What is the danger of Voluntourism

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May 5

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A combination of the words “volunteer” and “tourism,” voluntourism is a form of tourism in which travelers participate in voluntary work, typically for a charity (Google). Some examples of voluntourism include: working in hospitals, building schools, and caring for children in orphanages, etc. Voluntourism appears like it is fueled by good intentions to help the people in need. However, while people may have good intentions, their work is not always sustainable and beneficial to the community.

Voluntourism can get dangerous and harmful when the organization prioritizes their own interests over the local community’s needs, in which they allow the volunteers to create more problems for the locals to fix. One example of this is the volunteers’ lack of qualifications. When volunteers do not know how to do the work they are assigned to do, their work may turn out to be low quality and unstable, which is harmful to the locals in the long run. In the end, the lack of qualification would cost the community more money, energy, and time than the cost of having the volunteer work. Voluntourism can also put local laborers out of work, which means that the work could have been completed more efficiently and with better quality than young schoolgirls trying to build a wall.

Orphanages are a popular option for voluntourism trips but they are actually an unsustainable option and dangerous for children's development. Termed as “orphan tourism,” sometimes these orphanages have children separated from their families, and then subject them to poor conditions in order to have more people donate. Volunteers constantly arriving and leaving the orphanages can also cause separation anxiety and short-lived attachments, which are not healthy for children’s emotional development. Children develop more healthily in a family than in orphanages where it is more likely for children to experience abuse, cruelty, and neglect.

Voluntourism’s short-term work is not sustainable to the community because they are essentially short-term, quick solutions to unmet needs. Instead of short-term solutions, local communities need a permanent or long-term change. It will be more efficient and sustainable if the locals learn viable skills and knowledge that they can apply to their communities to start making change or improvements. Often, long-term changes happen when the locals themselves take initiative to solve their own issues.

White Saviorism

Many countries implementing voluntourism in less-developed countries to solidify their influence is one example of neocolonialism. Neocolonialism is the practice of using economics, globalization, cultural imperialism and conditional aid to influence a country instead of the previous colonial methods of political control. The way European countries colonized the Americas in the seventeenth century has now adapted to the modern times, in which western countries today are now solidifying their control over less-developed countries by means of neocolonialist practices. Modern countries now maintain control over underdeveloped countries by the voluntourism industry. This results with communities having to rely on white privilege in order to access resources and guidance, which is unsustainable and more harmful to the communities. Developed countries imposing neocolonialism through the institution of voluntourism can also result in imposing western ideas on the locals, especially without understanding its history and culture.

Most importantly, voluntourism is dangerous especially because it perpetuates white saviorism. By definition, white saviorism is a symptom of white supremacy where a white person provides help to non-white people (espeically those who have been historically oppressed) in a self-serving manner. Voluntourism perpetuates white saviorism by promoting the idea that these underdeveloped communities need help and will not be able to survive without receiving support from white people. This mentality often results with white people going on voluntourism trips as a self-satisfying trip, as a way to solidify themselves as “good people.”

About Our Engagement Trips:

Our vision: The dissolution of continuing colonial models of dependency which hinder Indigenous communities' development. (https://www.partnersinservice.org/our-values)

Our projects are all community-driven, which means that we focus on the needs of the local community. We facilitate change in Indigenous communities by providing resources, guidance, tools to solve problems, and opportunities for leadership and participation. We do not claim authority over "the right path" to development, but instead rely on evidence-based investigation to empower communities. We empower Indigenous communities by encouraging and enhancing the capacity for them to make choices in their lives that will help counteract against dangerous systems of voluntourism and dependency.

What can you do to lessen the voluntourism industry?

Pick a cause that you’re passionate about or interested in! For instance, if you want to become an educator, you could volunteer to teach English.
Find programs that you can lend your strengths and experiences to. Don’t volunteer to build houses if you have no idea about construction.
Choose a program that is working towards sustainable development and works directly with the local community.
Contact the program coordinators to gain more insight.
Lastly, recognize your motivations: Why do you want to serve vulnerable communities? How would you feel if you couldn't bring any cameras from this trip?
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