Student Do-Gooders Beware

Student Do-Gooders Beware

The right way: Cottonwood Institute's many student programs.
Summer is coming and throngs of young people are getting ready to screw up the world. That’s the effect of most volunteer tourism. Here’s why, along with a few stellar exceptions.

During the last fifty years of America’s descent into conservative misery, America’s philanthropy has increased substantially. There’s a good reason for this, and a bad reason for this, and they impact tourism as we never expected they would.

The good reason was because community compassion developed as funding for good social programs was withdrawn. What else could we do? Institutions like museums and zoos, which should be a part of the public domain, became privatized for budgetary reasons. Today we even see public funds withdrawn from any type of arts (and often recreation) programs in public schools!

Fiscal concerns in America trump virtually every other concern except to wage war (in the guise of security). After we bought our ten billionth gun, there just wasn’t any money left for public aid.

We are now ailing as result.

Education is a mess.

In virtually every category America has declined. The most talked about one is health but health and everything else in life declines first and foremost because education declines first. America is now 33rd in the world. The education accomplishments of countries like Russia, Mexico and Brasil outperform us.

The need to do something in the face of government suppression of public services became overwhelming. And public response in terms of charity was good. What was bad was that charity was often not charity, just a ruse and self-disguise. And one of the principal tools for accomplishing that self-deception was tourism.

Frankly, I have serious doubts about philanthropy in general and have written about this before. The current controversy with Three Cups of Tea stands as a perfect example.

The bad effects of so-called voluntourism are acute when it involves children. I love guiding kids on safari, because I love watching their minds open to the vast mysterious of places far away and lifestyles never imagined. But I cringe terribly when they try to plan this in advance.

The number of requests I personally get by misguided parents who want to spend “a day or maybe three depending” on charitable activities when they go on safari drives me insane. It’s counterproductive. It’s a blatant indication of how badly their children are being raised.

One of the world’s finest social psychologists says it much better than me:

IN a research paper specifically addressing youth tourism programs for specially young AIDS orphanages in Africa Prof Linda Richter writes, “Programmes which encourage or allow short-term tourists to take on primary care-giving roles … are misguided for a number of reasons.”

1. They end up costing the orphanage more than the benefits received.
2. The volunteers generally perform badly.
3. Low-skilled volunteers squeeze out local and indigenous workers who not only need the work but could create a long-term benefit to the community since they don’t disappear after a few days.

But the zinger is indelible, long-lasting:

“The formation and dissolution of attachment bonds with successive volunteers is likely to be especially damaging to young children. Unstable attachments and losses experienced by young children with changing caregivers leaves them very vulnerable, and puts them at greatly increased risk for psychosocial problems…”

This is no old tour guide’s biased balderdash.

Professor Linda Richter (PhD) is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Human Sciences Research Council in South Africa. She’s an Honorary Professor in Psychology and an elected Fellow of the University of KwaZulu-Natal; an Honorary Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health at the University of the Witwatersrand; a Research Associate in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford (UK) and has been a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University USA) and Visiting Researcher at the University of Melbourne. That’s only the beginning of her resume.

Prof Richter concludes:

– “Children out of parental care have a right to protection… In particular, they have a right to be protected against repeated broken attachments … exacerbated by care provided by short term volunteers.
-“Welfare authorities must act against voluntourism companies … that exploit misguided international sympathies to make profits at the extent of children’s well-being.
-“Lastly, well-meaning young people should be made aware of the potential consequences of their own involvement in these care settings, be discouraged from taking part in such tourist expeditions…”

It is impossible to provide meaningful assistance FOR ANYTHING in a day “or maybe even three”. You can learn. You can become aware that it is unmeaningful, but you can’t MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Yet again and again I have parents calling me about the spring break or summer safari, and they want to make sure their kids volunteer for a “day or maybe three.”

This is an unexpected further decline in America’s descent into greed and lack of real community compassion. It’s a way of “feeling good” without really doing anything meaningful. It’s believing you can do something meaningful when it’s impossible to do so.

You go on vacation for R&R and to expand your world view. You help the world afterwards, with that expanded world view. You help the world by getting deeply involved at home, not abroad. You personally have to suffer or benefit from the accomplishments or mistakes that you, yourself, make. That becomes increasingly difficult the further your charity is placed from home.

There are excellent student groups – (important: all not-for-profit and in never linked to commercial tour companies) – that do great work. Note that it is mostly local, and I believe that’s how it should be.

The Cottonwood Institute and Students Today Leaders Forever especially impress me. I bet there are dozens, but the point is there is no way to approach even a modicum of these organizations’ accomplishments on a commercial vacation.

And for adults Earthwatch rules the planet. It’s so good, in fact, that there really aren’t any viable competitors.

In all three cases, and I’m sure many more, volunteerism is not the point. It may be used, and when used creates real benefits as much for the individual (without jeopardizing the situation because of that individuals’ lack of skills) as for the situation itself.

That ultimately, is the only test. And if that standard can’t be met, then the self-styled “volunteer” does more harm to the situation than any benefits that might accrue. Voluntourism does more harm than good. And significantly to the voluntourist him/herself.

Do-Gooders, don’t get on the plane.

4 thoughts on “Student Do-Gooders Beware

  1. Good food for thought but it is not accurate to equate volunteer experiences with tourism as a standard – I host folks from Cottowood and many other similar organizations and understand and agree with your points about local vs. international. I also have hosted International work camps with SCI/IVS (service civil international and international voluntary services) for over 20 years and have provided room, board and learning experiences for individuals worldwide who come to the US to learn about wildlife. It is the best experience we have received, and offered. I invite you to come to the Rockies of Colorado, wake up to wolf howls in a tipi, and share your knowledge and open your mind to another look at how it can work. I have way too many parents and caregivers return to offer thanks and appreciation how our experiences have grounded and helped their families. To suggest that volunteers and volunteers programs in general are not good is not helpful. In a world of elite and greed induced lifestyles it only makes things worse.

    Kent – Don’t misunderstand me. In this blog at least I agree that volunteers and volunteer programs can be very good. What I take issue with is voluntourism… Learning about wildlife is fantastic. Opening the minds you seem to have assisted with must be an awesome feeling. BUT not if it’s being accomplished with the false notion that it will help the the areas or the project which they visit (except in terms of the tourism revenue). Hopefully the travelers will reap benefits, just as my own safari clients (I hope) do. But especially with children, fooling them into thinking they are creating benefits for other than themselves is a terrible mistake. -JH

  2. Great discussion topic Jim.

    In my experience, broad generalizations are a good way to stoke the fire and get people talking and debating, but not always fair.

    Not all service organizations (even voluntourism organizations) are bad and not all students trying to make a difference in the world should be discouraged to roll up their sleeves and get involved.

    But yes, there is good service, and bad service out there, but it is highly situational and depends on the specific act of service.

    At the Cottonwood Institute, we follow the Seven Elements of High-Quality Service-Learning, developed by Youth Services California, and we have enjoyed a lot of success using the following framework to guide our service projects:

    1. Integrated Learning
    • The service-learning project has clearly articulated knowledge, skill or value goals that arise from broader classroom or school goals.
    • The service informs the academic learning content, and the academic learning content informs the service.
    • Life skills learned outside the classroom are integrated back into classroom learning.

    2. High-Quality Service
    • The service response to an actual community need that is recognized by the community.
    • The service is age-appropriate and well-organized.
    • The service is designed to achieve significant benefits for students and community.

    3. Collaboration
    • The service-learning project is a collaboration among as many of these partners as is feasible: students, parents, community-based organization staff, school administrators, teachers, and recipients of service.
    • All partners benefit from the project and contribute to its planning.

    4. Student Voice – Students participate actively in:
    • Choosing and planning the service project;
    • Planning and implementing the reflection sessions, evaluation, and celebration;
    • Taking on roles and tasks that are appropriate to their age.

    5. Civic Responsibility
    • The service-learning project promotes students’ responsibility to care for others and to contribute to the community.
    • By participating in the service-learning project, students understand how they can impact their community.

    6. Reflection
    • Reflection establishes connections between students’ service experiences and the academic curriculum.
    • Reflection occurs before, during, and after the service-learning project.

    7. Evaluation
    • All the partners, especially students, are involved in evaluating the service-learning project.
    • The evaluation seeks to measure progress toward the learning and service goals of the project.

  3. Jim, overall, I think there is an important point you make in this post, but as someone who has spent a great deal of time volunteering overseas I was kind of upset by your generalization that voluntourism is always bad. I agree with you that people who want to help out a local organization abroad for “a day or three” are often misguided and ill informed. First of all, one person really cannot accomplish much in such a very short amount of time especially when it should take at least that amount of time to learn how the organization they chose to volunteer with functions. And yes, if people are spending so little time volunteering for organizations they know little about, their time can be counter productive.

    But I think you are oversimplifying a very complex issue. I agree with Ford in that because of the huge variety of service organizations and opportunities out there, whether service work is good or bad depends completely on the situation. From my experience “voluntourism” or service work abroad can be very productive for both the volunteer and the organization. What is important is that the people who want to volunteer their time to charities abroad are well informed about the aims and functions of the organization they wish to work with and knowlegable about the wider issues taking place in the area they are going to that have caused the need for the charity to begin with. People who take the time to become well informed about the place and organization they want to volunteer with will know what is an appropriate amount of time for them to volunteer and can hopefully be discouraged from short stays that will not be beneficial.

    But again, the amount of time or skills someone needs to volunteer and make a difference is completely dependent on the place and organization. In my travels I have worked on organic farms and ecovillages in New Zealand and Thailand and spent slightly less than a week at each. Even in such a short amount of time I learned more than I can can say here about their causes and myself. At the same time, I know that both places were very greatful for my help and that my time was beneficial to their missions. In contrast, I have also volunteered at a birthing clinic in Indonesia. I spent a great deal of time preparing for this service work, and both times I have worked there I stayed for over six weeks at a time. In order to be helpful at the clinic I needed to have some knowledge and experience with birth, a willingness to do any job that was required of me and also the ability to volunteer for an exteneded stay of over a month. The clinic that I worked for supports many local employees but it also depends on the service of foreign midwives and volunteers to continue to provide its services to the local community.

    My point is that volunteering for international organizations can be a very good thing and is often an important part of the functioning of these organizations. At the same time, what is most important is that people who wish to take part in “voluntourism” are not giving there service on whim and hoping to make a difference, but that they are educated and well informed about the causes and organizations they want to support and the kinds of service that will be most beneficial to these organizations. In many cases, spreading awarness and staying home is the most beneficial option, but not always.

  4. I have not only participated in about 12 projects with Earthwatch (wow, you actually complimented them!) but another fabulous volunteer vacation organization is Global Volunteers. They do not do wildlife-related work but rather work with people in communities in developing countries. In Africa they help out in Tanzania, South Africa (where I went in March 2010) and Ghana (I will go there this fall) . they do fabulous work, leaving the local people in charge and helping; the Western volunteers do not LEAD the work. Check them out. No “ugly Americans” in this organization (and they accept children younger than EW’s 16 year old lower limit, if with parents – great for younger kids to help local people with their conversational English)

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