Who?

• Frans Betgem

Where?

• Thailand

Which Initiative?

• Green Trails

What?

• Green Trails: 1-2-3-+4 day(s) trekking tours, trails and exploration tours with an emphasis on and respect for local culture
• Chiang Mai a la Carte: "umbrella" website about Chiang Mai with a focus on festivals, traditions, architecture, culture and meaningful encounters
• Tong Bai Elephant Tour: elephant friendly day tour about the issue of the involvement of captive elephants in tourism
• Chiang Mai on Three Wheels: Chiang Mai tours by samlor (bicycle taxi)

Something special?

• Chiang Mai on Three Wheels, a social tourism enterprise, aims to preserve the samlor, a Chiang Mai heritage, as a means of transportation in the future. With these samlor tours they try to improve the livelihood of the taxi drivers by offering them jobs and (extra) education. In the old days, before the age of the automobile, there were hundreds of samlors in Chiang Mai. Nowadays there are less than 70.
• Family Tours: these tours include trekking but also interactive and educational elements, with several trekking itineraries in the Chiang Dao area. This area is very suitable for family tours; there are lots of villages and lots of children.

And last but not least...a little insight in 'Why'

• Frans Betgem is a Dutch national who has been living in Chiang Mai for more than 20 years. Frans' travels brought him to Southeast Asia in 1987. In 1990 he started working for Baobab Travel as a tourleader in Thailand. Frans worked for this company in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and Australia from 1990 until 1998. In 2012 he started his own business in Chiang Mai, Tiger Trail, nowadays re-branded as Green Trails. Green Trails commit to offer the best and most innovative cultural, outdoor and trekking tours in North Thailand. Green Trails believes in sustainable and responsible travel and always tries to create meaningful experiences, both for visitors and for the host communities. 

Who?

• Roos Tieges
• Ingrid van der Straaten

Where?

• Thailand

Which Initiative?

• TCDF, Thai Child Development Foundation
• Eco-Logic, the 'Resort for Charity'

What?

• The Thai Child Development Foundation (TCDF) supports local children in their development by making sure that customized medical care and education is also available to underprivileged children and children with disabilities or learning disorders.
• Local Thai team members provide social support programs (medical care, education) together with daily life caregivers to underpriviledged children in their own village/community
• Other projects where TCDF team and local+international volunteers work hands-on: emergenct funds, physiotherapy, nutrition programs, scholarships, occupational training center and perma culture farm, community learning center

Something special?

• At TCDF they believe that the social outreach work can only be done well by working with local people who can develop a long-term bond of trust with the children and their caregivers through constant communication.
• TCDF take care of children in their own community, without taking them out of their homes and never longer than needed
• International and Thai volunteers open up the worlds of the children and the members of the forest community by sharing their (often unique!) skills and knowledge within the community learning center, yoga center and/ or on the organic farm.
• TCDF try to limit damage to the environment. They are strict in handling garbage, reusing garbage, and recycling.
• Eco-Logic, Resort for Charity with tourist accommodation, workshops, and tour packages, is on the same property of the Foundation. This sister company of TCDF is a Thai for profit company and is TCDF's main sponsor.

And last but not least...a little insight in 'Why'

TCDF is founded by a charitable Thai/Dutch family and has supported children in need on a direct and day to day base in Thailand since 2004. Ingrid van der Straaten has been TCDF’s full time volunteer and ambassador since the very beginning when she, and Rosalie decided to make a difference and dedicate their lives to this initiative! The other TCDF's directing founder, Rosalie Tieges, lives with her Thai family within walking distance of the Foundation; other Dutch board members live in Holland.The TCDF Community is a global network of people that believe in acting local and contributing to make a difference. The Thai board members are all people from the village including the village headman and active parents of children in the social programs.

Who?

• Ingrid (Ins) Lommers

Where?

• Panama and Costa Rica

Which initiative?

• Spanish at Locations

What?

• Spanish Language courses, accommodation, travel & outdoor activities, volunteering

Something special?

• Spanish courses at 5 locations: Enroll in spanish courses AND have the freedom to travel around. Five seamless schools allow you to choose your own adventure without losing academic continuity. Stay put in one place, pick your own path, or join the Travelling Spanish Classroom on a 4 week guided trip to experience true adventure-education.
• Camping at “Gekui Pacuare River Camp”, Turrialba: 2, 3 or 4 day rafting trip on the Pacuare. It can also be part of a hiking trip. Once at the campsite, you will sleep on elevated platforms that will put you in direct contact with the sights and sounds of the tropical rain forest. Extra possibility: candlelight family style dinners!
• Virtual Spanish Courses: Jumpstart or retain what you learned: length, location and topic of classes can be customized.

Read more

• Check Spanish at Locations CV & Profile
• Go to the website

And last but not least...a little insight in 'Why'

(by: Ingrid Lommers)

After deciding I had to be a business person, make money, buy and do everything I desired, I subsequently finished business school and took a job. I was only 20 years old and one day I looked out of the windows of the fancy office of the importer/exporter company of sports shoes where I was working at the time.  I stared at a pond with ducks floating and playing around and I was actually a bit of jealous of them. I thought “is this all, is this where I am going to be the rest of my life between 8 and 5 from Monday till Friday?”. So I decided to continue studying to prepare to do something other than selling shoes. I enrolled at the University of Amsterdam to study economical development with a specialization on Latin America. As a part of writing my thesis, I went for 10 months to Surinam and learned about development issues in third world countries.  Looking back, I think, that is when I developed my “fever for the tropics“.

In 1993, I got the opportunity to go to Costa Rica, to work on a project in development aid at the National University of Costa Rica. While my work gave me good experience in development, I lost my motivation to stay in that field. I found that I would be more satisfied to work on my own projects and be able to do something to create sustainable progress. As a result, I began to invest my time in various jobs in tourism, including becoming a raft and tour guide. The culture, language, nature and people of Costa Rica touched me deeply and I decided to stay longer.

While I worked as a raft and tour guide I met Fernando, native of Turrialba, Costa Rica and we started to work and live together. When our first daughter was born in 1997, I  began to study Spanish and work at different language schools in Costa Rica. In 1998 I had the opportunity to go to Bocas del Toro – Panama to set up a school for a company established in Costa Rica. In the beginning Bocas was not known by international tourists, but little by little, the school began to grow.

I had learned some limited Spanish while being a student in Salamanca in Spain,  where I developed a love for the language. Several years later I enrolled in a Spanish school in San Jose but at that time could not afford to continue my studies. As a result, I learned Spanish the hard way, while working at my various jobs. This experience is what gave birth to the dream of Spanish at Locations, making learning Spanish affordable.

Four years later, the birth of a school in Turrialba in Costa Rica fulfilled our dream to combine Spanish classes with river adventures on the Pacuare River. Fernando had been operating a river camp there for many years. His hobby, breeding horses, turned out to be useful when we started to organize our own horse ride trips in the surroundings of Turrialba. Three years later, we opened a third branch, this time in the highland town of Boquete, Panama. This school is also called “Spanish by the River” as the town of Boquete is located near Panama´s best white water. Six years later we started two additional schools, one in Panama City and the other in Puerto Viejo – Costa Rica. The creative skills and abilities of Fernando are on display at our campuses. Coincidentally, the ages of our three daughters match the ages of our first three schools. Our three daughters and our son have been our motivation to continually work hard, improve and enjoy the schools!

Although in recent years the relationship between Fernando and me has changed, we continue to be business partners and to share a common vision regarding Spanish at Locations. New people have joined us that don’t share our history but they are realizing their own dreams within this company. Without them it would definitely not be the same! Because of them, I was able to not only finish my Master Degree in Spanish as a foreign Language, but also to enjoy what I really like to do, teach Spanish. I am fortunate to be active in the beautiful surroundings of our schools and dedicate time to other important things in my life.

Who?

• Miriam Levie

Where?

• Málaga, Spain

Which initiative?

• TEFL-in-Spain, TEFL-in-Italy

What?

• TEFL courses on location and online TEFL courses, Teacher Development & Spanish or Italian courses

Something special?

• Trinity College London Certificate courses: The Trinity College London Certificate TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) is the highest TEFL qualification (same as the CELTA), validated by Trinity College London and recognised by the British Council and employers worldwide.
• Teacher development courses: specialist course modules to improve your teaching skills and to be able to teach to various target groups
• Career services: There is a big demand for English teachers in Spain and Italy. Compared to other European countries, the level of English is quite low, so Spanish and Italian people need to improve their English in order to find a good job in Italy or abroad.

And last but not least...a little insight in 'Why'

• Miriam, nowadays Director and Course Tutor, gained her first experience in teaching English as a foreign language when she came to Spain in January 2005 to study Spanish. Spanish people have a generally low level of foreign language skills and Miriam found out there was a big demand for English teachers. First, she started giving one-on-one classes and later Miriam was offered a job at a language school, followed by a position as an in-company English teacher. She enjoyed it so much that she realised teaching foreign languages was her true vocation. Miriam understands what students are going through, because she knows exactly what it is like to learn another language. After several years of teaching Miriam wanted to further develop her skills related to the theory and practice in the area of teaching English and decided to study again. She received a Master’s Degree in Applied Linguistics at the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid. In this programme she specialised in Second Language Acquisition and Teacher Training and decided to set up a high quality TEFL school with other experienced teacher trainers.