- How to Deal with the Post-Travel Blues
- The Best Travel Advice? Be Spontaneous
- How to Stay Fit and Healthy While Traveling
- Hostel Etiquette
- How To Find a Great Hostel
- Travel Checklist – 17 Essential Things to Do Before a Trip
- How to Prepare and Pack for a Long Flight
- My 45 Best Travel Tips from 14 Years of Travel
- Tips To Stay Safe While Traveling
- Why Solo Travel Is Awesome and Why Everyone Should Try It
- How To Deal with Humidity and Heat While Traveling
- How to Save Money While Traveling
- How to Save Money for Travel
- Voluntourism – Why You Need to Rethink Volunteering
- What to Expect While Traveling in Developing Countries
- How to Plan Your Travel Budget
- Packing Checklist – 11 Essential Things to Pack For a Trip
Multiple white people – “Oh, you’re traveling to <insert developing country here>! Are you going to volunteer?”
Me (a white female) – “No, I’m not planning to volunteer” and here’s why and what’s wrong with this question:
Volunteer tourism, or voluntourism, is when affluent, privileged westerners spend thousands of dollars to travel to and “improve” a community in a developing country. On the surface, it appears so selfless and noble that a person would dedicate their time and money to those who have less than them. But in reality, often their volunteering efforts lack long term benefits for the community, while the only true beneficiaries are the travel companies who organize the voluntourism.
For example, volunteering to build a school is popular, but while constructing the physical building of a school is easy, improving education in a developing country is not. There are so many other things to consider than just the physical building, like actually having the funds to hire and train teachers. So, unfortunately, building a school won’t solve these issues. In addition, just one voluntourist can spend thousands of dollars to travel to a developing country to do a job that local carpenters should be doing instead. Imagine how many schools could be built and how many teachers could be hired if all of these voluntourists decided to donate that money instead.
And the reality is that you cannot assume that all volunteering programs have a positive impact on developing countries. Unfortunately, many volunteer organizations are completely unethical and exploitative because they make a very lucrative business out of commercializing poverty; therefore, they don’t actually want to help these communities in the long term because they’ll lose their business. And they don’t actually care about the people.
These kinds of volunteer organizations are actually some of the biggest travel scams of all because they charge an excessive amount of money when the reality is that the actual cause only sees a very small fraction of this money. You should NOT have to pay loads of money to volunteer. And if you do have to pay, it should be a very small amount for food and accommodation, which are extremely cheap in developing countries.
The design of these unethical voluntourism programs leads to very superficial engagement with the community; and as a result, voluntourists often leave with a superficial understanding of the culture and poverty.
In addition, too many volunteer projects create dependency on international aid, which is also problematic in the long run.
VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATIONS TO AVOID
Building schools or houses
If you have no experience building houses in your own country, you should not be building houses anywhere else. Professional carpenters from the local community can easily build a school or home much faster and safer.
Orphanages
This is massively unethical for a multitude of reasons. Children are NOT a tourist attraction. Reputable organizations would NEVER allow an orphanage to be a tourist attraction or allow tourists to be alone with children because children also attract pedophiles. The constant coming and going of people in and out of children’s lives is very damaging to their mental health. This is a big problem in Cambodia and Africa where thousands of children live in fake orphanages, even though the majority of the children have living parents, because they can make money from tourists. These orphanages make the conditions worse than they need to be so the tourists pity the children and donate more money. And the children are treated very poorly behind the scenes. If you visit one of these “orphanages”, you’re unknowingly supporting human trafficking.
Elephant centres
There are some ethical companies that let you visit elephants, but unfortunately, many elephant organizations involve animal cruelty. For example, Elefantastic in Jaipur, India claims to care about their elephants, yet they charge 5000R ($66US) to spend a few hours with the same elephants who are used to ride tourists up and down Amber Fort all morning.
WHY DO YOU WANT TO VOLUNTEER?
Moreover, ask yourself what you want to volunteer for and why. In our social media-driven world, going to Kenya to build schools is considered much more exciting and media-worthy than helping out a local soup kitchen in your own city.
Africa has a dark history of slavery and colonization, so Africans find the “white savior” complex deeply offensive and patronizing. The West constantly insinuates that Africa is incapable of escaping poverty and violence without their help, but Africa wouldn’t have most of these issues if it wasn’t for colonization in the first place.
Unfortunately, a lot of voluntourism is actually colonialism disguised in the white savior complex.
So the reason I hate the immediate “are you going to volunteer?” question once I mention I’m visiting X developing country is because it seems to imply that there’s an assumption that 1) there’s no other good reason why I would consider visiting this country, and because 2) as a white person, it’s my duty and responsibility to “save” the impoverished. Basically it’s the whitest question you can ask.
I predominantly travel to developing countries because they are where you experience some of the most authentic and memorable cultural and local experiences. And developing countries are often far less touristy and untouched and much more budget friendly. Furthermore, tourism alone accounts for a fair amount of a country’s economy, which results in benefitting people.
BUT, some volunteering is very ethical and beneficial, however, it’s important to do thorough research first.
ETHICAL VOLUNTEERING
Know that having less doesn’t always equate to unhappiness. Sometimes a simpler life is a happier life. Anxiety and depression are far more common in rich Western countries than in developing countries.
Before you volunteer, it’s important to consider the possibility of negative consequences of the volunteer actions and to ensure the program is respectful of the culture, rights and values of the people who you want to help.
It’s also important to be mindful about cultural insensitivity and to view the people who you’re helping as equals who simply have a different way of life.
For volunteering to make an effective impact, a longer term commitment is necessary (3+ weeks). Short term volunteers can view their volunteer experiences as cultural exchanges that they can learn from, and a way to understand and respect other ways of living, rather than as humanitarian relief.
Doctors, dentists, engineers, etc have essential skills that can make impactful contributions. For example, doctors can train local nurses and doctors so they’ll have the skills to be independent once the volunteers leave.
EXAMPLES OF ETHICAL VOLUNTEERING
Animal Aid in Udaipur, India, was developed to rescue and rehabilitate injured animals from all over India. The sad truth is that the majority of the world treats animals very poorly. Developing countries struggle to look after their own people, so unfortunately animals aren’t a priority, nor is animal cruelty education. Animal Aid is trying to change that and I highly recommend visiting or volunteering here when you’re in Udaipur. All the sweet animals will capture your heart.
You can visit the centre and the animals for free, but donations are welcome (which is what I did). If you choose to volunteer, it’s also free, but it’s mandatory to have your rabies shots. And you’ll be working alongside paid locals, so this is a great way to interact and connect with locals.
ThaBarWa Centre in Thanlyn, Myanmar, is a non-profit humanitarian organization and sanctuary for people from all over Myanmar who need help and to practice meditation. A monk created the centre because he wanted to help people in need and to promote doing good deeds. The centre provides shelter and care for more than 3,400 people including monks, nuns, the elderly, ill, disabled, homeless and helpless. Anyone is welcome to ThaBaWa regardless of race, status, background, and beliefs.
Volunteers will have the unique opportunity to live, work and learn with monks and Burmese people by donating their time, effort and energy to help others and to practice meditation. Some of the volunteer duties include helping patients with general care, cooking, cleaning, gardening, and teaching English. Volunteers have the chance to join the monks collecting alms in the morning, which is a very unique cultural experience. I wish I had pictures, but I felt it would’ve been inappropriate at the time.
As a volunteer, your stay is free so you can expect very basic lodging, 2 meals/day and guided meditation. The centre is run by monks so you must dress modestly. And Myanmar is a very conservative country.
I spent a few days here in 2017, but I had to leave early because my flu had relapsed.
Trash pickup in communities
Most developing countries have a big problem with garbage and a lack of recycling because waste management is expensive. This means the education about it is also lacking. Garbage pickup sets an example to locals, both rich and poor, that it’s preferable to have a clean space and to take pride in their city. It also shows that it’s everyone’s responsibility to dispose of their garbage appropriately.
Volunteer in the West Bank, Palestine
Because the West Bank is not a touristy destination, it filters out a lot of tourists, so the majority of volunteer organizations there are quality. And Palestine is a place that legitimately needs help.
Women’s Empowerment Projects
Sadly, women’s rights are fairly non-existent in developing countries, but you can help by promoting gender equality in disadvantaged communities and teaching valuable skills to local women.
IF YOU DECIDE TO VOLUNTEER
- Ask yourself what you want to volunteer for and why?
- Do thorough research to ensure you are not paying an excessive amount of money to an unethical voluntourism company.
ONCE YOU FIND AN ORGANIZATION THAT INTERESTS YOU
ASK THESE QUESTIONS:
- What type of company is this? Nonprofit, for-profit or NGO?
- How is the money allocated?
- Has the company asked the local community if this project is something that is wanted or needed?
- Is the organization sustainable? (meaning once volunteers and international aid leave, it’ll keep going)
- Are they transparent about their impact on the cause?
- Will this volunteer project have long term impact on the community?
- What exactly do volunteers do each day? How many days a week and for how many hours will you work?
- Do your skills and education fit the project goals and the work you’ll be doing?
- What is the level of volunteer support?
- What is the weather like and what should you wear?
- Where will you be staying? And how will you get there?
- What kind of vaccines will you need?
For more information on traveling to developing countries, see What To Expect While Traveling to Developing Countries.
HI there!
My name is Joanna McBride and I was just writing a blog about a potential volunteer experience… as well as a previous one ending up being the snag of Volunteerism. I was looking for content and I came across your blog. HOpe you don’t mind but I linked to your blog and quoted you! I could not have said it any better.
Hope this is ok!
Thank you, Joanna
https://www.mycrushontheworld.ca/post/true-dilemma-of-destination
Thanks so much! 🙂