SB: The obverse of Casas que Cantan ?

[Rob Tom <ArchiLogic@yahoo.ca>]

When I read the piece appended below, it rubbed me the wrong way.
The operation struck me as being opportunistic(and not in a good 
way) and an attempt at Greenwashing, probably largely because of 
my knowledge of what Athena and Beel Steen and the members of 
this List have accomplished with the Casas que Cantan initiatives in 
the past. (see www.caneloproject.com , "Mexico work")

Upon looking at the article a  second time, I had to wonder if my first 
impression may have been off-base and more than a little bit weenie-
ish. In any case, it's offered here for your perusal:

 === SCANNED & SPELL-CHUCKED MATERIAL====
Ottawa Citizen   September 28, 2002 Page E18

BUILD A BETTER HOLIDAY

Ottawa man starts “development  tourism” project.

By Jennifer Campbell   

An Ottawa man wants to offer a different kind of travel experience. 
Ron Stone is launching what he calls a “development tourism” project. 
For a fee, tourists can spend eight days in a sunny, southern 
destination, building a straw-bale home for some of Nicaragua’s less 
fortunate inhabitants. You can learn how to build healthy, ecological 
and economic homes- in a sunny climate during some of Canada’s 
coldest months.

“Sustainable tourism is about incorporating tourism onto developing 
countries in a way that it’s not harmful to the country and so it can be 
used to sustain revenues” says Stone, who calls his non-profit 
foundation The Pangea Foundation.

“Development tourism takes that one step further –it means getting 
tourists directly involved in a development activity on a short-term 
basis”.

It builds on the increasingly popular idea of adding an adventure to a 
vacation.

“These days, everyone wants a little more than the beach” says 
Manuel Alves, general manager at Iberica Travel.

Stone, a computer consultant in his day job, is  starting to work with 
area travel agents but for now, interested adventurers should check 
his Web site at
http://members.rogers.com/stoneis/ .

The cost of an eight-day adventure is about $1900. That includes 
accommodation in a Nicaraguan beach town, breakfast and lunch 
every day and the workshop fee. Stone leaves dinner up to the 
tourists, so they can feed some money directly into the local economy. 
Field trips-one ocean sail and a volcano excursion- are also included, 
but airfare isn’t.
[snip]
 === END OF SCANNED & SPELL-CHUCKED MATERIAL==
      ~~~ * ~~~
         Rob Tom
  Kanata, Ontario, Canada
<ArchiLogic@CHAFFyahoo.ca>
(winnow the "chaff" from my edress in your reply)

Please visit http://www.theHungerSite.com daily
 




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