Voluntourism: Helping or Hurting?

Voluntourism has recently become a pretty hot topic in the world of development. In the last decade this phenomenon of combining travel and volunteering has increased largely in popularity. It has even gone so far as to create its own new form of vocabulary! “Ethical holiday, voluntourist, travel philanthropy” all encompass this same idea of traveling to a developing country, for a short-term vacation with some participation in a project. This is an opportunity for an individual, or group, to make the most of their vacation or time off by ‘doing good’, or ‘making a difference’.

The big question being asked today is, is voluntourism hurting or helping? These trips typically range from ten days, to three weeks in duration, however shorter and longer trips are available. The term voluntourism, however, tends to exclude any trip exceeding 4 weeks in length. While on these trips volunteers might partake in activities such as building homes, schools, working in orphanages and with underprivileged youth, or distributing food and or supplies.

Organizations that are facilitating these experiences are growing by the masses. Some that are well known include, Hero Holiday, Habitat for Humanity International, International Student Volunteers, Hands up Holiday, Volunteers Without Borders, and the list goes on and on! Ten day trips with these organizations typically run around $2000 to $4000, this coming straight from the volunteer to pay for resort accommodations, all inclusive food and excursions in the evening.

Voluntourism typically attracts individuals in high school, college or university. However this is not to say it is limited to the younger crowd, in fact several middle aged and retirees also embark on these trips. It provides people with the opportunity to travel, and to see a different part of the world. A great deal of people walk away from the experience saying things like “it was life changing” or “I found myself.”

So, what else makes these voluntourism vacations a good idea? Well, firstly they are perfect for people with busy schedules. A quick two weeks in the sun and you get to walk away with a rewarding feeling like you put your two weeks of vacation to good use. This experience can also transpire into further interest in development work, and inspiring friends, family and coworkers to look into how they can get involved. Speaking to others, hearing their stories, and having that intimate person -to-person experience can make an intense impact on the voluntourists. Not to mention that international experience is very attractive to employers and schools, what a great way to set yourself apart from the millions of applications received each year.

Now lets get down to the reality of the situation. Although the trip might be valued by the voluntourist, we have to analyze whom the trips are designed to benefit. Realistically the majority of these volunteers do not possess certain skills that would be abundantly beneficial to the local communities. Therefore to cater to the masses, these trips are more often than not designed around physical labour, and therefore for the volunteer. The voluntourists are unqualified to do any other development work. There is also a gap in training the recipients. Often when new infrastructure comes into a small community they are not familiar with, it is rejected or goes unused. There must be continuity between the delivery and the reception.

The length of these trips is one of the biggest areas of debate. Because they are so short, the goals of these trips are very short sighted. Most volunteers want to see the end product of their efforts and therefore the projects are short term. This leads to the fear that the infrastructure may not be maintained, or will go unused. How much impact can you really have in ten days?

Another issue with voluntourism is that people are so attracted to vacations where they can also lay on the beach, or be in the sun that the purpose of the trip is lost. Canada has a great deal of development issues that are in dire need of attention. Unfortunately problems away from home seem more appealing than those close to home.

Furthermore, orphanages are an often-visited destination of these trips. The issue with visiting orphans, spending time with them, and building relationships is the fact that these are not sustainable relationships. When the voluntourist leaves, these children are abandoned all over again. There can be serious psychological repercussions on these children if volunteers are constantly coming in and out of their lives. Again this begs the question, who are these trips really for?

This explanation is not to say that there aren’t genuine experiences or successful, meaningful projects, however, the arguments above are reasons to question who these voluntourism trips are really benefitting. What do you think?