As the third snow storm of the season hit Minnesota last week
(three snows before Halloween!), I found myself contemplating a warm getaway.
And due to the ever-growing voluntourism industry, there are now more travel
options than ever. But is this boom in voluntourism a good thing?
Voluntourism combines travel with voluntary work through trips
(oftentimes international) that usually last about a week or two. Instead of
heading to a resort, a voluntourism trip sends people to Guatemala to build a
house or to South Africa to teach English. While the specific objectives of
these programs vary, an overarching goal is to cultivate global citizenship and
cross-cultural understanding - noble goals indeed. Yet for some reason, the
exploding popularity of these trips leaves me a little uneasy; this despite the
fact that I have not only attended similar trips, but spent a couple years
leading a variation of them.
My discomfort stems from concerns about the structure and impact
of these programs:
• Informed Structures and Models: I often wonder how these
organizations are structured. Specifically, are local people and local
organizations involved in the decision-making processes of the voluntourism
program, either as staff or board members? Are needs assessments done beforehand
in conjunction with local people, and do the services provided align with what
the community sees as a pressing need?
• Mutually Beneficial: Research on voluntourism often focuses on
the affects it has on tourists - but what about the impact on the host
communities? If the goal is to educate and enlighten people about global
issues, at what expense does this newfound enlightenment come? What type of
international development/community development skills are needed in creating
programs that empower and work with host communities, ensuring that they too
benefit from these programs? What program evaluation methods effectively gauge
whether a program is mutually beneficial?
Beyond these structural questions, my most pressing concern with
voluntourism is more philosophical in nature: Should volunteerism and tourism
be melded together in the first place? Can voluntourism be a form of
"poverty tourism" that objectifies people who live in abject poverty,
even glamorizing unjust situations? Do these programs allow tourists to
recognize the dignity, expertise and resiliency of the people they aim to
serve? Moreover, is this a subtle form of cultural imperialism - whether
intended or not?
These questions have broader implications for national and even
locally-based alternative break programs offered at many high schools,
universities, and religious groups. We owe it to the many people involved or
touched by these trips to find the answers.
Posted October 26, 2009
