clubhouse 2, 24112 Moulton Pkwy, Laguna Woods, CA 92637

I’m going to share what “Travel with a Purpose” means, and your ideas are welcome. South African wine and cheese will be served, and some great slides from my recent trip to South Africa. Please e-mail me and come over and have some FUN!!! E-mail: (Sonia@SoniaMarsh.com)

Lineo is one of the Vulnerable Children at My School

May 7, 2016 by Sonia Marsh 2 Comments

Lineo and Sonia

On the first day back to school, after a public holiday, Sister B. decides to send the vulnerable children home to collect money for a field trip to Katse Dam next month.

Many students have a one and a half hour trek over the mountains to school, and now she orders them to go back home and collect the money.

They’ve been reminded about the 200 rand ($14) bus fare at least ten times, and Sister is well aware that more than 60% of the children at our school are orphans and vulnerable children, so most will return empty-handed. Only ten out of one hundred and seventy students have been able to pay for the field trip.

Sister knows the children are hungry when they get to school, yet she does not allow them to eat the heavily-sugared “soft” porridge—sorghum based cereal—served without milk, which is cooling off in their plastic bowls. None of these vulnerable children dare question authority; they obey the rules and charge home in worn shoes, often held together with broken shoe laces.

Two girls remain in the classroom with ‘M’e Mamoshaka, the seventh grade teacher, and me. Lineo is twelve, and the other nine. “How come they don’t have to go home? Have they already paid?” I ask the teacher.

“This one,” ‘M’e Mamoshaka says pointing to the older girl, “She looks after five children.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“She takes care of five children alone.”

I prod ‘Mamoshaka for more information.

“Is she an orphan?” I ask.

“No.”

I stared at Lineo’s shoes.

‘M’e Mamoshaka explains Lineo’s story.

Lineo takes care of her eight-year-old sister, and her six-year-old brother, as well as her three cousins aged, eleven and nine, and another nine-year-old. In all there are four girls and two boys.

They all sleep on one mattress, and Lineo burns twigs to cook their evening papa (maize meal.) Sometimes, when they are lucky, the villagers offer merojo, (shredded spinach and mustard greens, usually heavily salted and cooked in oil) to add to their papa.(photos)

Madam cooking Papa — This is my neighbor cooking papa with twigs for fire outside/year round, even when it snows in July.

Lineo is not an orphan; her father abandoned his three children, and her mother works in South Africa, and sends money for Lineo to buy maize meal. Their mom only sees her kids once a year, when she travels back for Christmas.

“How come Lineo also has to take care of her cousins?” I ask.

‘M’e Mamoshaka explains that their mothers also got pregnant at 15 or 16, were abandoned by their boyfriends/fathers of the children) and then they head off to South Africa to get jobs, often as maids.

As I sat in the classroom with ‘M’e Mamoshaka and the two girls, I asked them if they wanted to look at some books. Their eyes lit up, and they immersed themselves in the pictures and I asked Lineo to read to me.

girls reading — Puseletso and her nine-year-old sister reading

Three hours later, most of the students returned to school where Sister sat waiting on a stool, pencil and notebook ready to collect money. Only seven children brought the $14.00 for the field trip, out of about one hundred who ran home. Another twenty or so, brought hand-written notes explaining why they couldn’t afford the trip. “Ha ke na le chalete,” or “I do not have money.”

It was such a waste of a day where there was absolutely no teaching, and I went home after lunch. Why couldn’t these vulnerable children ask their parents/guardians for money after school, and bring the “no chalete” notes on the following day?

I am still trying to understand the Basotho culture at my school.

Am I Going to Live on Papa in Lesotho?

July 23, 2015 by Sonia Marsh 13 Comments

I’m getting prepared for my 27 months in the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho, in southern Africa, and it looks like I’m going to live on Papa in Lesotho. Papa even has its own special wooden utensil for mixing.

Papa, seems to be the main starch eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s bland, so you can add milk for breakfast or vegetables for dinner.

“At the heart of the Basotho diet is a corn-based food called papa. Papa is served almost every lunch and dinner. Papa le moroho (cooked greens), papa le nama (meat), papa le lebese (milk), papa le linaoa (beans), papa le beet root, paper le lihoete (carrots), papa le mahe (eggs); the possibilities are endless. This is because papa is a classic starch. It is a mildly flavored, completely unseasoned base to every meal.” — Beth Spencer.

My author friend Lauri Kubuitsile from Botswana, introduced me to Rethabile from Lesotho, who now lives in Paris. He then informed me about a chef from Lesotho and her cookbook. Here is a BBC video on Chef Ska Mirriam Motteane, and her goal to teach women to become chefs in Lesotho.

The Mountain Kingdom Cover_ — Click on cover to see on Amazon

I’m also reading Greg’s fascinating memoir, The Mountain School, and learning about what to expect as a primary education teacher in Lesotho. I’m so excited to meet him for lunch tomorrow in San Diego. Greg lived in Lesotho as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and as I’ve connected with other Peace Corps Volunteers and shall be asking him to answer all of our questions about his life as a primary education teacher in the Mountain Kingdom. I’m already learning about what to expect.

I hope there is more to eat in Lesotho than Papa, and Moroho.

Moroho consists of greens: spinach, cabbage, collard greens etc. I shall have to bring some seeds to plant my own vegetables.

I wonder where I shall get my protein from? Eggs? They have beef, mutton and chicken, but Papa, seems to form the main part of the dish.

Anyway, I’m getting more and more excited about this life change, and hopefully the Peace Corps won’t turn me down at the last minute for some medical reason. I’ve uploaded all my medical and dental exams to their portal, which is quite time-consuming.

If you have any suggestions as to what to bring or to plant, please let me know.

Volunteer in Africa: Tanzania, Moshi, Zanzibar, Mt. Kilimanjaro

July 10, 2014 by Sonia Marsh 3 Comments

As some of you know from my recent posts, I’m in a period of transition, re-evaluating my next move. I’ve recently trademarked:

GUTSY LIVING™

and I’m looking for other adventures, including the Peace Corps. On July 11th, I have an appointment with a Peace Corps recruiter to ask many questions, including my desire to blog for the Peace Corps, and more. Here is my list of questions for my recruiter appointment.

Peace Corps Questions

I am fluent in French. How likely is it they will send me to a French speaking country?
As a published author and blogger, can I blog for PC site?
Do we get to bring our laptops?
How likely is it that we have Internet in our country? Senegal, Madagascar, Benin, Vanuatu?
Any Caribbean countries that need a French speaker?
What about personal supplies like face cream, sunblock, toothpaste we like, etc? Can we receive care packages? How often?
When do we need to start the doctor/dentist visits?
I have a degree in Environmental Science but prefer to work with helping women and children. Is that possible?
Can you connect me with other women 56+ who are PC volunteers?
Can I work as a trainer for PC?
How easy is it to get a job as a recruiter for baby boomers when I return? Is it a full-time paying job?
Do recruiters get to travel around the US?
Are there other jobs available for older PC volunteers when they return?
An ex-PC volunteer sent me this. Is it true that I could perhaps apply for an assignment for 6 months ? “Peace Corps Response is now open to non RPCVs. It’s a shorter term assignment, usually about 6 months, and they take volunteers with specific skills. In your case, I’d imagine organizing and marketing. And the fact that you are already fluent in French can be a real asset.”

Yelena Parker is a global citizen who has worked in over twenty countries, and who just completed 4 months in Moshi, Tanzania, followed by Zanzibar. I first interviewed her with Monika Fox who founded “Give a Heart to Africa” where Yelena volunteered for two months.

Follow-up Interview with Yelena Parker after her 4 months volunteering in Moshi and Zanzibar, Tanzania. She also talks about her 6-day climb up

Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Yelena Parker is an expert on expatriate life and has published a guidebook-meets-memoir called Moving Without Shaking, available now in Kindle format, and very soon in print format.

Yelena Parker Book Moving_Without_Shaking_Book-Cover-200x300 — Click on cover to order on Amazon

How am I going to support myself?

June 30, 2011 by Sonia Marsh

A friend called me the other day and said, “I’m scared. My dad gave me an ultimatum to be out of his house by December 2011, and I don’t know where to go, and how I’m going to support myself.”

My friend is not in her twenties, but in her late fifties, and her husband passed away a few years ago. She does receive some rental income but it’s often sporadic and not enough to live off.

Her voice quivered and she started crying. She needed help, and instead of the, “Poor you” speech, I decided to think about her options. I put myself in her shoes and we brainstormed about what she could do. This made her focus on some of her own desires for her future.

“I wish I could take a year off and travel,” she said.

“How would you pay for it?” I asked, thinking about the article I had just read by Chris Guillebeau’s on How to use frequent flyer miles to go anywhere.

She didn’t answer. I know she’s frugal, and doesn’t expect to stay in luxury hotels so I suggested she could teach abroad.

“You know there’s a group called CELTA, which offers a teaching English abroad certificate. I believe it takes 3 months to train and then you work for a minimum of three months in a school. Apparently it’s cheaper to get certified abroad rather than in the U.S. You’ll get paid and that way you get to learn about the country, the food and the culture.”

Other options we discussed were to apply for the Peace Corps. This is a 27- month commitment, but they are seeking men and women over the age of fifty, and they do cover health care and living expenses. For more information about the Peace Corps: Life is Calling How Far Will You Go?

I’m a firm believer that there are always options in life. At first, we may not want to try them because they make us get out of our “comfort” zone, but every experience offers at least one positive nugget, if not more.

There are many women who fear being alone and stuck in middle-age with no money, no job and no companion. Especially after a divorce or a loss, they cannot see their future.

Here’s a list of options I came up with for my friend. Many of them can also be applied to couples who no longer have a job or a steady income. Some of them are temporary, or can turn into a career if you so choose.

Accommodation Options:

Sell your house, if you’re a home owner, and move to a cheaper part of the country.

Downsize to a smaller house.

Rent out rooms to (foreign) students to supplement your income.

If you’re single you can rent a room in someone’s house. I know one woman who divorced and is now renting out several rooms in her house to help pay the mortgage.

Job Options (including accommodation)

Apply for jobs as caretakers. The Caretaker Gazette, offers list of short and long-term stays in homes around the world where you either get paid to take care of properties when owners (often rich) are traveling around the world, or else live for free in someone’s home and watch their pets, water their plants, etc. while they’re gone. Some positions are long-term.

Work for a storage company, and sleep in one of the units. I knew a married couple in their fifties who did this short term. (Takes guts!)

Volunteer abroad. (Some pay for room and board.)

Peace Corps with added benefits during and after. There are jobs offered on their website.
Teach abroad. (CELTA certificate)

Work on a cruise ship/lecture/teacher/personal trainer/gift shop.

Take care of an elderly person full-time.

More Traditional Options

Look for a full-time job. (Not easy to find in this economy.)

Sell your house and move to a cheaper part of the country where cost of living is less

Rent your house out and collect income while working a job that offers room and board.

Have a part-time job and do some pet-sitting at people’s homes when they’re on vacation.

These were the options I discussed with my friend. Are there other options you can think of? Are you, or do you know anyone in this situation?