To think if teenage girls from a private school can afford plane tickets ...

[Morgansports]

.... To visit the orphanage in Africa that they have been fundraising for, then the orphanage would be better served by just receiving the money they spent on their tickets. Seriously, what actual use to the orphanage is a group of hair-flicking, ugg boot wearing blondes???

And the bit that made me laugh is that other parents at the school were asked to help fundraise for the girls' trip.

AIBU?

[SoupDragon]

Well, describing them as "hair-flicking, ugg boot wearing blondes" was rathe stereotypical and offensive.

[Procrasstinator]

how about using the funding for the air tickets to pay wages to employ an African as a cleaner then? maybe an older orphan? or funding some wages for play workers; creating employment opportunities for the communities?

its all about the experience for the girls visiting TBF

[peasabovesticks]

If it's patronising for Africans to recieve help from Europeans, does that mean we stop immediately stop the purchasing of mosquito nets too?

[Procrasstinator]

actually...not that I think it is a bad thing for the private school europeans girls to be doing; it will be beneficial to them in terms of life experience (hopefully); but dont pretend it is in the interests of the orphanage

[seeker]

Substitute "floppy haired, Van wearing boys" them. The same applies.

[mignonette]

Again, why is it good enough for poorer countries to have their children taught by totally untrained teenagers? Our children have qualified teachers and trained/experienced LA's. It's not good enough to say it's better then nothing.

Madonna syndrome on display here

[peasabovesticks]

Perhaps it does seeker. but the OP didn't use those words did she?

[Morgansports]

The girls in question are actually hollister wearing, hair-flicking, ugg booted size 4 blondes. I was just trying to draw a picture.

[Procrasstinator]

peas there needs to be ways of enabliing people to buy their own mosquito nets.

Mos Nets are invaluable; but you dont need to fly over and hand it to the recipient

[abbierhodes]

Mignonette, what do you suggest then? Do you know of any qualified teachers who are willing and able to give up their time and do this for free? Are you one yourself?

Only on mumsnet would teenagers be slated for wanting to do something charitable.

I don't entirely disagree with the point about expecting others to fund raise for the cost of the trip. But to suggest that volunteering abroad doesn't bring anything to the people they're trying to help- wtf?

What shall we do then, all sit on our sofas and wring our hands? Its a good job those who started the charities we like to support didn't listen to those who said they wouldn't be able to change anything, isn't it?

One or more of these girls might be inspired to do wonderful things with her life to help others. Or at least learn a lesson about how others live.

Perhaps a project which just involved donating cash wouldn't have got so much interest, or taught the girls as much about what they can do to help others.

What a bunch of joyless fucking martyrs some of you are.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Perhaps the girls will always remember what they see and some of them could become involved in fund raising/projects, etc for the rest of their lives.

[tovetove]

What a mean spirited thread. Also sexist, and reversely snobby in the extreme.

If you are at all interested, a group of girls from dd1's school fundraised, went to Morocco and built a hut for a group of women and babies to help form community links and to give the mothers and babies somewhere private to go. They dug drainage, built walls and looked after babies.

Half of them were blonde, all of them were bloody hard workers, probably fitter than you or I. Threads like this make me absolutely detest mumsnet.

[BeingBooyhoo]

"What earthly use are schoolgirls in an orphanage? No physical strength, nursing or teaching skills."

what does physical strength have to do with showing a young girl how to shower?

what does teaching skills have to do with clearing out a dumping ground storage room so that teenage girls arent having to sleep in beds next to teenage boys?

what do nursing skills have to do with carrying food donations from a lorry to the kitchen?

[WileyRoadRunner]

YABU
I did this when I was at school. Actually we dug several wells and got them up and running. If the local villagers had had to do this then they would have been taken away from their other daily demands.

What I witnessed there has made me continue to fundraiser passionately for the friends I made there. It also made me realise there was more to life than flicking my blonde hair and wearing ugg boots.

[junowiththegladrags]

Yabu, why should children/young people be taught that throwing money at an issue is all that's needed?
If it teaches anyone to have more of a social conscience then I'm all for it. If it gives the orphanage an extra pair of hands to clean toilets and raises their profile then who's losing out?

[peasabovesticks]

Sadly mignonette the situation in many parts of Africa means that there are too few schools and those that do exist are often badly equipped. There is no legion of well-trained qualified teachers ready to step into the breach and teach these kids.
Our school has very close links with a school in Africa. The conditions there are unbelievably basic. Most holidays we send a teacher over there to help out and we host their teachers. Whilst here they undergo teacher training which by all accounts is very helpful to them. I'd hate to think that was patronising but judging by the comments on here, no doubt people will think it is

[tovetove]

And when my daughter wants to fundraise to go I will bend over backwards to help her. Perhaps you can donate money while your kids go to Ibiza with their mates or spend the holidays on their XBoxes.

[TheOneWithTheHair]

What abbierhodes and tovetove said.

[peasabovesticks]

Procasstinator.

Re the mosquito nets. I agree we need to enable people but in the meantime I personally don't want to see children die of malaria for risk of seeming 'patronising'

[cinnamonnut]

YABU

[Ephiny]

It's called voluntourism, isn't it? I would be a bit sceptical about how helpful it is as well.

[mignonette]

Abbie Hardly martyrs- wrong term there.

Read the huge wealth of material on different ways of working alongside developing nations. I'd be here all day summarising.
Read about teacher exchanges (we have one locally with a Rwandan school and another in Kenya also facilitated via I.T) which exchange mutually beneficial ideas and practices. The schoolkids may fund raise for the flights but they benefit knowing they are doing something empowering to both sides, not just charity which is passive on one side all too often. Yes, teachers DO give up their time.

I am a psychiatric nurse not a teacher. But we have similar schemes- they are called professional development and both can help train professional and ancillary staff to work in schools/hospitals in developing nations.

[abbierhodes]

Agree entirely with tovetove. Go do something with your day instead of sitting on here whinging about people who are trying to do something good.
Spiteful bastards.

[Procrasstinator]

showing a young girl how to shower??? young african girls dont know how to shower?

i imagine they will be showing the visitors actually, how to wash using a bucket