The volunteer tourism industry is a multimillion dollar business, with hundreds of programs offering recruitment to those travelers looking to do good in the world while seeing the world. However, wanting to do good does not equal doing good. While some programs operate with ethics and integrity, providing genuinely helpful acts to communities, others are for-profit entities that drive a wedge between volunteers and their supposed communities of interest.
But how can potential volunteers determine the difference? All programs use similar language regarding making a difference, changing lives, etc. Unless one gets into the nitty gritty, identifying the warning signs, it’s not always easy; there are enough toxic programs with shiny websites and tear-jerking testimonials. It takes an understanding of what constitutes ethical volunteerism versus exploitation to differentiate between the two worlds, going beyond what the marketing suggests.
Orphanage Volunteerism
One of the clearest examples of exploitation through volunteerism is orphanage volunteerism. Research has indicated that 80 percent of children in orphanages around the world have at least one living parent; many have been placed in orphanages by well-meaning parents who were sold a bill of goods that an orphanage offered better education and opportunities than parents could give. The reality, however, is that orphanages seek out children because volunteers and donors offer the financial gain to help “orphans.”
Moreover, the transient nature of short-term volunteers creates attachment disorder as children bond with caregivers who are gone after only a week or two, untrained foreigners interacting with vulnerable children pose security risks, and as ethical concerns would suggest, this commodifies children for financial gain.
Programs that still operate with orphanage placements should automatically be disqualified from consideration; ethical programs know that child care should be left to trained professionals and that children need stability – not a rotation of part-time caregivers.
Teaching Without Training
Teaching placements abound within the volunteer tourism realm, and it seems to make sense; in foreign worlds where English is deemed a valuable skill, volunteers who are native speakers and communities who request English teachers may seem to be a good match. However, despite the good intentions behind teaching programs – just because someone can walk doesn’t make them qualified to teach dance (without experience).
Unqualified volunteers teaching English complicate students’ learning; with rotational schedules and inconsistent teaching, lessons learned could differ from one volunteer to another, grammar errors and mispronunciations get taught and reinforced and bad habits learned along the way need fixing by trained professionals later on down the road. Educationally, it’s not worth it; for the volunteer, however, they can pat themselves on the back all they want for a job well done.
Ethical teaching placements require TEFL certification, a solid curriculum, supervision like any other classroom space and commitments of months instead of weeks so that personal relationships can develop over time. Programs willing to accept anyone for two-week stints are not teaching programs; they’re doing it for the picture op and to place students on display.
Construction That Constructs Nothing Permanent
Construction efforts also follow a similar pattern. Unqualified volunteers construct projects visible from a mile away after spending a week or two of effort; they take their smiling photos back home after feeling a sense of accomplishment, which addresses everything wrong with such volunteer opportunities.
Quality of construction efforts is often sub-par; free volunteer labor denies paid local workers jobs, communities learn no translatable skills because they are not given the opportunity to build what volunteers can do – and often, projects selected are not ones most needed by communities – building because physically constructed structures have great before-and-after photos to be taken for marketing endeavors.
Legitimate volunteer construction efforts should include trained professionals overseeing projects with paid local workers doing the brunt of the work and gaining skill-building advice from connected professionals; permanent structures are only built when community-identified needs align with legitimate programming offerings.
Reading the Program Marketing Correctly
How programs market themselves dictates their priorities; should an emphasis on what’s in it for the volunteer (resume building opportunities, personal transformation, social media exposure), assume the program’s benefiting the volunteer first and secondary, if at all, benefiting the community.
Steer clear of emotional shaming – poverty stricken photoshopped images accompanied by “saving” or “rescue” language positioning volunteers as superheroes swooping in to save helpless individuals paint an inaccurate picture; ethical programs portray communities as capable allies experiencing particular struggles – not as people who need saving by foreign powers.
In addition, claims made that advocate major change after only a few days’ worth of volunteering mean over-exaggeration; substantive community growth occurs over time from sustained effort – weekend interventions do not serve as miracles to communities despite what the marketing suggests.
Financial Transparency is Key
Ethical programs provide comprehensive information regarding costs associated at all levels down to minute details about where finances go – food, housing accommodations, insurance policies for pre-determined settings as administration costs directly linked to helped communities; no line is blurred in ethical programs and all provided goods are treated line-item style with transparency over who gets what part of any fee.
Organizations that question fees or use vague language discussing “program costs” are treating money as if it’s going directly into their pockets without serving any meaningful interest for participants or communities. Some programs charge upwards of thousands while providing minimal programmatic assistance with vague accountability for what – if anything – helps applicable communities. The better option? Direct payments given to host families for accommodation/food so money flows directly into community members’ hands.
Working Through Established Organizations
The best approach is working through established organizations who’ve been around for years without issue; some of the Best Volunteer Overseas Organization networks have worked in communities long-term enough to understand the ins-and-outs; they vet both volunteers and placements without question and provide balanced assessments regarding what might realistically be done during certain timeframes.
Further, these organizations have pre-departure training regarding cultural norms, basic language requests and practical expectations to ease individuals into community-centered living; ongoing support exists while in the community when issues arise, especially when projects can succeed after volunteers leave – sustainability separates ethical organizations from those who primarily exist to garner finances from volunteers.
Matching Skills with Community Needs
Ethical programs match volunteer skills sufficiently with actual community needs; medical professionals are in medical settings because their degree grants accessibility; engineers can work on infrastructure issues because their skills matches natural expectations; qualified teachers are always qualified teachers because they’re trained in areas where communities would appreciate support.
Certain unskilled volunteers can contribute in certain areas – conservation-driven work that requires manual labor or manual efforts or administrative support for other established programs.
Problematic placements put volunteers in positions requiring skills they do not possess; medical care without degrees, teaching without certification, construction without proper background checks and qualifications – all serve the volunteers personally so they can feel like they’ve done a good job instead of helping communities effectively instead of assessed by whom through which programming.
Timelines That Make Sense
The most ethical programs instill minimum time requirements based on what makes sense; conservation programs that accept two-week commitments do so because manual labor can at least be completed in another area; teaching or health-related positions require months since understanding context takes time while building relationships may take longer than initially expected.
Programs that will accept anyone regardless of role due to time availability are playing fast and loose with volunteer access to establish ease for money-making purposes instead of humanitarian ventures. Communities need individuals who will stay long enough to make a genuine impact.
Making Ethical Choices
When volunteerism is appropriate, due diligence needs implementation through research; question marketing claims, demand financial transparency, check out organizational credibility and be willing to walk away from any program that shows potential red flags to protect both volunteers – and more importantly – communities.
