Volunteering/VolunTOURISM

Since writing my blog, I have had quite a few people interested in VSO/ICS and asking all sorts of questions about my placement and what to expect during every aspect of pre-placement, placement and post-placement. One of the very important aspects of volunteering is to make sure that you're volunteering correctly and for the good of the world, instead of causing more damage.

THE PRICE

One of the easiest ways to tell if you are volunteering with the correct programme is by looking at the "price of entry" so to speak. When volunteering with a governmental organisation such as ICS, you will be asked to raise a small amount of money to help fund current and future volunteers. However, most of the money ICS uses to send volunteers abroad is provided by the government, funding the volunteers to go away and actually help develop and change 3rd world countries, this process is all monitored by the government and volunteers at the end of placement, the volunteers spend 2 weeks filling out forms, paperwork and perform presentations to show what changes they have made during placement and what has been successful/unsuccessful.

When voluntouring, you will usually be asked to pay (instead of raise) a sum, most being in the thousands, some being in the high hundreds. When doing this, you are usually funding a business to send you abroad for a type of holiday with volunteering included in this.Because of additional trips out, nicer accommodation, guides/translators, the cost to run these programmes are usually a lot higher than volunteering programmes.

THE EXPERIENCE

Probably the most distinguishing characteristic of voluntourism, however, is the focus experience of the participant. Voluntourism companies want to make sure you come away feeling like you expanded your horizons, gave back to those in need and have therefore bettered yourself in the process.

They want you to have photos with smiling children and caring host families to remember your experience. You won't be expected to work too hard -- just enough to feel as though you contributed to the cause. Because it's a business and you're the client, expecting a positive, life-changing experience. They will often include trips out on boats, tourist attractions and fun activities away from the place of work to make sure you are having a good "holiday".

Unlike a voluntourism program, a volunteer program is an integral part of an organization that is working develop a given community. The organization obviously wants you to come away with a positive experience, be healthy and safe, and will undoubtedly help with the transition process.

However, the main goal is not to make the volunteer feel better about him/herself. The goal is to make an impact on the local community. Therefore, you will be expected to pull your weight and live up to the expectations agreed upon.

THE TIME

Most volunteering programmes such as ICS/VSO/ Restless Development, will send volunteers out for a minimum of 3 months. This is mostly due to the fact that to create a positive change, volunteers need to focus on building a relationship with the communities, building their trust with you and the organisation they are working with. The majority of voluntourism programmes will only send you out for a few weeks, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, just long enough to make sure you feel like you have made a difference. These programmes can focus on the subjects of caring for animals, to helping children at orphanages. Programmes that last less than a few months often result in the volunteer not understanding any of the culture they are in and only being there to promote themselves and their social medias - further promoting voluntourism. Most teenagers/young adults lean towards voluntourism and its simple to see why:

1. Staying in luxury accomodation, working with animals or children a few times a week, going on fancy trips out all in the space of 3 weeks.

2. Staying in an underdeveloped community with a random family, eating their food, sleeping in unfamiliar conditions such as a plain matress on the floor, being exposed to multiple illness' and working long days for 3 months.

Both of these are made to believe you are making a difference to the world, yet only one is.

Which would you choose?

TRAINING

Although I must admit, all UK volunteers who travel abroad with VSO are not trained professionals in the chosen field to volunteer for, ICS/VSO volunteers do receive sufficient training before and during placement. Volunteers must attend an applicants day where they are interviewed and put in multiple different scenarios, this is to make sure the volunteers will be safe in their country of placement, capable of making a difference and will reflect and bond with the communities well. After this, volunteers must attend a 3 day training course where they are briefed and trained for their country of placement. Furthermore, when in the country, you have a week in a different province where you are provided with more training and allowed time to adapt to the culture before delving deeper into the communities.

However, when you're a voluntourist, you will most likely receive no training and just be flown out or briefed for a day, making you believe you are capable of your task out there. One of the biggest arguments against voluntourism is the lack of related experience volunteers have for the work they’re expected to do in the field. Take for example a volunteer who is helping build houses: if this person doesn’t have the right skill set, their work may be of poor quality – perhaps even unstable. In the end, this costs the community more time, money and energy than the volunteer has expended.

Sometimes, you are send abroad to do a very simple job that anyone would be able to do. Companies will send you out to perform very basic tasks which they could easily do themselves, but make money off your fees to provide you with that "life changing experience". When volunteers show up to do work, they’re often putting local labourers out of work. In the case of the housing volunteer, local masons, construction workers, and carpenters lose jobs because of inexperienced foreign labourers.

TO CONCLUDE

As much as this article is to deter you away from the wrong type of volunteering, it is important to understand that if you have been on one of these "experiences" and are now regretting the time you went away, remember that you didn't mean to do any harm. Voluntourism is harmful to the world but volunteers go out with companies not realising the differences between the two and never mean to hurt communities. However, if you are considering volunteering in the future, it is so important to fully research the company and project you are joining!

Happy Volunteering! x