During the summer of 2009, I travelled to Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Egypt. Before my travels, I had been raising awareness and funds locally in Canada for Palestinian refugees who were forced out of Iraq due to the war and were currently trapped in a "no man's land" between Syria and Iraq. I was volunteering with several faith-based groups in Vancouver and my travel gave me a great opportunity to discuss the relocation...
My travels to South America in 2010 took me to Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. All my travels have two major components to it - it must include a major hike/trek which I did by visiting Machu Picchu and hiking the Inca Trail. The second component is to volunteer with a local, grassroots level project that gives something back to the local community. As such, when visiting Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, I made it a point to visit and live...
Update: Thank you for your generous donations - $19,200 raised for Africa famine through Climbing for Kilimanjaro! At 5,895 metres, Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa and the world’s highest free standing. On October 29, 2011, I climbed the mountain to raise money for African famine relief. One hundred percent of donations went to Islamic Relief, a global humanitarian organization based in the U.K. with offices in Canada and the...
As someone who's travelled to 56 plus countries, I often get asked about my favourite place. Cinque Terre in Italy easily takes a top 3 spot. However, aside from the amazing scenery and friendly locals, another thing made this trip very memorable. Having visited this collection of 5 coastal villages in April 2014, I was made aware of the devastating floods that had hit this area 3 years ago. I met some locals who introduced me to some...
The Syrian conflict, now in its fifth year, has cost more than 200,000 lives and displaced 6.5 million refugees. The U.N. and Amnesty International call the crisis the worst since WWII, making it the worst humanitarian disaster of our era. Two years ago I left Vancouver for Istanbul, Turkey, to help with humanitarian efforts within the Turkish-Syrian border and Istanbul itself. Working with local, grassroots organizations, I was involved in the...
As a community that thrives on the outdoors and what nature has to offer, we're reminded of its wrath and power in times like these. Affecting an area hundred times the size of Calgary, the fire has reached such epic proportions that no amount of resources, money, infrastructure or oil can stop it, except one thing: rain. Closer to home, yes we're in the longest stretch of sunny days so far this year, but keep in mind that wildfires have...
Besides the obvious - our love for the outdoors - we're a community first and foremost! Which includes friends and family, students and professionals, travelers and locals. Bringing people together is our motto, but we also like to give back. One of the main goals of Nature PhotoHikes events is to raise awareness and funds for various causes that reflect our vision. Starting next month and continuing through the summer, my charity of choice...
Update: We raised $650 in 2016 and similar amount in 2013. In addition, our hiking community has volunteered once a month to feed the homeless for the past 12 years. Volunteers for the homeless of DTES We start our hiking and charity program locally through Feed the Hungry/Peace Meal project. Peace Meal has continuously served lunch once a month in the downtown east side since April 2005. Each month we prepare 250 nutritious, home-cooked...
Update: Donations were matched by the Canadian government till September 28th, 2017. We raised $400 which was doubled, so a total of $800 was donated! As Nature PhotoHikes continues to contribute part of its proceeds to various causes, our next project is helping Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. The conflict in Myanmar has forced over 415,000 Rohingya people to flee their homes to Bangladesh forming a new humanitarian crisis. Children, women...
In keeping with Nature PhotoHikes' mission to give back to the local community, our next charity of choice is Dogwood BC, a people-powered organization driven by a shared love of place, in this case our beautiful province of British Columbia. Dogwood brings together voters from all over the political spectrum to work on the urgent challenges facing BC. Our most recent challenge is the protection of our land, water and environment against...
