For August 24, our speaker was Tonja Lesmeister, founder and president of Traveling with A Purpose. Traveling with a Purpose is a local non-profit whose mission supports sustainable improvements at two community homes (orphanages) in Jamaica.
Tonja Lesmeister, TWP’s founder and president, emphasized the value that they’ve found in making repeated trips to the homes; coming back means that they become known to the homes’ residents. After starting small in 2008, TAP’s Jamaica trip in 2017 took 40 people from the US – not just local to our area – to Jamaica to work on various projects. In total, more than 100 people have traveled to Jamaica with TWP.
The organization’s current project focuses on solar power upgrading and expansion. With electricity being both expensive and unreliable in remote locations, solar represents a major opportunity for economy and reliability. Fundraising is focused on supporting improvements at both homes. More information is available at travelingwithapurpose.org.