What Is Volunteer Tourism And When Can It Actually Be Bad?
Volunteer tourism, which is also known as voluntourism, is a form of altruistic travel that’s becoming more and more popular. Essentially, people choose to do voluntary work while travelling and explore their destination while they’re working. Volunteer tourism especially popular with students who want to take a gap year, as it’s an experience that allows visitors to feel good by being a part of some kind of meaningful change.
The idea of volunteer tourism is also on the rise because of initiatives by large-scale organisations, who raise money for programmes that help communities in need. So it’s no wonder that travellers looking for meaningful experiences are naturally drawn to such immersive opportunities to donate their time and skills to help those who need it.
But despite these good intentions, voluntourism has been the target of some heavy criticism over the last few years.
When Does Volunteer Tourism Go Wrong?
Voluntourists only have a limited amount of time available to them to provide support to the places they visit. Also, being volunteers, they often don’t have the specialised skills that might actually be required. Rather than benefiting the local communities, a number of studies have shown that volunteer tourism can have negative impacts.
When they bring unskilled labour, it can create more work
Until recently, most volunteering opportunities were restricted to skilled professionals. But with volunteer tourism, this is not the case. Anyone can become a voluntourist. This can be a problem, as though well-meaning, they are often unskilled, especially when it comes to specified work like construction.
So, once they’re done with their work, locals are often forced to take on the added responsibility of rebuilding homes and schools that would otherwise have been inadequate.
Volunteers can end up taking local jobs
By doing this, volunteer tourists can take jobs away from locals who would otherwise have been paid to do the same work. It also deter the locals from learning these skills that could then be used to sustain the community even after the volunteers leave.
Like the proverb says “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” In many cases, the time and effort of volunteers could be better spent in making local communities more economically self-sufficient, which would allow them to continue to improve even after they depart.
There is no long term commitment involved
Lots of communities are sorely in need of the help and assistance of volunteers. But it's important to stop and ask ourselves, what are volunteer tourists realistically able to address in the few short weeks of their visit? Most places benefit more from long-term volunteers, and additionally, the largest number of meaningful volunteers come from the communities themselves, rather than from foreigners eager to fix things.
While short term volunteers can do a lot of good, this is usually accomplished only when they have skills and training that match the specific needs of the place they’re visiting (such as medical aid, construction, conservation, teaching, or even religious work).
It can perpetuate the idea of the “white-saviour complex”
While this is definitely not the case with all kinds of volunteer tourism, or indeed with all volunteers, it is true that (whether intentionally or not) they help perpetuate the idea that “developing” countries and communities are waiting for Westerners to come and fix things. American scholar Henry A. Giroux criticises voluntourism as being ‘paternalistic,’ as “it normalises the differential in power between the voluntourist and the indigenous community”.
This is extremely harmful as it reinforces colonialist attitudes and the ‘white-saviour complex’; the idea that white people are crucial to helping non-white people, who, in turn, can not help themselves. As Nigerian-American novelist Teju Cole says “it is not about justice. It is about having a big emotional experience that validates privilege”. So, despite the fact that volunteer work has helped spread awareness, especially of global poverty, it has also resulted in a paternalistic relationship between Western nations and developing countries.
In the very worst cases, it may even lead to child trafficking
Though it is usually only true in the most extreme of cases, volunteer tourism can actually lead to an increase in child trafficking. The desire of foreigners to help children in orphanages, in what is known as ‘orphanage tourism’, can lead to children being kidnapped and deliberately placed in ‘orphanages’ to feed this demand.
The deliberately poor living conditions are then curated to elicit a more emotional response from volunteer tourists, in the hope that it results in an increase in funding and donations. Then, there is also the fact that volunteers working with children can inadvertently cause emotional trauma when they form close bonds with them and leaving after a short period of time.
How Should We Go About It Instead?
All of these problems don’t mean that every kind of volunteer work should be shunned. There are many ways to volunteer while reducing the many negative impacts that you might have. One of the most important things to keep in mind is that there is a BIG difference between short-term projects and long-term ones.
There are lots of communities that need help, whether its building schools, medical aid, and conservation work. But these goals are best achieved with longer-term volunteers (not voluntourists) who have the skills to help make enduring contributions. It also helps when they understand the local cultures and the backgrounds of the people they work with (and when they see them as individuals with rights, rather than as objects of charity). These volunteers can then train locals on new procedures and methods to use once they leave.
Short-term volunteers, especially students, are also necessary, especially those looking for the opportunity to explore different cultures and destinations. Once they take the time to learn about the socio-cultural backgrounds of their destinations, these placements become more about experiences and cultural exchange, rather than being trips that “help the poor”.
Additionally, certain projects benefit just as much from short-term volunteers or even volunteer tourists as they do from long term ones. These might include cleaning up beaches or forests, teaching specific projects, or helping distribute essentials in the wake of a natural disaster.
How Can You Choose The Right Volunteer Project?
Before embarking on a project as a volunteer, there are some things you should keep in mind. First, ensure that the organisation it is attached to is a bonafide entity that it is generally transparent and honest. Other points to keep in mind so that you can make an informed decision are:
- Further research the project and the company to see if their relationship with local partners is free from corruption; and to examine what they have actually achieved so far.
- How long you’ll be expected to volunteer, and what kind of meaningful development will be taking place
- Is the work something you’re qualified in, and that you have experience with. If a project says that “no knowledge or experience is required,” ask yourself why they can’t just use local people to do the work instead.
- Does the project helps develop local businesses and communities, and give them the skills to sustain themselves beyond your stay?
You can read up on some more questions to keep in mind here. Volunteering, and thus volunteer tourism, can be a life-changing experience when done correctly. But we must always look closely at how we’re actually helping, and why we’re doing it.
