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Changing the World on Vacation

Changing the World on Vacation chronicles the intimate struggle of a grassroots aid organization in Cambodia for sustainable development through Volun-tourism, the controversial new trend in the non-profit world that merges adventure travel and humanitarian aid work. We join international volunteer-travelers on a life-changing journey to one of the poorest countries in the world with the start-up NGO PEPY (Protect The Earth Protect Yourself) who offer volunteer vacations to the school they built for 540 children in a rural village. Over the course of one year the team members confront moral, personal and political potholes that stand in the way of doing aid work responsibly and face the problem of sustainability that is challenged by insufficient research, disloyal allegiances, corruption and cultural differences. From an initial enthusiasm about their ability to “change the world”, they discover what it really takes to make and sustain changes in development and end up changing themselves. The film contrasts the effects of PEPY’s mission for the local students and teachers, the volunteers and staff members, revealing an array of urgent perspectives in this exclusive look into the behind-the scenes politics of humanitarian aid and the subjectivity that motivates the goals, the conduct and mistakes of NGO's.

‘Changing the World on Vacation’ defies what we think we know about humanitarian aid efforts. It posts a challenge to the way NGOs perform, calls for imperative transparency in the non-profit world and will be a vital catalyst for discussions in households, classrooms, political and community forums worldwide. It exposes the moral complexity and boundaries of sustainability and will allow citizens and policymakers to re-think their social responsibility and individual potential to “make a difference”, and help to reformulate more effective strategies for lasting social and environmental changes in the future.

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