SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Whatever befalls the earth,
Befalls the sons and daughters of the earth.
Man did not weave the web of life;
he is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web,
He does to himself
-Ted Perry

Our Pledge

Zephyr Tours is passionately committed to responsible tourism management practices. We believe that a responsible approach will enhance not only the natural, social and economic environment in which we operate but will also greatly enhance our visitors travel experience.

Zephyr Tours fund two, local Cape Townian beneficiaries by contributing 5% of all profit. Our clients have the option of choosing their own beneficiary, if they prefer. (Beneficiary must be registered in South Africa)

We prefer traveling in smaller groups- We believe this adds value by encouraging individual involvement, facilitates inter-cultural exchange and reduces any potential negative impacts on ecologically sensitive areas.

Zephyr ensures that more direct benefits go to local people by designing tourist routes to include local trading routes, and local community development projects. We make use of local guest houses and site-guides as far as possible.

The informative nature of our tours, intends to create awareness and understanding, which in turn creates pride amongst the host community.

Zephyr Tours will avoid establishments of business who have a reputation for mistreating their staff members or falsely inflating prices.

We will avoid game farms which operate only for commercial gain and do not have the best interest of the animals at heart.

Internally, Zephyr tours employ a responsible tourism management approach by servicing our vehicles regularly, optimizing office resources and recycling.

"...We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect..."
- Aldo Leopold

What is your impact?

How you impact is up to you?

Think about where your money goes. Be fair and realistic about how cheaply you travel.
Try and put money into local people’s hands, eat and drink the local produce and stay in locally owned accommodation wherever possible.
Help preserve local wildlife and habitats by respecting rules and regulations, such as sticking to footpaths and respecting local customs.
Be sensitive to limited resources like water and electricity.
Do NOT: litter, pick plants or flowers, stand on coral, and buy products made from endangered plants or animals, or flick cigarette butts out of car windows.

Please ask people before you take their picture. Don’t treat them as part of the landscape.

Our proud beneficiaries

As a developing nation, and still suffering from the hangover of apartheid, South Africa’s need for assistance with its social development programme, is enormous. However, the will to succeed, and triumph over adversity is a part of nearly every South African. All that is needed is the opportunity.

Zephyr hopes, that it will be able to assist, in its small way in creating these opportunities. We are proud to call the following organizations our beneficiaries. They have been chosen for their sincerity, honesty and sheer determination to make a difference in the lives of everyday South Africans!

Learn to Earn – “a hand up-not a hand out”

Learn to Earn is situated in Cape Towns largest “township” of Khayelitsha of which an estimated 30% of the population is unemployed. 6 Million South Africans are illiterate and 3,5 million adults over the age of 16 have never attended school In the past 15 years, LTE has trained over 6000 unemployed adult students.

The philosophy of Learn to Earn...

“Our vision is to eradicate unemployment and other legacies of injustice throughout South Africa and Africa”
“We seek to develop people especially unemployed people, socially, economically, emotionally and spiritually.

Services provided include a start-up programme which includes an entrepreneurial development and mentorship programme.
Courses are offered to students at 10% of the actual course cost. Students are assisted with job placements once they have completed the course.
The centre provides a business resource centre which facilitates business opportunities, job creation and creating economic ponds.
Learn to Earn Association where an opportunity is created for other organizations to replicate the LTE model throughout Africa
Training development, which is available to any person who is need of development, unemployed and willing to take ownership of their situation.

The Homestead Night shelter

The Homestead (Projects for Street Children) is a registered Non-Profit Organisiation and has section 18A tax status in South Africa. Established since 1982, the Homestead has a simple mission – “to help Street Children reconstruct their shattered lives.”

The programme, which has become a model for similar projects in South Africa, is based on developmental principles. Because there is no single solution it offers a continuum of projects, both on and off the streets, which address the needs of street children and their families and through which the children can grow towards competence and self-confidence in their lives.

From street work and intake shelters, through more settled residential and educational care, to family reconstruction services, we get children off the streets and help them rebuild their lives and their futures. We have also developed projects that aim to prevent children at risk from coming onto the streets.

It is difficult work, intensive, sometimes heartbreaking, but kids are resilient and “hope” is the watchword.

“Belief in the human spirit transcends all reason.... and flies beyond the frail fingers of our knowledge”

It is an indigenous model which, in order to engage as many children as possible, offers each child only as much as he needs – instead of having three pairs of shoes, each child can make do with one. But in sharing their lives with each other and with a sensible and generous adult team, they gain much else that they can take with them when they move away.

Would you like to volunteer at the Homestead?

The Homestead needs volunteers in many areas, for both short and long-term projects.

The Homestead welcomes foreign volunteers. What we can provide is a chance to learn about another country and its diverse cultures, and an opportunity to help disadvantaged children to rebuild their lives.