Dear Heart-filled Soul Sister,
If you are reading this letter, you ARE meant to be here. You are called to learn about something so transformational and so beautiful…that it will change your life forever.
You’re here because you:
- Share the dream of all the women of the earth coming together to help and support each other. You love this vision!
- Wonder what it would be like to go to a place completely different from home…connect with women from another world…share experiences together…and grow as you help them and they help you!
- Wonder how and where you could find such a life-changing, woman-to-woman experience.
Wonderful news…you found it!
This is your opportunity to transform yourself, your life, and the life of a beautiful sister…living in a village in Senegal, West Africa.
Hello, I’m Linda Rivero, founder of The Global Action Network of Entrepreneurial Women and Women Travel for Peace. Welcome to my mission!
You are most likely here because you are part of our ga’NEW community or a friend who knows your heart has sent you to this adventure.
Either way… something is calling you to do and BE more…
You’ve worked hard all year. You’re longing for a break — but not just an ordinary break. You’re longing for something new, different, exotic…and meaningful.
Something that will touch you.
Something that will change you.
Something that will connect you to a bigger, richer vision of yourself and your life.
Something that will give you the joy of giving back to this world that has given you so much.
Something that will make you feel in your soul the Global Sisterhood that is now emerging on our Planet!
This your chance to…
- Become a woman who really is changing the world…
- Live the travel adventure of a lifetime…
- Enrich your learning about our world and the women in it…
- Meet and travel with women who see the world like you do…
- Feed your soul while helping a sister-in-need…
- Deepen your connection to the Earth by learning from the ancient wisdom of your Senegalese sisters…
- Change your own life forever — for the enrichment of YOU and all those whose lives you touch….
The sun is still sleeping when Marie begins waking her children. First she strokes the soft forehead of Ami, her eldest girl, who, in turn, will rouse the younger ones and get them ready for a morning in the village classroom. Well, three of them, anyway. School fees cost one American dollar per year. Who can afford to send all seven to school? The three eldest will go.
Marie has already swept their thatched roof home and begun preparing a simple breakfast of rice and millet. One by one the little ones file in and take their place on the floor to feed their tummies, sitting together as they start their day.
Joy fills Marie’s heart as she sends three of her children off to the tiny village school. She is proud her children are learning to read and add, developing skills she never had. ‘They will be smart,’ she smiles to herself. ‘They will be able to eat and to live.’
Yet every day, without fail, Marie wishes briefly, wistfully, that she too could do what they are doing: learn to read.
Marie isn’t quite sure how many summers she’s seen; maybe 30? Maybe 35? Enough to be married for many of those summers and have brought seven children into this world. That’s about as precise as she can or cares to be. Age is not a question that fills her mind. Finding enough to eat, on the other hand, is.
This year, though, something magical is happening. Hope springs in her heart. She and other village women have heard that a group of women from the West are coming to the village…to help fulfill their greatest dream!
If all goes well, they tell each other, this year, after the rainy season, women will come from far away, and together with Marie and the other women, they will build a place where the village women will learn to read!
Imagine! Can this be true?! Can it really be…that at last Marie will learn to read…and be able to read with her own children?
Yes, God willing, yes. The Western women are good women. They will come, and they will help our dream come true.
It all started for me on a warm September day.
I sat in an audience of 500 buzzing with anticipation, waiting to hear the tales of four of the six living women who had won the Nobel Peace Prize. There they were, seated on stage: Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Jody Wiliams, Betty Williams…and a woman to read a letter to us from Shirin Ebadi who had not been permitted to leave her country of Iran.
They began to speak, and I was riveted. Within minutes, tears were streaming down my cheeks as I realized that these were women just like you and me.
These were ordinary, everyday women…who had done extraordinary things.
These women we so honored had seen an intolerable injustice, a wrong they could not live with…and they did something about it.
Then and there, in the middle of these extraordinary conversations, it hit me like a brick:
I will lead women’s trips to Africa where we will work side-by-side with rural women on community projects chosen by the local women—projects that will significantly improve the quality of their lives.
Period.
And so my company, Women Travel for Peace, was born.
At that moment I had no contacts in Africa. I did not know ONE person in Africa. I had never even been to sub-Saharan Africa!
Yet my mind was made up: I was going to work with women in Africa.
And so the miracles began to happen.
Within three months I received an email from two wonderful people in Senegal who found me online and contacted me, thinking there might be some synergy between us to create volunteer travel projects in rural Senegal.
One month later I was on a plane to Dakar from where I traveled to a rural part of the country, spending time with my new ‘partners,’ visiting their projects, getting to know villages, and totally falling in love with Senegal.
Six months later I returned to Senegal with four American women, and together we worked with village farming women to build their first-ever sturdy, permanent, concrete well.
We accomplished our mission. And the lives of these farming women were permanently improved.
And so were the lives of my sister travelers…as well as my own.
That’s how it all began.
“The experience touched and opened a deeper level of humanity within me. I cried on most days as I was so touched.”
This was a wonderful experience that touched and opened a deeper level of humanity within me. I felt so very connected with some of the women there and their rootedness to what I would call spirit and what really matters. We contributed to the women in terms of the well and they were so very thankful in so many ways. The experience touched and opened a deeper level of humanity within me. It also was ‘healing’ in some way on an emotional level. This is hard to explain. I felt at home there even more than I feel at home here. Without a doubt. I was so very touched by many of the people of Senegal that I long to go back. They hold within themselves something so very special that I can’t even describe but as you know I cried most days as I was so touched. I even get teary-eyed when I think and write about this.
-Patricia di Vecchio
One of my sister travelers to Senegal, Maria Sanchez, who joined us for the Senegal Women’s Well Project, said it best:
“In theory, the experience sounded altruistic, humanitarian, benevolent and kind. In reality, the experience gave me more than I gave and filled me with such gratitude that I never could have hoped for yet dreamed for.”
Answering the call to travel to a 3rd world country (my maiden voyage) to help make a difference in the lives of perfect strangers, enhanced by the fact that it would be women we were assisting, is one of the most liberating and gratifying experiences of my life. In theory, the experience sounded altruistic, humanitarian, benevolent and kind. In reality, the experience gave me more than I gave and filled me with such gratitude that I never could have hoped for yet dreamed for.
Women helping women is something that is fairly novel in today’s world. Especially when I was growing up, women were out to get one another. Cut you off at the pass before you could advance. Women were threatened by another woman’s success, nor did we have the ‘good ole woman’s network’ because of jealously.
So for women to be helping women and disadvantaged, challenged and 3rd world women was not only novel but the right thing to do. Pay it forward; help make this world a better place, give of oneself to better another. How can you argue with that?
Traveling to a desolate, impoverished, arid place and knowing that you will be spending your time with perfect strangers all the way around was also surreal in so many ways. Let me see, you’re spending money and time to go to a place on your own where you will know nobody, don’t speak the language, and are not spending your precious down time indulging yourself with hot rock massages or a simple beach town get-away reading leisurely and not adhering to any sort of schedule or routine because you do that in your ‘real’ life? Huh? Say that again? You can’t be serious!
And yes, that was the truth. And yet these five perfect strangers to one another that transcended four decades of generations not only managed to get along but became a family of sorts themselves. The five of us laughed and danced and ate and shared our life stories over the ten days we were together. We drank some wine with our dinners and told stories of lost loves and dreams fulfilled. We banded together in spite of political differences, religious differences, geography, race, age and occupation. I knew then and I know for sure now that this unique and novel experience would never occur again – ever!
-Maria Sanchez
They say that when the Student is ready, the Teacher appears…
…That when you are ready to embrace the next step in your journey, the path unfolds before you.
What is your next step?
Is this the path that’s unfolding for you?
Are you ready to live bigger…travel bigger…embrace bigger…and enrich your heart and soul forever — while working side-by-side with a Senegalese sister?
If you’re ready to step up to your next level of global, woman-to-woman existence…
then I invite you to apply for your place on our Senegal: Women’s Literacy Center Project right here.
“I left Senegal with a new appreciation for my time, my views and my life. I discovered that in essence we are all the same, looking to help our village.”
My trip to Senegal was an eye-opening experience. I have traveled to many third world countries, but as a storyteller, this trip in particular will always hold a place dear to my heart. The opportunity to reconnect with myself by leaving the hustle-and-bustle of day-to-day life in America was important to me. Meeting women from another culture was also very appealing to me. I discovered that in essence we are all the same, looking to help our village.
I left Senegal with a new appreciation for my time, my views and my life. Since the trip, my head has been clearer — it’s been easier for me to come up with fresh ideas and inspiration.
- Chhayal Mehta
You depart for Senegal, West Africa
You’ll arrive at the Léopold Sédor Senghor International Airport in Dakar, the capital of Senegal. Here you will clear customs and immigration. I will be at the airport to greet you as you exit, accompanied by our local escort. We’ll whisk you to your hotel and help you settle in.
Dakar, a bustling, vibrant city of about 2.5 million people, offers a comfortable transition from the Western World to Africa. We’ll spend two nights in an air-conditioned, atmospheric and welcoming hotel in the lovely coastal area of Les Almadies, not far from the airport.
After a day of relaxing from your journey, we’ll enjoy our first Senegalese dinner together.
Today our local escort will accompany us as we visit one of Dakar’s most important and gripping sites: the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Île de Gorée (Gorée Island). Île de Gorée was one of Africa’s main points of deportation during the infamous, nearly 300 year-long slave trade. A visit here is unforgettable.
Time permitting, we’ll also visit the IFAN Museum of African Arts, one of the oldest art museums in West Africa. The IFAN Museum, housing an extensive collection of art and artifacts from across French-speaking West Africa, will deepen your initial experience of Senegal.
This morning we fly from Dakar to Ziguinchor, capital of the southern tropical region of Casamance. You’ll be met by my warm and endearing colleagues who will be with us for most of our Senegal stay.
First we’ll settle in at the lovely, cozy Hotel Le Flamboyant, our home for 9 nights in Ziguinchor. After our lunch together, you’ll have time to relax — or to stroll, if you prefer — before enjoying a private dinner prepared especially for us by our own chef.
This morning we’ll tour Ziguinchor, including a stop at the St. Maur Market where you’ll feel the vibrance of a Senegalese street market, followed by a hearty lunch of typical Senegalese cuisine.
After lunch we’ll make our first visit to the village of Kaguit where we will work with the local women on our Women’s Literacy Project! You’ll meet the women and see the progress of our project.
Prepare yourself for an intense and joyful reception!
In the evening we’ll return to Ziguinchor for a lovely dinner.
After an early breakfast, we’ll leave for Marsassoum, the village of our last mission, the Women Travel for Peace: Senegal Well-Building Project. Meet the women of the village and see the (beautiful!) well built by our last women’s group.
You can view a short mini-documentary of our project here: http://www.ganew-connect.com/media/videos/.
We’ll return to Ziguinchor in the afternoon and freshen up before a lovely dinner together.
This morning we’ll enjoy a delightful excursion on the beautiful Casamance River in a pirogue, a type of dugout canoe typical of Senegal.
Highlights:
- Birds’ Island, a beautiful spot populated by many exotic species of birds
- Visit Djilapao and Affiniam, rustic villages along the river
- Lunch in one of the villages we visit.
In the afternoon we return to Ziguinchor for a relaxing evening and another wonderful dinner.
On these mornings, we return to Kaguit to help complete the Women’s Literacy Center, the mission of our trip. Working side-by-side with the village women for whom this Center is being built, we’ll put the finishing touches on our project.
When you arrive for our last day in Kaguit, you’ll be greeted by an explosion of welcome and joy such as you have never experienced before!
Together with the women, men and children of the village, as well as representatives of our last mission in Marsassoum, we’ll celebrate the completion of this long awaited Center of Learning for the village women.
Today you’ll live one of the most exhilarating experiences of your life. No exaggeration.
Cap Skirring is a beautiful spot on the Atlantic Coast of the Casamance — so beautiful, in fact, that Club Med has opened one of its resorts here. We’ll spend the day relaxing and reflecting on our experience under coconut palms.
We return to Ziguinchor in the evening for another lovely dinner.
A visit to Senegal is not complete without the opportunity to do some shopping of handmade works of art. Ziguinchor’s artesan market is esteemed for its stunning jewelry, decorative crafts, and other objets d’art.
In the evening we return to Ziguinchor for private farewell dinner prepared especially us by our own skilled and irresistibly charming chef.
Our new Senegalese friends will join us for a beautiful evening.
Today we say our sad good-byes to the friends we’ve made in Ziguinchor before flying back to Dakar and our return flights home.
Note: As most flights from Dakar toward the West depart in the evening, you’ll be able to return this same day. We will, however, have a few rooms in the hotel so you have a place to rest before the journey home.
Bon Voyage!
With over ten years’ experience in planning unique and outstanding trips for adventurous travelers, I know what I want for you when you’re abroad!
I want you to have all the tools you need to feel comfortable, safe, and at home in your new surroundings.
This begins with answers to all your asked and not-yet-asked questions on practical information: itinerary, travel arrangements (although we do not make travel arrangements for you, we do work with an experienced travel agent), visas, immunizations, packing, weather, and other tips and suggestions.
I also make sure you have the knowledge and tools you need to adjust in your new environment. After all, Senegal is a very different world!
Because I don’t want you to spend the first week of your stay ‘getting your sea legs,’ ga’NEW ADVENTURE QUEST includes four 90-minute group lessons in the languages of your destination: French and Wolof, the national language of Senegal — before departure! These are online webinar classes.
But it isn’t only the language and culture you’ll benefit from. You’ll also get to know your sister travelers at the same time! You’ll be learning, questioning, and practicing together, bonding joyfully as women embarking together on a shared, exhilarating adventure!
Once you’re in Senegal, of course, I’ll be with you every step of the way.
You’ll also enjoy the assistance and companionship of my team of local colleagues and guides who will make your trip come alive with comfort and joy.
“I will always be grateful to a cluster of village women in Marsassoum for the warmth and gaiety with which they had welcomed us to southern Senegal, and, in the end, for stretching my mind and enriching my heart.”
I don’t see how anybody could have been more dedicated than Linda, or more conscientious in the planning. Linda is clearly at the top of her game, and our little group coalesced around her: She was the magnet that had drawn us to Senegal and would bring us together.
I will always be grateful to a cluster of village women in Marsassoum for the warmth and gaiety with which they had welcomed us to southern Senegal, and, in the end, for stretching my mind and enriching my heart.
-Celia Morris
“The accommodations were spectacular and our hosts/guides/escorts were extraordinary in every way.”
Linda was the most gracious, kind, considerate, thoughtful hostess extraordinaire. She handled and facilitated everything that had to do with our time upon arrival in Dakar. The accommodations were spectacular and our hosts/guides/escorts were extraordinary in every way.
-Maria Sanchez
“Upon my arrival at the airport, Linda was waiting for me. I felt safe and taken care of.”
I applaud Women Travel for Peace for great organization, efficiency and proactive thinking. Well before I started planning for the trip Linda informed me of required shots, travel ideas and led language classes that would help me immerse myself in the new environment. Upon my arrival at the airport, Linda was waiting for me. I felt safe and taken care of. The accommodations throughout the trip were clean and spacious.
-Chhayal Mehta
Are you ready to take the plunge and change your life and you change the life of others?
Are you ready to take the advice of Senegal traveler Maria Sanchez? In Maria’s words:
“Please make the decision to not only transform your life experience but to change the destiny of others!”
Here is the important information you need — PLUS your BONUS ITEMS!
1. This once-in-a-lifetime trip is available by application only.
This glorious experience will change your life in beautiful ways you cannot yet imagine.
If you feel called to join us on this transformative travel adventure, I invite you to complete the ga’NEW Travel Application now. (We reward you for fast action!)
Access your ga’NEW TRAVEL APPLICATION HERE.
2. This once-in-a-lifetime trip is limited to ONLY TEN TRAVELERS.
Our trip is an intimate experience, as is typical of the group travel I’ve designed for many years. To preserve the intimacy of our travel and cross-cultural connections, no more than ten travelers will accompany me and my video journalist to Senegal.
The trip will proceed with a minimum of four travelers.
3. The cost of the trip is $4,980 plus airfare.
Take advantage of our convenient Payment Plans and Discount! All the info is below.
Your Tour cost includes all expenses in your itinerary:
- All transportation and transfers in Senegal, including flights between Dakar and Ziguinchor
- Three meals each day: breakfast, lunch and dinner
- All hotel accommodations throughout the trip in single occupancy rooms with private bath
- Round-the-clock, English- and French-speaking escort
- Local guides and translators every day, everywhere
- Your contribution and participation in the Women’s Literacy Center of Kauit, Senegal! Your trip will make this dream come true for your Senegalese Sisters!
Your cost does not include alcoholic beverages, personal purchases, sundries, personal excursions, or any items not included in the itinerary.
But that’s not all. I have 4 amazing, game-changing bonuses for you!
BONUS No. 1: BRING-A-FRIEND DISCOUNT — SAVE $1,245!
Would you like to travel with a friend? Great – we want you both! Join our volunteer travel adventure, and your friend will be welcomed to our exclusive group of adventurous women for 25% off the tour price! That’s a savings of $1,245!
BONUS No. 2: PRE-TRAVEL COMFORT PROGRAM
Before we travel, you’ll enjoy four 90-minute online group lessons in language and culture – all included in your tour price! You’ll arrive in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, with:
- French basics under your belt
- A variety of greetings and courtesies in Wolof, the national language of Senegal
- AND greetings and courtesies in the language of our village!
- Plus the cultural tips, do’s, and don’t's to make you feel comfortable and at ease when you meet new people…
- And a warm connection to your sister travelers after going through our language & culture preparation together! When you meet in Dakar, you’ll feel like you’re meeting friends, embarking on an adventure of a lifetime together – and you will be!
BONUS No. 3: NEW! POST-TRAVEL ‘WHAT’S NEXT FOR ME?’ PROGRAM
When you return from this powerful travel experience, I know you’ll be thinking, feeling, and seeing the world differently. I’ve seen it again and again: once you really change someone’s life, you feel them change your own.
The big question then is: What Do I Do Now?
We’ve created a special opportunity – for Senegal travelers only – for you to explore ways you can continue your good works once you return home – whether that’s in your community, or around the world.
I will include 3 months of individual and group coaching that will:
- give you lots and lots of ideas about how to continue to build on the passion you’ve been feeling as a result of this amazing travel experience
- help you identify what you would like to do next with your excitement and drive you’ve gotten in touch with (Believe me, you will return home feeling passionately about helping others!)
- help you create a plan to get going on your path
- support you in answering any questions you may have about implementing your plan
- include group support of our fabulous group of women you’ve come to know so well, and…
- include individual sessionswith me, personally.
As you may know, I’ve been living cross-culturally all my life and began my first international, cross-cultural enterprise more than 20 years ago.
I’ll share all I’ve learned with you so that when you come home, you can continue to build on the excitement and giving you’ve been living in a direction that fits you.
And you’ll have your traveling sisters to support you, too.
Your life will never be the same!
BONUS No. 4: FREE ga’NEW STAR MEMBERSHIP!
Your participation in Adventure Quest: Senegal 2012 INCLUDES ONE YEAR FULL STAR MEMBERSHIP in the Global Action Network of Entrepreneurial Women. You’ll receive ALL the benefits and discounts of a full ga’NEW Star Member at NO additional cost for one full year!
PAYMENT PLANS
We want this experience to be glorious and stress-free for you. Take advantage of one of these convenient payment options:
- Option 1: Pay in full and guarantee your place in the group of ONLY 10 WOMEN. Total: $4,980
- **Remember: Travel with a friend, and she’ll save 25% off the tour price: That’s a savings of $1,245!
- Option 2: Hold your place with $500 deposit and pay the balance over the next 4 months.
Total: $5,000
- Your place will be held until November 7, 2011.
- On November 7 you will be charged $1,125 toward your trip total.
- On the 1st of the following three months, December through February, you will be charged $1,125 each month for the total trip cost.
- If you are entitled to a discount, the discounted amount will be deducted from your payment on November 7, 2011 and the remaining portion on December 7.
- **Remember: This payment plan allows you to pay while you are already on the trip! This is NOT standard practice, but I want to help make this possible for you!
You will find complete Terms and Conditions on the ga’NEW TRAVEL APPLICATION.
NOW…you KNOW this is your time to…
- Become a woman who really is changing the world…
- Live the travel adventure of a lifetime…
- Enrich your learning about our world and the women in it…
- Meet and travel with women who see the world like you do…
- Feed your soul while helping a sister-in-need…
- Deepen your connection to the Earth by learning from the ancient wisdom of your Senegalese sisters…
- Change your own life forever — for the enrichment of YOU and all those whose lives you touch?
APPLY NOW.
In peace and love,
Linda Rivero
Founder & CEO
Global Action Network of Entrepreneurial Women LLC
Women Travel for Peace
P.S. If this adventure is calling to you, take advantage of the BRING-A-FRIEND DISCOUNT and SAVE $1,245! Apply today!
P.P.S. Remember: You’ll have fun and learn languages and culture together with your sister travelers in our group PRE-TRAVEL COMFORT Program!
P.P.P.S. And when you come back home, I won’t leave you high and dry! Our post-travel ‘WHAT’S NEXT FOR ME?’ Program will give you THREE MONTHS of support and guidance in clarifying how you want to channel your renewed passion for living and giving — with both group and private coaching with me!
P.P.P.P.S. Enjoy FULL Star Membership Benefits for one year FREE when your travel application is accepted and you join us for the experience of a lifetime in Senegal this January 2012!
Most importantly, Ask yourself: ‘Am I ready to become a woman who really is changing the world?’ If the answer is YES!, then you owe it to yourself – and to the WORLD! – to apply for this trip today by clicking here!