10 Inconvenient Truths About Voluntourism
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Are you attracted by the idea of helping desperate people in Haiti or working with an orphanage in Nepal? The concept of volunteer tourism or voluntourism is a noble and worthy one. But when I started to investigate, I realized that there are some uncomfortable truths that have to be faced before volunteering.
I was shocked to realize what big business this has go. There are well over one and a half one thousand thousand tourists (mostly college students and retirees) who offer their services worldwide every year which is worth about $2 billion. These are the figures quoted in a volume Volunteer Tourism- A Global Analysis which provides a fascinating insight into what is ofttimes a very murky business organization, unfortunately.
i. Do yous know anything about the volunteer organization?
There are excellent bodies doing Trojan work out there. Only there are also some very shady operators who are exploiting, non only the well meaning tourists but the poor people, children and the homeless in the developing world. Hither are a few examples:
- Costs are loftier – staff and resources have to be found. Is this the best apply of the time and money spent?
- Many of the 800 orphanages in Nepal, for case, are bogus institutions and unregulated.
- Unscrupulous operators trick poor people into sending their children to exist educated in one of these institutions. In reality, they are neither educated nor fed properly.
- One Unicef written report found that 85% of the children in these so called orphanages in Nepal had at least i living parent.
2. Why not ship money instead?
One volunteer who worked in post convulsion Haiti, helping to rebuild homes, found that the bodily cost was almost $ane,000 per volunteer. Half of that money was spent on building materials and hiring local structure workers. The other half was spent on feeding and housing the volunteers. This volunteer was convinced that sending all the coin would have been much more than helpful in the long run.
3. Children are abandoned
The volunteers are encouraged, when working in the orphanages, to bond with the children to strengthen the emotional attachment. This, in my view, is a specially useless and cruel approach. The volunteers will carelessness the vulnerable and needy children, one time they leave. Many children suffer the trauma of another separation equally they are abased yet once again!
4. Employment could be given to local people
Many volunteers plow up to roll up their sleeves for tough manual or skilled piece of work. There are local, unemployed people who could easily practise the piece of work and exist paid a off-white wage. This would actually help to make a difference. The volunteers get in, work like slaves and leave without making whatever impact at all on the local economy. In many ways, they have made a bad situation worse!
5. Are you encouraging a new type of colonialism?
Throughout Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, many countries are still struggling to milk shake off the shackles of colonialism which have left many unwelcome legacies. Volunteer tourism can interfere with this process of independent and positive growth. This should include long term strategies and assistance people develop new skills to face up local economic challenges. The fact that volunteers are trying to experience good by working in the field is often a hindrance. Much better to practice some serious fundraising at domicile.
vi. Are your skills a match for the job?
Most educatee volunteers know nil about building or child-rearing. In many cases, senior citizens or retirees are better placed here as they have considerable feel in diverse jobs and will have a better skills match. If you are considering voluntourism, think near the projection and what skills are required. What are your language skills, social skills, parenting experience, manual skills, and so on? Then, honestly reverberate on whether you would be really useful or not
vii. Volunteers come first
"It's done for the experience of the volunteer. It's all about the volunteer, with the pretense of helping someone, and I don't purchase it."- Roger O'Halloran, director of PALMS International.
Many volunteers are accustomed and their needs seem to come showtime. Lots of expense, time and effort are put into making their experience a memorable and self fulfilling one. They are offered a unique experience which their cosseted upbringing has never allowed. The actual recipients of the help come a very poor second.
viii. Who is actually benefiting?
Did yous know that many of the 'fake' orphans I mentioned above are often cast out on the streets, once the volunteer tourist projection ends? They volition exist forced to beg and be forced into prostitution. This is the fourth dimension to retrieve well-nigh the middlemen and how these organizations are run. Who is really gaining? Very often, the middlemen, travel agencies, and so called institutions are gaining a lot of ready cash.
9. Are you lot willing to be complicit in kid trafficking?
This is the nearly serious issue of all. Many volunteers are unwittingly entering into the murky world where children are exploited, abused and trafficked. They would be shocked to find out what is really going on.
10. 10 things to bank check out before volunteering
- Cheque out the organization you hope to piece of work with. Enquire a lot of questions, especially about employing locals, skills sets and costs. You demand to know if they are reputable and reliable.
- Visit their website and their Facebook folio. This is a good way of connecting with past volunteers and learning from them.
- Larn about the land yous hope to visit. Study the history, civilisation and economic situation.
- Examine honestly your motives and ideals in volunteering. If you are looking for photo-ops, it may be all-time to consider something else.
- If the organization is a religious one, are you lot comfy with any preaching or evangelism to be done?
- Ask about support and training you will receive if yous practice decide to get.
- Find out about their finances and their interest with local NGOs. You lot may want to check out what their goals, ethics and values are.
- Be very articulate on what the project hopes to achieve and how it will aid local initiatives/employment after you get out.
- If you decide not to go, consider other ways yous can assistance the organization if you feel it is a worthy one. Do you lot have IT skills where you could build a website for them?
- Consider a financial donation, if you feel that your skills set and physique are not up to it. Cheque out how they manage their funds, if you can.
Voluntourism is smashing, if it is carried out responsibly with local people's needs in mind. If not, it may well be a scam that should be avoided at all costs.
Featured photo credit: Group 20 -015/Visions Service Adventures via flickr.com
Source: https://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/10-inconvenient-truths-about-voluntourism.html