The Power of Forgiveness: YVR’s Escapes.ca Raises Funds to Empower Rwandan Women

Vancouver-based retailer Escapes.ca is raising funds this month for an inspiring project that promotes the economic empowerment of Rwandan women through land ownership and sustainable cooperative farming. 

It’s a passion project for Chris Rollinson, co-president and general manager of the successful travel agency that has been selling online since the early days of the Internet in 2001.

Rollinson learned about the initiative in 2023, when Giles Duley was invited to Ensemble Travel Group’s Horizons Conference to speak about his Legacy of War Foundation (LoWF). Duley is a photographer focused on documenting the impacts of war on the people caught in conflicts around the world. 

In 2011, while working in Afghanistan, Duley was severely injured by an IED. As a result of his injuries he is a triple-amputee. Despite that, he has proved to be an unstoppable force. By 2012 he was back in Afghanistan, once again capturing powerful, evocative images.

In 2017 the Sunday Times included Duley in its ‘Alternative Rich List,’ for those who are “rich in experience, rich in spirit, rich in life….” In the list, Natasha Kaplinsky said of him: “Even catastrophic injury has not stopped him doing what he feels he should be doing with his life.”

After hearing Duley speak, a very moved Rollinson donated $10,000 to LoWF. But he was also intrigued by Duley’s description of a new project dubbed Land for Women. The goal of the project is to help Rwandan women to empower themselves and gain financial independence by purchasing land on which they can form farming cooperatives. 

Duley promised that if enough money was raised by Ensemble, he would return to the conference in 2024 with Olive Musetsamfura, a Rwandan genocide survivor who inspired the Land for Women project.

In 2023, donations from Ensemble members and matching funds from Navigatr Group, enabled LoWF to establish the Heza Musha (“Better Future”) farm. Now, efforts are underway to fundraise $300,000 for two new farms, with over $200,000 raised to date from a silent auction, Ensemble member donations, and Navigatr Group matching funds. Every Land for Women farm has the potential to permanently lift 100 women and their families out of poverty.

Last September, Duley was true to his word, and Musetsamfura left Rwanda for the first time, travelling to Las Vegas to speak at Ensemble Horizons. As she told her story, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house – just as it was when Duley spoke the year before — and Ensemble members from across Canada and the U.S. opened their wallets. Rollinson donated another $10,000 on behalf of Escapes.ca, but wanted to do more.

“To hear Olive speak about what she had overcome was incredible. I wanted to bring it back to my office and tell the story to other people,” Rollinson told Travel Market Report Canada at the TMP Vancouver event.  

It was decided that throughout the month of February, Escapes.ca will donate $3 from every booking to the Land for Women campaign. Originally, Rollinson said the plan was to donate from online bookings only, but Escapes.ca advisors were so excited about the project that the donation was added to their bookings as well.

In addition, Escapes.ca is matching all donations generated through bookings during the month, up to a maximum of $5,000. Amplifying the impact even further, Navigatr Group, parent company of Ensemble, will also match all donations collected by Escapes.ca. 

The campaign is being featured across several social media networks, including Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, to raise awareness and encourage participation.

“After hearing Giles Duley and Olive Musetsamfura’s incredible story at Ensemble’s Horizons event, I was profoundly inspired. It takes a true hero to realize that the path forward is forgiveness,” Rollinson said. “Supporting this initiative is a natural fit for Escapes.ca and a way to make a lasting impact on the lives of these women and their families.”

“We are incredibly grateful to see Escapes.ca embrace the spirit of Ensemble’s Land for Women initiative with this impactful fundraising campaign,” said Ensemble president Michael Johnson. 

“Their commitment to supporting Land for Women demonstrates the profound difference our members can make when we come together to create positive change. This campaign not only reflects the values of our company and our members but also underscores the transformative power of travel as a force for good.”

Rollinson will have the opportunity to see how the program has transformed the lives of these women and their families in person when he participates in an Ensemble hosted trip to Rwanda this summer for the top fundraisers for this project.

You can find out more about the fundraising campaign, the Legacy of War Foundation and the Land for Women project here.