Excellent article on the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/sep/13/the-business-of-voluntourism-do-western-do-gooders-actually-do-harm . Well worth reading.
Here are a few quotes:
Voluntourism may be fuelled by noble feelings, but it is built on perverse economics. Many organisations offer volunteers the chance to dig wells, build schools and do other construction projects in poor villages. It’s easy to understand why it’s done this way: if a charity hired locals for its unskilled work, it would be spending money. If it uses volunteers who pay to be there, it’s raising money.
But the last thing a… village needs is imported unskilled labour. People are desperate for jobs. Public works serve the community better and last longer when locals do them. Besides, long-term change happens when people can solve their own problems, rather than having things done for them.
What puts children in crisis isn’t something hugs can solve. Andrea Freidus, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina, wrote that voluntourism gets in the way of recognising the structural issues that create humanitarian crises. “My research suggests that students who engage in these programmes actually contribute towards the mystification of larger systems that produce inequality, poverty, particular patterns of disease distribution and various forms of violence.”
In a 2012 essay on what he dubbed “the White Saviour Industrial Complex,” the novelist Teju Cole pleaded for humility. It is “not about justice,” Cole wrote. “It is about having a big emotional experience that validates privilege.” Voluntourism, he argued, perpetuates the myth that change happens as a result of expressions of caring from rich white people. [Bold mine.]
I have always had concerns about this kind of trip that still seems to be happening. I certainly agree that anybody who wants to get educated on global issues/development etc should do so (using reputable sources, naturally.) However, we need to separate out our own desire for education from tourism and doing actual development work through formal systems with qualified, professional staff.
So, let’s commit to separating out our goals: adventure, holidays, tourism, work, education etc all have value, but generally not in the same trip, which will likely do more harm than good if we combine them when they should be distinct goals. Systems changes are needed, but are far bigger (and often less glamorous), than anything that can be done in short trips done by well-intentioned by often misdirected outsiders. Let’s make sure that what we are contributing is actually making the world a better place, and truly putting others first, even when that’s the seemingly more mundane choice. That’s worth so much more than the chance to post some pictures to Facebook. 🙂
