The instructors, staff, and leadership team of Inspiring Girls Expeditions has met to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our summer expeditions. Unfortunately, we are heartbroken to announce that we are canceling all of our expeditions for 2020. This was an incredibly difficult decision to make, and we realize that it will be very disappointing for our applicants - it is for us, too.
Our reasons for canceling the expeditions are several. First, many of our partner institutions currently have restrictions on travel, group size, and social distancing that if extended into the summer will prohibit us from running expeditions. In many places, 14-day mandatory self-quarantines are in place for both the beginning and end of travel. While many of these requirements are set to expire in late spring, we are assuming that some, if not all, will be extended into the summer.
We are also aware that our expedition format - 12 days in the wilderness with limited contact with the outside world - could pose risks to our participants and instructors. In wilderness environments, we are careful with hygiene and manage many types of risk, but the coronavirus is bringing us more challenges. Specifically, physical distancing, appropriate hygiene such as regular handwashing, and the routine disinfection of shared equipment that is recommended for COVID-19 prevention are more challenging for us to deal with. For example, if a team member were to fall ill with COVID-19 on an expedition, it would be extremely difficult to prevent the disease from spreading to other team members. Moreover, if a team member needed to be evacuated for illness or injury during an expedition, we would rely on local emergency personnel and resources that are already experiencing severe shortages. Many of the communities from which we operate are rural, where emergency services and medical care are limited resources. We also do not want to introduce greater risk to these isolated communities by inviting participants and instructors from other destinations to these sensitive locations. Further, we recognize that travel away from home and families may be difficult or impossible for our participants, instructors, and volunteers in these strange new times.
We are considering how we might recognize the hard work our applicants put in to apply to our expeditions this year, and how our work will shift this spring and summer. We will continue to post updates on our website and social media accounts, so please stay tuned!
Thank you for supporting Inspiring Girls Expeditions - we hope you are staying safe and well.