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?

[BeingBooyhoo]

and the girls that went to romania in my year all left their ugg boots and hollister clothes in romania. ok it wasn't ugg boots and hollister when i was at school but they all went with 20k suitcases and came back wearing a t-shirt, shorts and flipflops without a second thought about the clothes they left with the orphanage.

[VivaLeBeaver]

I went to Africa years ago and worked in a rural hospital there, slightly different as I'm qualified to do so. I hope that possibly some of the things we did would be remembered by the staff and carry on. We did take text books and equipment with us.

Anyway the woman who set the hospital up was an English woman who'd set it up in the 1960s. She's gone to Africa when she was 19 years old to do a Gap year teaching English. She never came back to the UK.

She was that determined to make a difference that she fund raised and fund raised and built a whole hospital. The only one serving a very large area. Its a non profit making hospital so although people do have to pay for most treatment its cheap, cheaper than at other hospitals.

Individual people can make a difference.

While I was there I met another European couple who ran a computers into schools scheme. They were retired but spent all their time gathering computers that companies didn't want, shipping them over. Then a couple of times a year they fly out and distribute the computers. I went to one of the schools one day and saw the kids with the computers. The kids were very excited to see me and my colleagues and we ended up giving the boys a geography lesson and the girls a sex education/personal hygiene lesson at the request of the head!!

[mignonette]

Again....The safari at the end. What message does this give? That the reward is not intrinsically linked with just the experience of digging bloody wells, walls and schools.

[Cakecrumbsinmybra]

What on earth does what they are wearing/look like/what hair colour they have, have ANYTHING to do with this?

Personally, I think it is really important that people (young, old, brunette, blonde, whatever) see firsthand what life is like for others on this planet.

[BeingBooyhoo]

it was romania and no she didn't know how to shower. she was terrified of the water and the staff at the orphanage didn't have time/patience/whatever to show her. they were there 3 weeks and by the end she still wouldn't put her head under the water. open your mind.

[FunBagFreddie]

*People in developing/poorer countries are not there to provide life and learning lessons for rich (by comparison) westerners.

Colonialism not quite post yet is it? *

Yes, I find it rather distasteful and patronising. Send our privileged Western youngsters to observe and 'help' the savages so that they can learn some 'valuable' life lessons. [hhmm]

Why not send them to work with the most disadvantaged people in the UK such as people who have become homeless due to mental illness, victims of human trafficking etc.

[wordfactory]

Well...said hair flicking blondes (why the need to mention private school?) might be in a fabulous position to raise some serious wonga for the project when they get back home.

Seeing it in person my be just the impetus needed.

[mignonette]

i agree clothes have nothing to do with it. But I am reminded of cringe worthy accounts of white south africans 'donating' their designer clothing to the 'poor blacks' because they don't have much, poor dears....cringe.

[JoanBias]

Some private schools would just send them skiing for the same price and make no pretence at education. I don't see the issue with it.

It will be educational for both sides. And if they are paying their own airfares and then raising money then at least the money raised will make it there. How much of your £1 donated to Oxfam actually makes it to the other side, and doesn't get eaten by admin/corruption/etc

[abbierhodes]

I use the term martyrs because you are all adamant that no one can possibly be as charitable and wonderful as you are. I'm confident in my vocabulary, no need for corrections from you, thanks.

I know all about teacher exchange schemes, as I am a teacher. While they can be a useful tool, they're mostly used as an exercise in PR by British schools. I don't think they're as useful as extra manpower can be. Like an awful lot of teachers I know, I have a family to support so can't just drop everything to teach in a developing country. I'm grateful to those who are willing to try. And I'm not naïve enough to think only qualified teachers can teach useful skills.

[Ephiny]

I'm not sure it's a helpful attitude either that we can't criticise people who are 'trying to do something good'.

I don't think there was any need for the references to hair-flicking blondes etc, but there's a point to be made that foreign aid is a complex issue, where good intentions are not always enough, and sometimes efforts to help can be useless or worse.

[tovetove]

I actually really feel sorry for the naysayers on this thread. How awful to live such closed minded, negative lives. Something that the 'ugg wearing hair flicking blondes' will almost certainly never suffer from.

[seeker]

The point is that the money spent on sending teenagers to do jobs could actually pay local people to do the same jobs- and enable them to keep their families as well.

There are plenty of "life lessons" to be learnt in this country. And I suppose they could go to Whipsnade at the end. Sort of safari........

[JoanBias]

It's not going to be useless or worse. I know a blonde lady who set up an 'on the ground' charity in a developing country and works extremely hard to raise money for it and it's specific and directed because she's raised it and wants to see every penny go towards their goals. By comparison money from the UN and Red Cross there just seems to disappear on ridiculous $50k Land Rovers and general corruption.

[mignonette]

I never actually said I was at the pinnacle of fund raising....I happen to agree with the newer, fresher, developing-nation-centric attitudes towards foreign aid and intervention.

You are showing misplaced confidence in your interpretation of my posts,I am afraid. Goes with the colonial attitude.

[mignonette]

seeker -

[Morgansports]

Agree these girls really don't need to travel to Africa to get a life lesson. A day at the local food bank in a town just six miles from their school would be a serious shock to their system!

[gotthemoononastick]

With procrastinator....am African myself.The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

[tovetove]

Of course foreign aid is a complex issue. But criticising kids for wanting to do something good rather than hanging out in the park smoking is bloody ridiculous and ignorant.

[JoanBias]

And if just one of these young women decides based on her experience that she is going to work in this area based on her experiences, that's worth a lot more than her airfare.

[Felicitywascold]

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

They do, and independent schools are also supported in their running by untrained 'gap' students. They don't 'teach' or have sole responsibility for students but they do gain experience through assisting, helping with sports, photocopying and being general dogsbodies. This is obviously not the same as charity work in developing nations, but it is proof that we also think untrained teenagers are 'good enough' for us too.

Teenagers spending time with kids from cultures vastly different to their own is a great thing. For everyone involved. If the British teens learn something about humility, grace, love and acceptance while they're at it, that can only be a good thing for the future leaders of Britain to learn. If the children being 'helped' are shown that the world is bigger than they have experienced, that there is compassion from other countries, that there are teenagers who want to play, be their friends, bring medical supplies/build schools/wells/hospitals etc... For them. Because they are Important. Well I wouldn't begrudge that, I'm a bit lot wary of those that would.

[peasabovesticks]

Sometimes there aren't the local people with the skills to teach english or basic computer skills, for example. That is the simple truth I'm afraid.

[BeingBooyhoo]

i agree joan.

[abbierhodes]

But Epiphany, we're not talking about celebrities who are 'good deed doing' to get in the papers, we're talking about young people, who still have a lot to learn about life, choosing to try to help someone else.
I think it's mean spirited to piss all over that. To suggest they should just give money instead. Why shouldn't they be allowed to try? To learn about what they can do? Perhaps some of them will realise that qualified doctors and teachers are more valuable than gap year students, so they'll get their qualifications and go back!
People have to start somewhere.

[tovetove]

"Agree these girls really don't need to travel to Africa to get a life lesson. A day at the local food bank in a town just six miles from their school would be a serious shock to their system! "

Yes, the girls do this every term. And the town is only 3 miles away and they are extremely proactive in helping the food bank.

Unbelievably some private school blondes have a very developed social conscience. It is inspiring to be among them with their positivity and energy. I'd rather spend a day with them than 5 minutes with some of the posters on this thread.