I found an article in the Wall Street Journal about new 'voluntourism' you can do where you pay money to do volunteer work. I've usually dismissed this ventures as pretty much useless and this article describes what I think. The question is asked why they put volunteers from developed countries into unskilled labour. I do think it does take jobs from locals. Instead of me paying to volunteer work I could give a whole bunch of locals a job, after all they may only get paid $1- $5 per day. I would find it offensive if I was a person from a developing country and a foreigner came in to build my houses and schools- as if I couldn't do it myself. Some people are deluded enough to believe they are doing something when really they are just there as another travel experience for some good pictures and a good story.
I did a volunteer program in Laos and the good thing was it didn't pretend about what development work meant. You can't save the world by yourself!
1 comment:
Firstly our organisation iKhaya LikaBaba doesn't ask volunteers to pay to volunteer as we think that they have already spent a fortune on flights and spending money. However the fact that they come to volunteer with our organisation does not take money away from the community. We don't have enough staff or budget to be able to pay another staff member and volunteers often fill the gap. They come with enthusiasm and excitement and this is often quite contagious, thereby giving an organisation an often fresh breath of life. We have also found that its especially good for awareness as the often write blogs and take photos of their experience and thereby creating an awareness of what happens here.
I do agree though that paying to volunteer does sound backward but I know for many organisations they use it as a tool for fundraising.
We love having volunteers, in fact we just said goodbye to two and we were saddened as we get the priviledge of sharing time, getting to know each others culture and working together to help others.
You're welcome to join us for a season, we would love to have you and we would not charge a cent:)
Post a Comment