To think voluntourism needs to be called out?

Completely agree mostly (with the exception for those who have a genuine skill eg my dd was offered the opportunity to teach violin in South Africa to underprivileged children but she was (a) a concert standard player with experience of coaching primary aged children and (b) it was for 6 month and (c) they were offering her room, board and an allowance to do it as they genuinely wanted her! She didn’t do it do to Covid happening alas.) Taking a class of apprentices from a building college is so different to a group of a level students who don’t know one end of a trowel from the other

I got annoyed about this years ago, people basically asking you to pay for their child to have a holiday of a lifetime! Pay for it yourself!

I am wondering if charitable status if it applies to such organisations should be withdrawn.

Yes! So awful.
and young people teaching English when their own English is subpar. Anyone can get a TEFL qualification (I have one!) but that doesn’t make you a teacher.
It’s all just MC white saviour bullshit and also condescending to the extreme. Hate it. I wouldn’t give any money for this.
I did volunteering in Europe when I was their age for a couple of years. Made much more sense and I am so glad I don’t have the embarrassment now of having to say I did XYZ in Africa 20 years ago.

Lol. And has a couple of centuries of foreign nose sticking done any good? Surely if we were the magic bullet, the problems would all be solved by now?

Hard agree. World travel is a fabulous experience. Go on safari, visit by all means. But tell teenagers they have anything to offer. The cycle of dependency is so damaging (though by no means unique to Africa), and the profit doesn't go anywhere near a person in any kind of need.
We're moving back to DHs home country (East Africa) next year. Africa isn't all what people think.

The whole thing is an Industry.
A couple of schools local to me had a scheme where Pupils needed to raise £3000 to go to Burma to do "charity" work. I looked into it and the profits of the company involved were pretty high.
DD decided agianst it when we broke down what she would have to earn on a weekly basis to do it but some kids did and when Covid hit they had a hell of a job to get the mony they had already paid back

I suspect Fabian won’t be doing much harm but won’t be doing any good.

Im sure I read somewhere that a lot of these teen construction projects need to be taken down and rebuilt as they are so shoddy. I suppose removing the building component saves time and effort.

YANBU

When I worked at an independent school, they organised a trip to South Africa to visit townships and play football and hockey with ‘underprivileged’ children. The £3000 cost included £800 worth of new branded sports kit and a two-day safari. I suggested that each of the 40 kids who were on the list each donate the money and go to Woburn instead. Or at least wear their regular sports kit and donate that portion of the cost. The organiser was mightily offended.

Because Ireland was long colonised by UK so this was a chance for her to feel superior.

Not to mention 80s Ireland had none of those drug problems etc because everyone was a saint 😇

I don't know about 'calling out', but it's certainly an opportunity for discussion and information sharing.
Some people are very unaware of the undercurrents and realities of the situations.
Similar to poverty porn, in that things are better depicted, represented and understood than they were 20-30 years ago, but really haven't come as far as they should.
https://frompoverty.oxfam.org.uk/is-poverty-porn-a-thing-of-the-past-yes-and-no/

Totally agree, OP. Absolutely in agreement with everything you say. I would not donate to any such request.

To be fair he could manage fine, his Mum was was giving him lifts as they live rurally

I had this when my kids were teens. It used to really irritate me. Why am I being asked to contribute to your kid’s holiday? If you want to help Africa send the money directly rather than wasting £££ on a plane ticket for some
hapless kid.

Quite. And if he can't even manage packing a bit of shopping without his Mum's help you have to pity the poor locals he gets foisted on.

I agree with this- this thread is dominated by the short term view. Women will die now.

look at the wealth created by various African countries in the last 30 years. It wasn’t comic relief that got them there. They got themselves there. With the decline of the west Africa is ready and able to take over. We shouldn’t be so patronising- our grandchildren will be moving to the continent to find work. It’s only colonial attitudes that have kept the uk as desirable as it (just about) still is, world wide. That’ll be gone in the short term, and the tide has been turning for 10 years

And this is really the point. They were caring for women who had been in the 2nd stage of labour for days while travelling to the hospital in conditions where they wouldn't get an "emergency" caesearean for hours, if not days.

One thing they all learned is that actually, most babies were perfectly fine even with prolonged waters breaking or days in labour. Remarkable little things they are.

They experienced a few deaths, but if I remember, nobody experienced a baby dying in labour. They were stillbirths that occurred before they attended the hospital.

Well if I had said any of those things, your comment might make sense.

They need to be "called out" for the very reason that THEY ARE STILL GOING ON!

No one needs rich, privileged kids going anywhere pretending to be doing good on the money of other people.

If this crap had been called out when it first stared, and not indulged, it would have stopped years ago

She would have been happy to but the rules (Scouts) said he had to raise the money himself.
Thats why it was so ridiculous, they were asking people with far less money to fund his trip when they were more than capable of doing so.

My DS went to Rwanda with the school. Their school was partnered with a charity based in the village they went to. They took iPads for the teachers in the local schools (the internet connection was amazing apparently) and donated football strips etc. But they funded it all themselves and I suspect they got more out of it than the children they went to “help”!

You are absolutely right. I never liked the "sponsored" type of charities... great, you are going on a walk, cutting your hair, whatever activity you choose for charity but want people to pay money so you can donate? Weird. Just skip all the song and dance and donate yourself. It would be different if someone sold their stuff for charity or made food then donated the money from the sale...it's easy to do charity with other's money.