My Nonprofit Reviews

Just recently returned home from traveling in Peru with Local Hope / Xela Aid. This was my 2nd journey with them, the first being a service trip to Guatemala in 2018. We visited Cusco, Machu Picchu, and the Amazon, and it was the trip of a lifetime! Leslie and Mel did an excellent job of planning our itinerary, and found a superb local guide, Fidelus Coraza Morveli, of Peru Ancestral, to accompany us. Travel during the pandemic provides both challenges and rewards, and Peru’s tourism industry has suffered a great deal lately. I was extremely impressed with the Peruvian people, who were extremely compliant with masking and sanitizing guidelines, while always behaving in a warm and welcoming manner. Everyone with whom we interacted, from hotel and restaurant staff, shopkeepers and street merchants, to locals who shared their stories and talents with us, all expressed their gratitude for our visit in these challenging times. We had the privilege of delivering some basic school supplies to children in the highlands who had been unable to access even paper and pencils due to the pandemic. The opportunity to visit and talk with the children and their community leaders truly enhanced our global understanding of the challenges that the pandemic has brought to our world. Our time in the Amazon was spent at a lodge run by another nonprofit, Angels of the Amazon. In addition to the very thrilling ( but safe) canopy zip line, jungle hikes with animal sightings and piranha fishing, we had the unique opportunity to see another nonprofit in action. We toured their medical clinic, shopped at their basket weaving cooperative, enjoyed a presentation by a biologist whose research they sponsored, and enjoyed the expertise of the lodge’s guides in all of our activities. Throughout the trip, Leslie, Mel, and Fidelus all consistently flexed our plans when necessary, kept us all informed as plans evolved, and were continuously responsive to everyone’s welfare. The trip was made even more meaningful as a result of their very competent leadership and their unique point of view as a nonprofit. Any travel with Local Hope / Xela Aid will definitely change your life and your view of the world, and in turn, better enable you to make a positive change as well!

The Xela Aid trip to Guatemala was definitely one of the best vacations of a lifetime! If you are looking for an opportunity to learn, experience, serve, and give and receive love, a Xela Aid trip is the perfect answer. The schedule is extremely well organized, yet flexible when needed. The trip leaders build the group into a team very quickly, while carefully attending to everyone’s individual needs. Our lodgings and transportation were all top notch, with local guides at each sightseeing stop so that we could get the most from each experience. We visited art and anthropology museums in Mexico City, then the colonial capital of Guatemala, Antigua, followed by the ruins of the Mayan capital. Next came our service days, which seemed more like fun than work. The Guatemalan people are so warm and friendly that our time there felt like a cultural immersion. The opportunities to interact through interpreters are many of my most treasured memories, and the chance to meet the young girl who I have the privilege to sponsor was an absolutely amazing experience. I only wished that the trip could be longer so that we could spend more time getting to know the many people whose lives are being changed for the better by Xela Aid! Our time in beautiful Guatemala concluded with a relaxing visit to Lake Atitlan, where the recreational choices were sure to appeal to all tastes, and our final group dinner was the occasion for many happy tears. Although it was called a service trip, I know that I received far more than I gave, and I would be ready and willing to do it again, hopefully soon!