to refuse to sponsor this young person

[EmmaGrundyForPM]

An acquaintance has sent out a mass message asking people she knows to sponsor her son to do a 10k run in the New Year.
Son is 17, Y13, and next summer is going to Uganda to build a playground in a primary school. He's raising funding for this with a target of £2500.

AIBU to think that, if the tables were turned, we wouldn't accept this? If I was told that a group of young people, with no experience, were coming to install playground equipment in my child's primary school, I would be outraged. As would other parents. And yet children in less wealthy countries are expected to be grateful for inexperienced people pitching up at their school.

When DS was in 6th form, there was an "opportunity" to go to Malawi for two weeks and volunteer in a school. I told DS I wouldn't support this, and he didn't go.

Why do schools and colleges run these trips, supposedly to "help" less fortunate children, when in fact it tends to be middle class children who go, because it looks good on their CV.

AIBU?

I don't see the problem here. The funds will go towards this trip which in turn will help for organising this event, and buying equipment, and paying locals to help with construction presumably. What exactly is wrong with this? Just don't donate if you don't want to or can't afford, but equally, don't make assumptions that the kid is going on a holiday or that there will be a shabbily constructed playground. Ask for more info perhaps?

I saw an interesting Vice about this recently. Basically proper local builders had to come and re-do everything overnight.

It’s total white saviour bullshit. But at least he’s actually doing a run to raise his money and not just asking for sponsorship.

Wow I feel sad that your son missed out on a life enhancing experience. Helping others, visiting a different culture & the excitement of travel to another country.

Exactly

Totally with you. For £2500 they could hire and pay a bunch of locals to build it and genuinely help the community. He can volunteer for free locally. But I guess that won’t produce a bunch of cute photos with small African children that look so good on tinder.

@IMissVino Can't do emojis, but applause for your post

When I lived in Northern Tanzania, the voluntourism season was an absolute shit show.

A fuck tonne of donated clothes suddenly flooding the area, totally fucking local women who sold clothes and repaired clothes for weeks or months.

Gap year students picking up kids, playing with them, showering them in sweets, toys, hugging them, taking pictures of them for their ig like they're props, throwing parties for them in school, carrying them around etc etc in both schools, orphanages and just random kids in the street and then poof they're gone and the next set comes in to rinse and repeat. Very healthy for the kids, a Disney dad experience every couple of weeks.

Kids with zero experience "teaching" local english classes in schools, every couple of weeks they'd switch out, very little is taught.

Local labourers losing out on jobs to free volunteers.

Projects being built that were unsafe or zero use to the community.

The vast majority of these voluntourist paid for trips are pure rubbish at best also very harmful to the local economy and at the very worst a cover for people sexually abusing in orphanages.

If you have an actual actual skill that is in desperate need or that it's useful to exchange with other countries, crack on, kcmc in Tanzania is a great example, a medical hospital where medical professionals from around the world visit and exchange ideas and work, very helpful.
People with no skills deciding to go teach/build on a couple of weeks voluntourism holiday, not so much and it tends to just line the pockets of the uk/USA owned voluntourism businesses.

Have you read any of the thread ?

Ohhh, now I get it. It doesn't matter if its Fiji, Thailand or Uganda. It doesn't matter if its building or cleaning or teaching. Whatever or where ever it still costs £2500. Flat fee. Funny that.

I imagine that OP, like many of us, would have no problems helping their DC to pay for a trip that didn't depend on exploitation.

Absolutely this.

@IMissVino
👏

Perfect

I find the whole enterprise quite disquieting but obviously, this is massively problematic if true.

Someone I know has a Volountourism up for her DC, to the tune of £6000 Some bullshit about projects, a mountain climb, going off the beaten path.

To me it’s mawkish, paying to go gawp at a developing country, smacks of white privilege, and it all makes me deeply uneasy.

Interesting reading these posts! I actually started out thinking that YABU but the more I read, I can imagine there is an element of exploiting the white saviour thing. Although I guess it depends on what the project is/who is going etc etc. In this instance, I think that for the cost of sending this young unqualified person, it would be better if they found a way to give back closer to home where it won’t cost quite so much to get them there!

Charity begins at home.

No it really doesn’t. The kids are creating other jobs by paying to work. A lot of charities use overseas volunteers to fund their project and pay the locals.

it’s a holiday yes, but generally does some good.

👏👏

Right so only poor working class children who’ve known a trade since the age of 5 (chimney sweeps?) should be allowed to do these things?

The irony is, this hypocritical sniffing at those who help people if need - presumably because it’s patronising and MC - is the most patronising and MC thing going. IMO

I volunteer in African countries. I do it because I want to help. I don't put it on my cv. I don't put it on social media. I do it because I care about helping others. I also do work for charities in this country. These countries do need help. What do you think would happen if every white person said "Right, I'm not going to help anymore".

Volunteering us an amazing experience. A good chance to make new friends and see new places as well as help others. Its a pity you talked your son out of the Malawi trip.

Maybe the OP thinks teaching her son to think of non-white people in deprived countries as people just like him is better than teaching him to see them as props in a ‘life enhancing experience’?

West world is science fiction not real life (and that didn’t end well either). These are people not cardboard cutouts. I suppose the OP could have allowed her son to go when she knows the damage it causes - after all, hewould benefit. Who cares about the locals. Not the lesson I’d want to be teaching my children - but you do you.