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Experiences that will change your life.

IY Travel Impact Program

We believe that yoga and travel have the power to transform both ourselves and the world around us. This has been our mission statement since 2008 and is the foundation of our IY Travel Impact Program. In addition to promoting global perspective and cultural enrichment, we feel it is imperative that travelers give back to the people and places we visit. 

One of International Yoga's differentiating values is our strong commitment to our partnerships overseas, many of whom we have been working with for over a dozen years. We work closely with them to identify local organizations and projects that support their communities, economic goals and environmental preservation initiatives. Every International Yoga retreat includes a meaningful donation to a local organization or non-profit.  Please see the details for your specific retreat to learn about how we create positive impact wherever we travel.

 

NON-PROFITS WE SUPPORT

1
Yoga Gives Back, India

YGB is dedicated to supporting India, the birthplace of yoga, through micro-loans and education funds that support the serious challenges of poverty and related social issues. It’s clear that the economic imbalance is lopsided and that impoverished mothers do not have a chance to relax through yoga practice in India, while so many of us in the Global North, an estimated 300 million practitioners today, enjoy this practice mainly for self-care, generating an estimated 80 billion dollars. Now, the goal is to reach #OneMillionYogis so we can create a bigger impact and empower many lives. Through IY’s official partnership with YGB, we commit to annual support of the important work YGB does to support the women and children of India, yoga’s birthplace.

 

2
Valentin’s Pachamama Journeys, Peru

We have been partnering with Valentin Baca Baños, a Peruvian native, for over a decade. His tour company, Valentin’s Pachamama Journeys, is strongly committed to supporting social projects that help local people and the economy in Peru. They partner with humanitarian organizations to supply shoes, hats, medicine, and other needs to local children and their families. As part of IY's Travel Impact Program, a portion of your trip price will be donated to a local school that Valentin has built to support the children in his Sacred Valley community. We will have the opportunity to visit the school during our trip and donate additional supplies.

 

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Mayan Mother’s Fund, Guatemala

100% of our donation will go toward buying food for local Mayan women in Santa Cruz La Laguna whose families are in the greatest need of financial support. 21 years after the end of a civil war that took the lives of 200,000, and estimated 95 % lost by the indigenous peoples in Guatemala, little has been done to bring justice or economic opportunity to the indigenous Maya. Most of the eight million indigenous Maya people who live in Guatemala suffer from poverty. Poverty affects indigenous Maya women the most. One in three indigenous Maya women has no access to health or reproductive services. More than 70% of their children are malnourished.

5
About Asia, Cambodia

Funding education through tourism is at the heart of ABOUTAsia — it's the very reason they were founded. With the firm belief that luxury travel can simultaneously change the lives of the world's most and least fortunate, all of their profits are donated to ABOUTAsia Schools, which to date supports over 50,000 children across 108 Schools in Siem Reap through targeted educational programs. By choosing to travel with IY and ABOUTAsia you are already helping to make a difference.

4
Amal Non-Profit, Morocco

Amal Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to the empowerment of underserved women through restaurant training and job placement. Amal's ultimate goal is personal transformation through the development of job and life skills for their trainees to eventually achieve economic and social stability. Amal helps their graduates find jobs in restaurants, hotels, riads, or private homes that will allow them to become financially independent. Amal is a self-sustained social entity that strives to make positive changes in women's lives in Morocco.

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OutRight Action International

OutRight operates at the international, regional, and national levels to conduct research, document, defend, and promote human rights for LGBTIQ individuals worldwide. We work directly with human rights advocates, allies, and organizations to generate reliable data on the experiences of LGBTIQ individuals across the globe. Moreover, we offer support for research-based advocacy and capacity-building to further advance the human rights of LGBTIQ individuals everywhere.

3
Caravana Canina

Since 2015, Thread Caravan has been facilitating cultural art workshops in rural communities plagued by high street dog populations. Out of this initiative, Caravana Canina naturally emerged to address pressing community needs. With a focus on spaying and neutering as a long-term solution to combat neglect and abuse, the project has also provided crucial care such as feeding, vaccination, deworming, fostering, and adoption. Over 159 dogs have found new homes, 484 have undergone spaying and neutering procedures, and countless others have received essential care in Mexico.

 

"Thanks to International Yoga and their travelers we are helping our local people in the Peruvian mountains, especially our children. We were able to build a kindergarten so that they can have all the facilities like nice classrooms, toilets water tank, septic tank, fence and nice playground. We deliver school supplies as well as shoes every winter season. During this pandemic when schools were closed we were able to install an internet satellite so that our children can keep learning from home. Always thankful to Pachamama (Mother Nature) and to International Yoga."
- Valentin Baca