Sometimes the problems of the world seem overwhelm-ing: 2 million people die each year from AIDS, another million from malaria, 1.8 million from tuberculosis. Many more millions are living with these diseases. Newly infected people roughly equal the number of the dead. It’s all too much, we think. What can one person achieve?
A life. You can save a life.
Massive Good, an initiative facilitated by Amadeus, Sabre, Travelport, Mondial Assistance and the World Travel & Tourism Council, makes it easy.
Amadeus developed the technology that made it possible for a customer to click on a little box after booking a trip online. That click delivers a $2 micro-donation to Massive Good. Travel agents booking through the GDSs can ask customers whether they would like to donate. The process takes about 35 seconds.
The donation is less than what you would pay for a single espresso in steamed 2% milk, lightly topped with foam. The money goes to Unitaid, administered by the World Health Organization. But there are lots of other organizations lending support: the Millennium Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the William J. Clinton Foundation. President Bill Clinton touted the program in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
American Express Business Travel, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Voyageurs du Monde and the Global Business Coalition on HIV/Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria also are participating, and since the launch, Travelocity, Accor, the American Society of Travel Agents, the Travel Corp. and BCD Travel have pledged their support.
What can a click do?
One click buys treatment for two children with malaria. Five clicks will buy a sleeping net that not only keeps mosquitoes out, it is treated with a substance that kills them. A dozen clicks will cure one adult, perhaps someone’s Mom or Dad, of TB, while 25 clicks will treat a child with AIDS for a year.
This is a fantastic opportunity for people to make a difference while they are doing something they love: buying travel.
Kay Urban, chief executive officer of Amadeus Americas, is passionate about Massive Good (that's Kay in the photo, making her first donation). She believes this is a chance for the travel industry to come together and show its stuff. To join the effort, visit www.massivegood.org.
Some travelers see only the “sights;” others see the world, in all its glory and all its pain. Massive Good is using technology in the best way possible: to make it easy to save lives. And when it’s this easy, how can you not?
No comments:
Post a Comment