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?

Also she raised a load of money to actually build the school. As I said I used to work for a charity that did these programs (long time ago after I graduated). The volunteers fund the project. And often bring huge economic benefits to the local area

I went to an African country last year, as a volunteer. I paid for the trip myself, and went to support a school twinning initiative. The charity I support started with all British volunteers and staff, and have trained locals to do those jobs. Seeing the progress the charity has made there is amazing! The woman I worked closely with is a graduate who was sponsored through education by the charity. She was my boss, and hugely competent.

However, the voluntourism you speak of is not helpful. The only way forward for these countries is to train local people to do those jobs, building, bike maintenance etc. This charity now has a training facility for locals to train locals.

Unpopular opinion (again)

I believe that these problems would over time fix themselves.

Not in the way that we envisage this and definitely not peaceful.

But then, we need to look back and understand how we ended up in 2025 Europe with accessible health care, housing and plenty of food available.

It's a process not a dictate.

Even for "useful" things like well-digging and school-building - imagine how many locals they could pay to dig wells and build schools for the cost of the plane ticket. (Clearly skill and experience in construction isn't considered an issue, as British teens generally don't have any, so they don't have to worry if the locals are actually up to the task either.)

I also think a lot of people who are so keen to go and help the poor Africans would never for a moment consider a summer spent helping out poor people in the nearest council estate. I wonder why ...

We had a young guy at work who wanted "sponsorship" to climb Kilamajaro. Presumably so he could put it on his CV as a good guy. Did not give him a penny.

Instead sponsored a couple of women who were doing the local 10K for a worthy local cause.

I'm in my mid forties, so was a youth when this sort of thing became popular. I did a couple of volunteer roles, nothing expensive and all self funded. A teaching English thing which felt fine. A building / sex ed thing in Africa which definitely wasn't fine and we walked off site early (loved the country and people though). I think that sort of thing has definitely been called out over the years and I would like to think that it is a lot less common.

I recently sent my dc on a teen summer camp on Iceland, run by an Icelandic organisation. Again all self funded. They did the usual glacier visits etc, but they had to cook and clean for themselves and they also did unskilled volunteer work such as cleaning plastic off beaches and weeding invasive species from the land. I feel like that sort of thing is probably the better option going forward.

Friend of mine summed it up quite nicely
"I spent last saturday standing in Co op in my designer coat having driven there in my expensive car with my privately educated son asking people to give us a few pence for him packing their shopping (which I am sure they are perfectly capable of doing themsleves for free) so he can go on a 3 week jolly
Fucking ridiculous!"

Morally, an African mother and baby are not appropriate subjects for practising upon.

OK, so maybe a white British woman and her baby don't die at some point in the future because the student learned what the reality of dying looks like when there isn't somebody who actually knows what they're doing present - but that's of absolutely zero benefit to what could be seen as disposable black and brown women and infants in the student's wake.

Think of it as though I've done a first aid course and completed a bit of a science degree. Do you want me rolling up and practising on you and your child? You're not going to get a real doctor, midwife or nurse coming to help if I fuck it up, but hey, I'm better than nothing, assuming I don't either panic or get over confident because I saw a few episodes of Call the Midwife and my cat had kittens when I was nine. And I paid somebody to have access to your body because I wouldn't be allowed anywhere near somebody in the country I live in, so I've got the right to interfere.

Agree.

DS is actually considering doing a gap year through Project Trust and the very first meeting we had was all about how they were not this sort of organisation and that their volunteers would be doing a proper job for either 9 months (an entire school year) or a calendar year. DS would be doing something like being an English language assistant in a high school, helping them with conversational english and supporting the paid staff. Or working in a primary school in a support function.

He does have to raise money but can apply for grants and funding from other charities and grant awarding bodies because of the nature of the volunteering and that it makes a proper contribution rather than being 3 weeks farting around "building an orphanage" or similar.

My gran rip (Irish), used to travel to Glasgow in the 1980s, giving out the mass times, holy medals and holy water, in the Glasgow slums/flats. She came home with stories of people accepting the medals graciously, some people slammed doors in her face (weren't they brazen!), stories of needles in the stairwells of the flats....... It was all very holier than thou, and an opportunity to feel pathos on someone else's behalf. It was a holiday that enabled her to feel superior and a saviour.

It was a holiday. Why didn't she go visiting all the drug addled, deprived communities in Ireland?

20 years ago, I spent 6 months as a volunteer teacher in a school in Africa. I went out with a group of 17 young people organised by a company (not charity) that fixed up projects for us.

some kids did “wildlife projects” which mostly consisted of trying to write reports on local wildlife issues and write grant applications to funding bodies.

some of us were placed in schools.

I don’t think the work we did was all bad - one girl was bilingual in French and took over all French lessons in the school because the French teacher had quit at short notice and they couldn’t find another. And apparently the schools (private school in major city) liked having “white teachers” to show off. But we didn’t stay a full school year and would probably be taking jobs from local teachers.

i think there is also a bit of value in western kids learning first hand that Africa is not all mud huts and elephants, and getting humbled

I wouldn’t encourage my kids to do the same. But I think there could be value in having cultural exchanges trips for young people to spend time embedded in another country (not just on holiday) and it would be great if there were other ways to do that.

I hate this sh!t too. Basically colonial-era arrogance and imposition. I taught English as TEFL in Ghana and was left feeling guilt at an unfinished job as the placement was only 3 months and unease with the views from the rest of the teachers. I took it really seriously and did lesson plans, homework and catch ups but I was just playing teacher with their lives.

Wow. That is so old fashioned, colonial and offensive. And yes, racist

Why did she not just pay for her son's trip herself then?

You are absolutely right. I never liked the "sponsored" type of charities... great, you are going on a walk, cutting your hair, whatever activity you choose for charity but want people to pay money so you can donate? Weird. Just skip all the song and dance and donate yourself. It would be different if someone sold their stuff for charity or made food then donated the money from the sale...it's easy to do charity with other's money.

There's a massive difference between going for 3 months with a focussed purpose (and I assume you have some sort of experience/qualification) than a teen who is going for 10 days to simultaneously build wells, engineer sanitation projects, help at orphanages, teach people English and the latest one I heard was "educate locals about periods".

My DS went to Rwanda with the school. Their school was partnered with a charity based in the village they went to. They took iPads for the teachers in the local schools (the internet connection was amazing apparently) and donated football strips etc. But they funded it all themselves and I suspect they got more out of it than the children they went to “help”!

She would have been happy to but the rules (Scouts) said he had to raise the money himself.
Thats why it was so ridiculous, they were asking people with far less money to fund his trip when they were more than capable of doing so.

They need to be "called out" for the very reason that THEY ARE STILL GOING ON!

No one needs rich, privileged kids going anywhere pretending to be doing good on the money of other people.

If this crap had been called out when it first stared, and not indulged, it would have stopped years ago

Well if I had said any of those things, your comment might make sense.

And this is really the point. They were caring for women who had been in the 2nd stage of labour for days while travelling to the hospital in conditions where they wouldn't get an "emergency" caesearean for hours, if not days.

One thing they all learned is that actually, most babies were perfectly fine even with prolonged waters breaking or days in labour. Remarkable little things they are.

They experienced a few deaths, but if I remember, nobody experienced a baby dying in labour. They were stillbirths that occurred before they attended the hospital.

I agree with this- this thread is dominated by the short term view. Women will die now.

look at the wealth created by various African countries in the last 30 years. It wasn’t comic relief that got them there. They got themselves there. With the decline of the west Africa is ready and able to take over. We shouldn’t be so patronising- our grandchildren will be moving to the continent to find work. It’s only colonial attitudes that have kept the uk as desirable as it (just about) still is, world wide. That’ll be gone in the short term, and the tide has been turning for 10 years

Quite. And if he can't even manage packing a bit of shopping without his Mum's help you have to pity the poor locals he gets foisted on.

I had this when my kids were teens. It used to really irritate me. Why am I being asked to contribute to your kid’s holiday? If you want to help Africa send the money directly rather than wasting £££ on a plane ticket for some
hapless kid.

To be fair he could manage fine, his Mum was was giving him lifts as they live rurally