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?

gotthemoononastick.

Are you against all European assistence to Africa? Even mosquito nets?

Can I just say that these girls haven't gone there this half term to dig foundations, teach English, set up a computer system. They have gone to 'see' what their fundraising has done for the orphanage. I'm sorry, I think it's obscene.

I think this is a good series of blog posts looking at the issues (and what not to do) with international volunteering.

"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."

Nobody is criticising the kids! Anybody who has a teenage girl is not going to be offended by "hair flicking, Ugg wearing......."!

But it is a seriously skewed system that thinks is a good idea. And it is hugely patronising to see it as a way for the kids to have a life lesson. Surely anyone can see that? Regarding other cultures and communities as a sort of glorified visual aid?

Actually I think it's good that fundraisers go to see how their money is being spent. Again, an unfortunate truth is that where there is poverty there is corruption. Better that the money is being spent on the kids who actually need it than on building a house for some local bigwig.

And do you know what Morgansports? I'll bet you a fiver that the people that run the orphanage and the kids that are there will be absolutely delighted to see them.

Morgan

Exactly!! The act of investing time and energy is not enough-they have to have their reward/validation/thank you very much lovely ms/mr Westerner.

What a shame they're not being rewarded with a safari too.....Positively deprived, these girls are....

There is little doubt in my mind that the OP was highly sexist. What future to teenage girls have in OUR society when they are written off in such disparging terms

I went to mexico as a 17yr old to work with the girlguides there to build new classrooms on a school.

I was not a private school girl in uggs, i had in fact never been abroad or on a plane before, i was blonde though (that seems to matter to the OP )

It was a two-way trade: The mexicans got two new classrooms, which yes, they could maybe have built themselves if we'd just sent the cash, but then maybe not, maybe the cash would have not got to the school, who knows?

But I got a life-changing experience. I have been a guide leader all my adult life largely due to that experience (can't count the number of girls i've voluntarily provided guide meetings for in the last fifteen years - without adult volunteers guides would not happen)

And I went to uni with a bit more of an understanding of life and inequality in the world. I had also had an experience which helped me 'catch up' a bit in life experience with the priviledged kids i at my university (a very 'posh' uni) and therefore made it easier for me to meet other people. Those people I met also did voluntary work of various types and cared about society and the world (I and many of my univeristy friends now work in the voluntary sector).

you are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO not BU

it annoys the shit out of me

my cousing went to africa (why?) and all I saw was 1000 photos of her pouting and cuddling african babies. exactly what she generated i have no idea

my company regularly send people to visit the african centre we fund, one person. completely understand. 10 people? Looks like a jolly, and a tad patronising too

and as for the perivian/wall of china bike rides....

For this reason I only support Medecin sans Frontieres, they dont do wank money raising, they use the web to promote and they go in, and help people. in a very practical and humane way

Oh come on pea---highly unlikely that's why they are going....And again, the generalisation that poverty always = corruption.

It's our rich backyard that stinks of the C word.

That is such an outdated view of Africa especially. That it is poor/corrupt or rich/corrupt.

I'm not actually generalising about the corruption thing. There are charities I will give money to because I know they will distribute the money properly and there are charities I will give a wide berth.

It is not an outdated view.

"my cousing went to africa (why?) and all I saw was 1000 photos of her pouting and cuddling african babies. exactly what she generated i have no idea"

you could always ask her.

You can't have it both ways mignonette - so you don't like the generalisations about Africa, but the ones about Westerners are fine

I actually didn't use the word 'always' either. You are free to disagree with me but please don't misquote me in order to further your own argument.

There is a business sat behind every single one of these 'fund raising' jaunts. The business is just a travel agent by any other name and they make money organising teh trip. Pure and simple. Its like charity sky diving events or even the London Marathon for that matter.

Charity is big business and it has got a lot more overt and aggressive in the last decade. Ever been accosted by a 'chugger'? Yes they work for a business too. The 'charity' sector expanded by about 14% under New Labour and teh line got blurred betyween charity, business and Govt.

Its just a business and the 'fund raising' that happens is just another form of high presure selling. Resist!

"They have gone to 'see' what their fundraising has done for the orphanage. I'm sorry, I think it's obscene"

i dont. i think it can only be good. it's an opportunity to learn how much or little their money gets for the recipient. it's also a chance for them to see if the money is being spent in the most effective way. perhaps they can see where changes should be made and could put the wheels in motion to make the changes happen.

Peaseabove...sounds very harsh I know,but mozzie nets a small blip on Africa's troubles.Send them if they make people feel better about themselves.Foreign aid and interference from the West has caused unbelievable hardship,but this is a big elephant in the room and I am not enough of a political animal to want to debate it.Others more qualified have done so endlessly.

I like the idea that it's patronising to visit developing countries. Perhaps ship in a few lecturers in Cultural Marxism along with the girls, in order to explain to the natives how they are the victims of neo-colonialist oppression.

Or something.

Sorry, pea I didn't mean to be so strident but it is an outdated view. Look at the recent economic reporting on countries in Africa which are prospering yet still are included in the Western view of Africa as a fly ridden, corrupt, life is cheap continent.
Conrad's Heart Of Darkness still applies.....

Yabu. A trip to help orphans in Africa looks much better on a cv than a normal holiday ever could. Plus you have a better chance to get your photo in the local paper.

I am responding to the attitudes of the westerners on here and relating them to the wider problem about how Africa is depicted on our screens (by some charities too), our printed and online media and in our schools. In the West, we speak from a position of long established power (that will be eroded very quickly in the developing world) so our attitudes, no matter how broad a brushstroke they are painted with, get disseminated as cultural memes a lot faster.
Even generalisations have uneven cultural/economic power.

" Look at the recent economic reporting on countries in Africa which are prospering yet still are included in the Western view of Africa as a fly ridden, corrupt, life is cheap continent."

Have you ever been to Africa? I'm thinking not. Plenty of areas in Africa are hugely corrupt. I can't quite believe I am having to tell you that.

"There is little doubt in my mind that the OP was highly sexist."

Did you misss where the OP said she was talking about a girl's school?