Following the success of its recent #BeTogether global video campaign, Intrepid Travel has launched a unique Pen Pal Programme in the UK and Ireland to help stay connected to our agent partners in lockdown, whilst supporting girls in Morocco associated with Education For All (EFA), a charity backed by The Intrepid Foundation, who have been equally affected by COVID-19.
The Intrepid Pen Pal Programme is designed to connect kids of agents in the UK and Ireland with girls from EFA in Morocco, and children of staff working for Intrepid Operations (Peak DMCs) in destinations as far flung as Myanmar, Egypt, Croatia and Peru. The scheme encourages kids aged between 6 and 18 years old, to make new friends by swapping online letters with each other, learn about different cultures, and discover how other countries are dealing with the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Since 2018, The Intrepid Foundation has raised over £115,000 for EFA. The charity currently ensures over 90 girls from remote villages in the High Atlas region of Morocco can continue their education. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the impact of lockdown, many girls have been unable to attend school. In response, EFA has raised nearly £5,000, including contributions from fundraising efforts on behalf of some Intrepid staff, to provide girls with essential IT equipment such as laptop tablets and internet connection so they can continue their studies. During this time, the Intrepid team in Morocco have been instrumental in organising the ground logistics to deliver the equipment to girls, some of whom are based in remote parts of the country, a task which has proven even more challenging since the country went into lockdown.
Of the Pen Pal Programme, Managing Director for EMEA, Zina Bencheikh, said: “During these challenging times, we wanted to show our support to our agent friends, many of whom we know are working under demanding and high-pressure circumstances, as well as those affected in other ways by the pandemic, like many girls in Morocco.
“By launching the Intrepid Pen Pal Programme, our hope is that we can continue to stay connected even in isolation, and regardless of our geographical or economic circumstances. We want to create some positivity in the current climate by engaging with our agents and community partners through unique and light-hearted activities like the Pen Pal Programme that resonate in these difficult times and hopefully that suit individual, as well as business needs.”
