Keystone Adventures excels in organizing trips which are focused on (Chinese) culture and/or community service. (Of course, these elements can also be incorporated into our outdoor education and residential programs, too). At the heart of our service learning projects are the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [“17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”: https://sdgs.un.org/goals], which “recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.”

We make a genuine effort to plan and carry out genuine service projects, which are sustainable and satisfy a genuine local need. We don’t have a one-size-fits all approach to service, and all of our projects are tailored to the locations and communities that we work with. We don’t facilitate “pay-to-play” service projects, which means that we don’t pay fees to corrupt administrators in local schools and other charities in exchange for access to communities in need. That doesn’t mean that the communities don’t enjoy an economic benefit of our work, but rather that the benefits accrue directly to communities rather than corrupt individuals in positions of power.

KA can facilitate service projects which enable students to engage with local populations in need. Specific projects include school visits, home restoration/renovation, rural beautification projects and litter removal, tree planting, farming, and more. Past projects have involved maintaining trails in rural Zhejiang, renovating a community center in the tea fields of rural Fujian, cleaning up secluded beaches on tropical Hainan Island, and more. Many of these projects are ongoing, which means that we can build lasting relationships with the communities that we are working to assist.