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?

[Bonsoir]

I find "charity" tourism particularly abhorrent. If you want to gawp at the underprivileged you don't need to go as far as Africa to do so and spend all that money on a plane ticket.

[OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos]

Why do so many people seem to think that every good deed should be done completely selflessly with nothing but altruism at the centre of it.

Life just isn't like that. Every good thing a person does is done with some degree of selfishness. Whether you get get a nice warm fuzzy glow from sticking an extra couple of tins in with your shopping to donate to the food bank, or you get a life enhancing trip to Africa from donating a few quid to an orphanage, it's all the same thing. As a species we like being connected with others on a human level, and we like the feeling we get when we are generous. There's nothing wrong with that.

I don't understand why people on this thread seem to have such a problem with charity work which is beneficial for both the intended beneficiary and the volunteer.

If these places didn't like having our ugg wearing youngsters visiting them, they don't have to have them. Doesn't the fact that these trips have become commonplace tell you something?

[Procrasstinator]

peas I dont think they will be less than useless due to any type of stereotypical attitude/behaviour...so im pretty sure I wouldnt have alluded to any stereotype

[mignonette]

Big deal- 3 yrs in one developing nation really qualifies you to damn the whole of the African continent as mostly corrupt. Read the Economic journals reports into African economic growth. BTW, There are bloody flies all over Southern Europe too and plenty of corruption in the West-it's just better hidden and institutionally incorporated!

[JoanBias]

"Joan their persepctive is a lived perspective, not a taught one. It is seen their the prism of their own experiences.

Why is that so hard for you to grasp? "

Er, because it's your perspective that you are projecting onto them, your own view of their life as part of a larger narrative, and has precious little to do with their perspective.

[Procrasstinator]

otraged I dont think every deed should be alturistic...but I think people should be realistic/honest about who it does benefit/ their motivations

[MoreBeta]

tovetove - I agree and to be honest in my experience there is nothing that any charity can do in any country like that without serious political reform form within.

Sending a bunch of Western teenagers to a place which is utterly corrupt and where life is worth a few hundred dollars (or less) is a waste of time for all concerned.

[BeingBooyhoo]

"why do you think the children in the orphange will be left unwashed? "

the child i'm talking about was being left unwashed.

[JoanBias]

Would it be better if they went skiing MoreBeta?

[peasabovesticks]

I was referring to your comment about these girls coming back and saying they [the children] are poor but happy. I actually included the quote in my post. This infers that these girls are incapable of forming an opinion which is anything other than vacuous and incorrect.
Personally I found it highly sexist. I speak as someone who didn't attend private school by the way.

[Partypartyrings]

Are lots of you people jealous or something? Can't believe the complete miserablesness of some on this thread.

I know, why don't we all stay in bed except for our allocated working time, we'd all save money on non-essential activities and the economy would benefit from having reduced crime, reduced spending on infrastructure and public services...oh I know, it's because people actually want to enjoy their lives and do non-essential things sometimes- it's called living a rich life.

If you don't agree, don't donate! I bet these people don't go onto internet forums and complain about your narrow-minded, puritan attitude to life, so why do the same to them? Are you jealous? Because that's exactly how it sounds.

[mignonette]

Joan No, it's their life as told. Listen and read to their oral histories. Listen to their accounts. Not mine, theirs- SOAS has plenty....Then come back to this argument.

[peasabovesticks]

That was to procrasstinator by the way.

[MoreBeta]

JoanBias - frankly yes they would be better going skiing.

My DSs go to a private school. They will be doing Duke of Edinburgh in a few years time. They have to do some limited charity work in the local community and they have to do some outdoor trecking in a foreign country. They will also be going on a skiing trip - all paid for by me and no fund raising involved.

That seems better to me.

[mignonette]

Interesting that some posters see the polar opposite of not sending westerners on voluntourism as doing nothing......Plenty of us do plenty whether it be providing psychiatric care alongside professionals/workers in Thailand after the Tsunami (was invited to do so by the Thais) or doing the unglamorous, un-heralded 'gut work' of working alongside developing nations, lobbying, etc..

[Procrasstinator]

peas it doesnt infer that at all..it has nothing to do with them being privately educated.

[FreckledLeopard]

My private school friend went out to Africa for her gap year - she had blonde hair that she flicked (Ugg boots weren't invented then, but if they were, then I'm sure she'd have worn them too). She travelled around many countries, never really came back to England, ended up in Malawi, had a baby with a local guy and has now set up, runs and fundraises for an orphanage that helps so many local children: www.ellottefuturebuilding.com/

Frankly the notion that she should never have gone out is insulting. She's spent over a decade working her ass off to help local people, is now more African than English and is doing great things. Who knows what the Hollister wearing blondes might achieve? YABU.

[tovetove]

hear hear partypartyrings.

I am sure the people posting negatively about these children would be HORRIFIED to think that others thought they were jealous but I have to say it sounds exactly like that. It doesn't matter what spurious reasons you come up with you just still sound like carping jealous small minded people.

[InSPsFanjoNoOneHearsYouScream]

What's worse is when celebs that are rolling in money who could give tens of thousands of pounds away like it was just penny's sit on tv begging people to donate.

[baskingseals]

procrasstinator - thank you so much for your posts. i have contacted the charity you linked to, and will arrange a direct debit. it is extremely useful to know which charities are actually making a relevant contribution, so thank you.

i think there are ways of contributing positively to other countries but a gap-year trip is not one of them.

[MoreBeta]

I do donate to UK charities and donate my time too in my local community but 'charity tourism' as Bonsoir rightly calls it just turns me right off.

[OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos]

Yes, people should be honest that any voluntary work or donation they make has at the very least a feel good effect on them too.

But I very much doubt that teens that go on theses trips come home moaning about how hard they had to work. I expect they all come home talking about what an amazing time they have had and how much they have learned. There's no need to assume they are being dishonest.

[JoanBias]

mignonette when I was at SOAS recently there were a bunch of people outside with a 'solidarity for Communist China' stand. The idea that I can just go to Bloomsbury and consume their accounts is absurd.

Again, this is your perspective, not theirs. Trust me on this.

[Tailtwister]

I think it depends what they do when they get there. If they are going to muck in and actually do some work, then that's fine. If not, they should donate the travel costs and stay at home.