Teen volunteer to Africa

[SausageCrush]

Our son has been fundraising for over two years to go volunteering in Africa this Easter.

So far there are only a handful of cases of the virus there.

The company organising it say they'll only cancel if advised to do so.

Do you think he'll still be going?

Good God! No, no, no, no.

Totally irresponsible.

There are a handful of DIAGNOSED cases. Once it takes hold in tightly packed areas with limited healthcare, it won't be like that. Where in Africa?

I don't think he'll be going anyway.

I was supposed to be going to Malawi. But the risk now is of me TAKING the virus there. Not getting it while I'm there. And that's what the organisers should be bearing in mind.

Which country is he supposed to be going to, OP?

Not a good idea for anyone involved

Ghana.

And he has major exams this summer, followed by uni.

I'm hoping the company does the right thing and refunds him.

It's a really big sum (nearly £3,000) that he's worked his socks off to raise.

We're all worried for him - and the possibility of uk volunteers (think there are about 50 of them going) infecting the poor locals

To be honest, if he's with one of those voluntourism companies, his help is unlikely to be missed.

I could lecture for some time on how awful they are, but I'm sure your son has a good heart, so I won't at the moment.

If this is cancelled and he gets his money back, I can point him in the way of actually achieving something over there, and at a third of the cost.
The company are behaving apppallingly if they allow 50 people from the UK to take potentiall take CV with them to a poor African country

Of course he can’t go.

The virus hasn’t really hit in Africa so far.

Totally irresponsible to go and risk passing it on.

My son was due to volunteer in Kenya at Easter. The company the college used hasnt cancelled but said that if any volunteer arrives in Kenya with a temp they will be quarantined in a government facility.

The college have now postponed the trip but given us no idea about what will happen regarding refunds etc. They leave college in June so cant see it going ahead at all.

You have to wait and see. It is changing daily so might be a clearer decision near the time. A young person is not necessarily in the high risk group, but consider if he gets it and something else, and becomes seriously ill. Do they have ventilators in hospitals in Ghana (serious question)- find out. Or are the nearest ones in South Africa. I went to East Africa and had malaria, as a westerner I was given the highest standard of care but it was still limited what was available.

Do they have ventilators in hospitals in Ghana (serious question)- find out.

Fuck me... 🙄

@saraclara is completely on point with this one.

Fuck me...

I couldn't find the words but there they are!

Do they have ventilators in hospitals in Ghana (serious question)- find out. Or are the nearest ones in South Africa.

You seriously think it’s a possibility that the nearest ventilators are 3000 miles away in a different part of the continent? Ghanaians might as well fly here to use our ventilators. It’s about the same distance.

The initial two cases of coronavirus (now six in total) found in Ghana were from people who travelled in from Norway and Turkey.

The Ghana government is now closing its borders to countries with more than 200 cases of coronavirus.

www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2020-03-15/ghana-closes-borders-for-arrivals-from-coronavirus-hit-countries

I'm hoping the company does the right thing and refunds him. Or gives the full sum to the charity he was supposed to be helping, perhaps? Because that's a hell of a lot more useful than flying a teen carrying Coronavirus over to Ghana to be looked after for 2 weeks by an overstretched charity.

NO. Of course he should not go, because Coronavirus is the last thing the community he is going to needs, and I would be very surprised if Ghana's borders are still open to UK flights by then anyway. If he came down with it while he was there, he would be putting huge pressure under an already struggling system.

Wow. Volunteering is supposed to be about helping people, not killing them.
I'm shocked you could even consider for a moment that he could go. And the fact that he's fundraised i.e. people have donated. Do you honestly think people who've donated would want their money used like this?

It’s not volunteering. It’s a holiday. He has no skills to help the poor Africans. Send the money to be put to good use through a reputable charity. Far better for Africa. Go to university, get some useful skills then volunteer.

What exactly is a school kid going to do to “help”? Especially within a two week time frame .

They’ll do just fine without him.

Go to university, get some useful skills then volunteer.

Even then... I wanted to work in Africa. I spoke to one of my lecturers at university about it. He had about 20 degrees and now works for the UN. He's from Cameroon. He said, "what on earth could you offer with your BA?" He was right.

I ended up working for charities in the UK. Did much more good. I did travel there. East Africa (and I suspect a lot of the rest of Africa) is full of missionaries and white privilege Barbie volunteers. They are not needed.

My friend has just returned from volunteering in an orphanage in Tanzania (nurse - running training courses for staff so not quite the same). She did just a week of an intended 4 week stay. She was advised to come home as airlines were beginning to cut flights to Europe from where she was staying.