See the Work. Meet the People. Witness the Impact.

Purpose-built expeditions for Rotary clubs and donor groups who want direct access to the grassroots organizations they care about and support.

Why Somos Impact Travel for Donor Groups

For most donors and Rotary clubs, polished presentations tell part of the story. Traveling alongside the people doing the work tells the rest.

Somos Impact Travel builds expeditions for Rotary clubs and donor groups who want to connect directly with vetted grassroots organizations working on environmental conservation, community education, and cultural preservation in Central America. You participate as partners, working alongside local leaders, seeing projects in progress, and leaving with a clearer picture of where resources go and what they make possible.

Our partner organizations are experts. Your group comes to learn from them, support their work, and carry their story home. That framing shapes every interaction on the ground.

Group of people at historic arch in Antigua Guatemala

What Your Team Will Bring Home

The people your team works alongside in the field are some of the most effective problem solvers you will encounter anywhere. Their solutions are simple, low-cost, and outside the frame of reference of anyone trained in a corporate environment.

Employees show up differently when they know their company puts its values into action. What else comes home with them?

  • Perspective. Watching resource constraints solved with ingenuity resets how your team approaches problems back at the office.
  • Bonding. Working hard together far outside your comfort zone creates shared memory that lasts a lifetime.
  • Generosity. Before the expedition begins, your team fundraises for the partner organizations they will work with, using tools like GiveButter to raise awareness and contributions in their communities. 

 

What’s Included in a Somos Donor Expedition

Direct Partner Access

Your group meets the leaders of the organizations you support, on their terms, in their communities. No intermediaries. No curated presentations. Real conversations with the people building the programs.

Impact Verification

See projects at different stages of development. Walk reforestation sites. Visit clean water infrastructure. Meet the community members whose lives are shaped by the work your contributions make possible.

Hands-On Participation

Donor and Rotary groups do not simply observe. You roll up your sleeves. Tree planting, community visits, agricultural exchange, and infrastructure support are built into every program.

Safe and Seamless Logistics

All ground transportation, accommodation, meals as specified, professional bilingual guides, and 24/7 in-country support. We handle every detail so your group can focus on the experience.

Pre-Expedition Briefing Materials

Background on each partner organization, the issues they address, and the communities they serve, so your group arrives informed and ready to engage meaningfully.

Post-Expedition Documentation

A summary of the partner organizations visited, the projects your group contributed to, and the measurable outcomes your participation supported. Useful for club reports, foundation records, and donor communications.

Plan Your trip

Book a call with our team to begin planning your next School Impact Expedition.

Donor expedition Snapshots

Sample 9-Day Guatemala Itinerary

Day 1 – Arrival & welcome dinner in Antigua
Group arrives in Antigua, Guatemala's colonial capital. Welcome orientation covering the partner organizations, the communities you will visit, and the week ahead. Group dinner and first night in a boutique hotel.
Day 2 – Iximche to Lake Atitlan
Morning visit to Iximche, a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site and living cultural landmark. Context for the land rights and cultural resilience themes the team will encounter throughout the week. Afternoon transfer to Lake Atitlan and settle into Bambu Guest House.
Day 3 – Permaculture Principles and Wellkind Guatemala Introduction
Morning introduction to permaculture and regenerative agriculture systems with Wellkind Guatemala. Teams begin hands-on participation in soil restoration and agroforestry work alongside indigenous farmers. Evening debrief: what does sustainable land stewardship look like, and what does your company's environmental commitment look like in practice?
Day 4 – Wellkind Guatemala Full Partnership Day
Full day working alongside Wellkind Guatemala's community team on active conservation and reforestation projects. Physical, documented, measurable fieldwork. The day most corporate groups name as the defining moment of the expedition. Evening reflection session.
Day 5 – Quixaya Indigenous Farming Community
Visit to Quixaya, a Tz'utujil Maya village and working agricultural community. Direct conversation with indigenous farmers on land stewardship, food systems, and community governance. This is not a cultural tour. It is a peer-level exchange between professionals with different kinds of expertise.
Day 6 – San Juan La Laguna and Paddleboarding
Morning visit to San Juan La Laguna, home to a thriving natural pigment and weaving cooperative. Conversation with cooperative leaders on economic resilience, traditional knowledge systems, and community-led enterprise. Afternoon paddleboarding on Lake Atitlan.
Day 7 – Volcano hike and closing workshop
Morning hike of Volcan San Pedro or Volcan Indian Nose. Afternoon closing session: what did we see, what do we carry home, and how does what we witnessed connect to the funding decisions and advocacy work that follows the trip?
Day 8 – Return to Antigua and Pacaya Volcano Climb
Transfer back to Antigua. Optional afternoon climb of Pacaya, an active volcano accessible to all fitness levels. Final team dinner.
Day 9 – Departure
Transfer to Guatemala City international airport and departure.

Rotary programs can be structured to include global grant project site visits, TRL cookstove installations, medical supply delivery coordination, and other club-specific service components. Contact us to discuss what your club needs.

FAQ for Donor Groups

A standard site visit is arranged by the organization you are funding and designed to show you their best work. A Somos expedition is designed around your group's questions, your club's focus areas, and your need to understand the work on your own terms. You participate directly rather than observing from a distance. The conversations are unscripted. The access is genuine.

Yes. If your club has funded a specific project, we can build the program around a visit to that site with time for documentation, community conversation, and impact verification. We have done this with water system projects, reforestation programs, and community education initiatives. Bring us your priorities and we will build the itinerary around them.

Our partner organizations work across three areas:

Environmental Conservation: Reforestation, watershed restoration, regenerative agriculture, indigenous ecological knowledge, ocean and marine conservation

Community Education: Grassroots education access, youth mentorship, bilingual and indigenous language programs, women's empowerment

Cultural Rights and Inclusion: Indigenous language preservation, traditional knowledge systems, artisan cooperatives, land rights and community governance

Programs are matched to your group's existing priorities and funding relationships where possible.

Directly. Our partner organizations address Environment, Basic Education and Literacy, and Economic and Community Development, three of Rotary's seven Areas of Focus. Programs can be structured to document outcomes relevant to global grant reporting, and we work with clubs that are exploring new grant partnerships as well as those returning to verify existing ones.

Donor and Rotary expeditions typically run with 6 to 20 participants. Smaller groups allow for deeper access and more meaningful conversation with partner organization leaders. We can accommodate larger groups with advance planning.

Pricing for donor and Rotary expeditions is discussed on a discovery call based on group size, destination, duration, and the specific partner visits included. Contact us to start that conversation.

Yes, with the right operator. Somos has operated in Guatemala and across Latin America for 10+ years with 1,000+ travelers and zero safety incidents. All programs include professional bilingual guides certified in CPR and first aid, vetted transportation partners, 24/7 in-country emergency support, and detailed emergency action plans for every location we operate in. Full safety documentation is available on request.

Somos provides a post-expedition documentation summary covering the partner organizations visited, the projects your group contributed to, and the measurable outcomes your participation supported. For Rotary clubs, this can be formatted to support club reporting and committee presentations. For donor groups and foundations, it provides a record of direct engagement that supplements the organization's own impact reporting.

Next Steps

Every Somos expedition builds trust, deepens connection, and supports the long-term work of community-led organizations across Latin America.

If your club or donor group is ready to go beyond the annual report and see the work firsthand, let’s design something meaningful together.