volunteer tourism: are you actually doing any good?
The very first solo trip I did out of the country was to Bali my junior year of high school. I found the program just through Google and it looked pretty dope on pen and paper. I would be making a monumental impact teaching impoverished children English so that when they are older they would be able to create better opportunities for themselves. My white savior complex, that I didn't realize I had at the time, was bursting with joy.
This can be a controversial topic and it is maybe one of my favorite things to talk about in regards to traveling. A lot of people do not even know what the term volunteer tourism means, sometimes referred to as voluntourism, but it is pretty self explanatory. It is when someone goes to a country for the sole purpose of volunteering, and usually ends up paying for it. You would think that this idea could only mean good things. People are adding to a country’s economy in the form of tourism while also volunteering in various sorts of projects such as wildlife conservation or community education. But would you believe it if I said that sometimes people can take advantage of these people wanting to do good? *gasp*
The first issue with voluntourism is that there are many scams and false organizations that seem to provide these services. I have fallen into one of these traps before. To be fair, I was 16 and simply did not know any better. I signed up for a trip that entailed teaching English in Bali for a month. That sounds good in theory, but it is not actually a sustainable practice for educating Balinese youth. As a 16 year old, I obviously did not know the best way to effectively teach English to primary school children who did not speak the language. I was given no prior information or education on how to teach. Which is funny now considering I am a teacher. With that being said, having teenagers teach kids their colors for a few days is not bettering their chances of learning English and creating new job opportunities for them. In order to make a lasting impact, you need to stay in a place for a decent amount of time and put the work in. Teaching is not an easy task and requires a lot of preparation. Those kids did not learn anything earth shattering from me. This is the side of volunteer tourism that irks me, and maybe because I fell for it before. This is when we see white people taking photos with black and brown children and posting it on their Instagram stories from a classroom saying how amazing they feel to be helping them and making a difference. What difference are you actually making? Aside from the number of likes on your own pictures? This is the toxic side of volunteerism, when it becomes more about the image of helping versus actually helping.
To play devil’s advocate to myself here, you could see some positives in this situation. It did in fact inspire me to become a teacher. I realized I love teaching kids, even though I didn’t really do a lot of it effectively. It also gave me a better appreciation for what I already have and the education system I was raised in, as flawed as it is. It also opened my eyes to a new culture and a community that I would have never met if it wasn’t for the program. It made me want to be a better person and to do more good in the world, even though it wasn’t real ‘good’ at the time. It was at least encouraging and motivating.
Aside from the education tourism traps, another big one is wildlife conservation scams. On this same Bali trip, we visited an elephant ‘sanctuary,’ if you could even call it that. Let me make it clear, they offered elephant rides, had them chained by the foot at all times, had the biggest gift shop I had ever seen and did elephant trick shows similar to a circus. And yet they said all of your donations would go towards rescuing more orphaned elephants just like them. Therefore, you should donate as much as possible and buy as many things as you can from the gift shop. The first steps you take into this sanctuary, you know it doesn’t feel right. In the pit of your stomach, you know it is wrong and not what it seems. Now that I have been to legit elephant orphanages and sanctuaries, I can say without a doubt it was a scam. They did not care about the welfare of the elephants. Yes they were bringing in a ton of money for the economy, but under false pretenses. Just because you bought a tiny wooden elephant does not make you a hero.
As you can see, volunteerism is a double edged sword, who's to say it does more harm than good. It can go both ways depending on the organization itself. Thankfully, I did find a reputable group in Zimbabwe that was one of the most unreal experiences I have ever had. It was Imire Rhino Conservancy and I cannot recommend it enough. These people are truly putting in the work to protect the animals, educate the community, and provide for the community. They are incredible. Yes it is quite a bit expensive to volunteer there, and you will be getting your hands dirty, but they tell you exactly where your money is being spent and for what. The volunteer program single handedly pays for the rangers wages and the supplemental feed for all of the animals. On top of the volunteer program, they are also doing countless forms of research on wildlife to better protect them and understand them. The one aspect that I really appreciated was the fact that the owners of the conservancy only hire locals to work for them. We saw a lot of sons working under their fathers once they were older, and telling us stories of how their grandfathers worked there first. Yes, the original founding family was not from Zimbabwe, but they recognized the importance of educating and funding the community around them to create an organization that worked with the community and not against it.
As you travel, you will find that it is hard to find grass roots organizations that give back to the culture around them. Imire was one of the best experiences I have ever had in my life. I found Imire from a YouTube video. Captain Potter is a pretty famous YouTuber and film creator and created a video about his volunteer experience. I liked that video about six years before I even knew I was going to Africa. If you are looking for a volunteer organization to join on your travels, I think a great place to start is YouTube. A lot of volunteers will post their honest reviews with in depth reasoning as to why a volunteer experience was good or bad. You cannot always trust Google Reviews or the company's website. At the end of the day, they are going to do whatever they need to do to convince you they are an ethical organization and they deserve your money and time. Dig a little deeper. Find out what you need to know and do not be ignorant to what could be happening behind closed doors. The sad truth is that you cannot trust everyone and you need to do your own research. Don’t get caught in an awkward situation like I was that left me feeling guilty and unfulfilled.