To think voluntourism needs to be called out?

[icreaminbarnsley]

I've had numerous requests this year by parents of teen dc who are going to various African countries to contribute to their crowdfunding "to help the people in [insert country]". They further explain that said child will be building schools/wells, teaching English, designing sanitation projects....but the latest I received was that their child would be "advising locals on how to set up a business". This in particular has really annoyed me, as the child is doing A Levels, has no business of their own, and no business acumen that I'm aware of. How can you be so brass necked and unaware to be spouting stuff like this? I totally get going to a different country is going to be a fantastic experience for the dc, but who is dressing it up to make it sound like these teens have something important to offer and are needed abroad, in areas that they have absolutely zero experience? I also get that the locals might benefit from the money that the dc need to pay to undertake such an experience, but is it really the locals who benefit, or is it the mainly the 'charitable' organizations that are based in the UK?

AIBU to feel we need to call this a unique opportunity to experience life in [insert country] and not delude ourselves into thinking the locals are benefitting from groups of western teens, who are not builders, engineers or business advisers?

On this, I'd really recommend Pippa Biddle's book Ours To Explore : Privilege, Power and the Paradox of Voluntourism.

I remember as long ago as the early 80s when one of my modules for A’level geography was West Africa being told that there was a problem with modern machinery being provided but the parts and skills for repairs were not available and more basic, easily repairable equipment was what was needed. Our teacher told us about Schumacher and small is beautiful. Since then I have supported a number of charities which work at the local level to make a practical difference, such as Practical Aid, Send a Cow, Christian Aid and Lend with Care.

I’m in Ireland and lots of local teens are fundraising for the Hope Foundation. They need to raise at least €2500 to go to India for a week. Of this €400 will go towards their food and accommodation while there (so into the local community). All of the remainder goes directly to Hope. All flights, vaccinations, visas, insurance etc must be paid for separately and fundraised funds cannot cover these expenses. The trip is mainly for educational/tourist purposes. It’s specifically not for work as that would require a different kind of visa.

The Hope Foundation obviously sees benefit to this method of fundraising as they’ve been continuing with it for years now. And maybe some of the kids will go on to become long term fundraisers? I don’t see a problem with it. I don’t think we should put restrictions on which causes or people you’re ‘allowed’ fundraise for and which causes or people you’re not allowed help.

I'm sure the Hope Foundation sees the benefit of it. Doesn't mean its good for the community though.
It's deeply problematic to allow western children to have pay per view access to disadvantaged children. And funding these schemes almost always leads to a market in creating the very problem the organization is claiming to be solving.
Why can't they just go on holiday to India and donate to some grassroots organisations?

The Hope Foundation that I’ve found via Google seems to be one of the more problematic organisations. It works with street / slum children and I’ve found several posts online of the volunteers pictured with the children in question.

So:

1. No proper safeguarding. Check
2. Random people given access to vulnerable children. Check.
3. Majority of money spent to fund the trip not on the aims of the charity. Check.
4. Visitors / carers washing in and out of the lives of vulnerable children with no consideration of the emotional damage this can cause to the children in question. Check.
5. Children (non-white) being used as teaching tools for (usually white) Western teenagers with no consideration given to the welfare of the children. Check.
6. Activities done by Western volunteers rather than paid locals, distorting the local job market and preventing locals obtaining paid employment. Check.

This sort of voluntourism isn’t ‘helping’ and it’s deeply sad the children in Ireland are being convinced it is.

But your no. 3 is wrong just for a start. And 6. As in, that’s not what’s happening. Did you read my post?

I'm sure the Hope Foundation sees the benefit of it. Doesn't mean its good for the community though.

Why would the foundation allow it if it didn’t benefit the community? Assuming they’re legit, which I believe they are, their aim is to help, not exploit. Genuine question.

I'd say it's awfully naive of you to assume a charities only aim is to help. The good ones help without exploitation. Selling access to vulnerable children isn't ethical fundraising.

Interesting you haven’t mentioned the points I’ve made about the exploitation of the children but rather concentrated on the money.

I have read your post and in regard to the financial points you have responded to, I note with to (3), you carefully failed to mention the cost of the flights, vaccinations, insurance etc. A return flight from Dublin to Kolkata alone costs roughly €1000

You have said that of the €2500 you have mentioned, €2100 goes to the charity. You have not said how much of that €2100 then goes to administer these programmes, the cost of transporting the voluntourists / photogenic children around etc. I suspect you don’t know - it’s fairly common for that information to be well hidden.

So yes, I think the majority of the money does go fund the trip not to the charitable aims. Even if I’m wrong, what level of child abuse are you suggesting is acceptable in return for the cash? Because that’s what is happening even if you only look at the emotional exploitation the charity are admitting to. If you also take into account what is likely to happen when you facilitate access to vulnerable children with no DBS checks, in some cases the abuse is likely to be significantly worse.

As for 6, if there weren’t a constantly changing cast of voluntourists, activities with the children would have to be done by trained, qualified professionals. Who yes, would be paid for their work. So that is what’s happening, even if (again), the charity does their best to conceal that fact.

Children in the developing world are being used to make comparatively wealthy Western teenagers feel good about themselves in return for cash (much of which doesn’t benefit the children in question).

As a rule of thumb, if it wouldn’t be acceptable for untrained teenagers to be doing this in the UK / Ireland (and there’s no way it would be allowed), it’s not acceptable just because the children in question are in a country in the developing world.

@CandidHedgehog while I agree with some of what you’ve said, you’re really reaching with this child abuse/safeguarding angle. A Garda check is very likely part of the visa requirement, it usually is, however a UK DBS for Irish teens who have lived in Ireland is a preposterously useless requirement that would simply waste the time of UK civil servants and Irish teens alike. Just like it would be very silly for UK teaching jobs to require everyone to get police clearance from Malaysia first.
You do know Ireland hasn’t been part of what is now the UK since 1920… right?

@CandidHedgehog
You are right in that I don’t know much about what happens on the trips so I can’t address those points.

I don’t know why you mention the costs of the flights, visas etc. Why are they relevant? Individuals pay for these themselves out of their own pocket.

Many of the posts upthread — and yours— seemed to assume that these costs are covered by fundraising, but in this instance at least that’s simply not true.
That does make me doubt the veracity of some of the other points being made here but it’s something I’ll look into, thanks.

That would be why I said UK / Ireland to make it clear they weren’t the same?

I accept Ireland calls the pre-working with children checks something else - a police clearance certificate, I believe. However, in practice the two are very similar. I was simply using the term with which I am most familiar.

I can see no indication that any sort of background check is done for a short term tourist visa to India (which also covers short ‘courses’ so I
presume is the one you mean). If you can point to where it says otherwise, I am happy to be corrected.

Otherwise, I will continue to believe that random unskilled, unchecked Westerners are being turned loose on children in return for cash.

Even if I am wrong, that still doesn’t address using children from developing nations as entertainment / educational tools for Western teenagers. Which in my view is still abuse.

I think you’re wrong in that they’re ‘turned loose on children’, yes. Why would a charity helping the children do that? Supervised meet-ups do happen I would think.

It doesn’t matter if it’s fundraising or not. It’s still money being spent on the entertainment of the Western teenager not on the supposed purpose of the trip.

If instead of going, the teenager in question donated say €500, it would probably benefit the charity more with none of the problematic elements.

The fact is, with the voluntourist model, most of the money spent (whether from fundraising or self-paid) is for the benefit of the voluntourist and to facilitate activities that actively harm the people / communities they claim to be helping.

It doesn’t matter if it’s fundraising or not. It’s still money being spent on the entertainment of the Western teenager not on the supposed purpose of the trip.

If instead of going, the teenager in question donated say €500, it would probably benefit the charity more with none of the problematic elements.

The fact is, with the voluntourist model, most of the money spent (whether from fundraising or self-paid) is for the benefit of the voluntourist and to facilitate activities that actively harm the people / communities they claim to be helping.

Hundreds of schools kids every year, plus an undetermined number of adults of the numerous other trips they sell. Do you honestly beleive this stream of tourists can ever be good for vulnerable, disadvantaged children? You don't appear to actually know anything about the trip at all, beyond the very vague information online. So I'm not sure why you're so keen to defend it honestly. Based upon what?

There is at least one post online from teenagers who have been on such a trip. Lots of mention of playing with orphanage children interspersed with tourist activity. I’m not going to post a link because while the descriptions make me cringe, I do think the teenagers in question meant well. I hold their teachers / parents far more responsible.

No consideration at all in the post of the effect of repeated random visitors on young children and no mention of the level / extent of supervision.

Even if there is careful supervision (and this would be unusual for this model of voluntourism), the children are still being treated like entertainment for the visitors.

Think about this happening in the nursery / crèche down the road from you. Would you be happy for multiple bus loads of Indian teenagers being brought in to play with your 4 year old? If not, why is it OK in reverse?

Not keen on defending in general but I do know some of the points made upthread are (in the particular example I’m talking about at least) wrong.

The money people donate isn’t being spent on flights etc as pp have said or implied. It’s going directly to the charity and the majority is spent on their various projects. That does matter and to present it as otherwise is misleading.

Actually many of the same teens (same year group) do work experience in Irish primary schools, care homes, creches etc (as well as many other placements) at this stage in their education.

I'm not convinced they are wrong though. You have made assumptions, but they are unfounded and naive in my opinion. If you had some actual information, it would be a different conversation. The total lack of transparency is a major red flag.

Leaving to one side the community / individual harm, to know whether this was true or not, we would need to see the breakdown of how the €2100 (the €2500 less the €400 for accommodation) is spent.

It doesn’t matter whether the voluntourist’s costs are paid by donation or are self-funded. It’s still money that only benefits the person travelling and not the charity beneficiaries.

How much of the rest goes to pay for the fund raising programme? That’s not just the immediate costs - there will be administrators just for the voluntourism programme, advertising in Western countries and probably other costs I’ve not thought of.

I’m not saying the Hope Foundation is unique in any way - there are multiple similar organisations making money out of Western teenagers who genuinely think they are helping.

None are explicit about how much of the money is actually spent on the charitable aim. At best, as with this organisation, they say how much goes to the charity with no breakdown of expenses that result from the programme itself.

Do Irish primary schools really invite in a different large group of teenagers every week or so?
Not really the same thing is it?

The students donate €2500 each, minimum, that they have fundraised. €400 of that covers their accommodation and partial board. They purchase other food while there. There are evening activities that also come at extra cost to the students. Presumably there are overheads and staff expenses and transportation costs (bus) to be factored in, but I think the charity is making a lot here or they wouldn’t do it. They must think it worth it and they are the ones on the ground working with people who need help and managing these projects so why does MN know better?

Bus loads at a time, no checks beforehand and one visit to each with no follow up and photographs of the children plastered all over social media? That sounds unlikely.

It's not MN that knows better. It's anyone who knows anything about children (or people in general) knows better.
Why can't people just donate to charity and go on holiday? Why must they spend time with and take photos with poor brown children?