Q: My boyfriend and I are planning next summer’s vacation. And we’re thinking
we’d like to go beyond sustainable tourism and volunteer somewhere. I’ve seen
these opportunities advertised on the internet and wonder what you think about
the idea.
A: Volunteer travel or “voluntourism” is also known as “travel philanthropy”
or “ethical vacations.” Richard Edwards, Director of the non-profit Planeterra
Foundation, which is a project of the travel company G.A.P. Adventures, defines
it as “travel experiences that provide the opportunity to contribute to local
community projects and development initiatives with some time off to visit the
highlights of that particular destination or country.”
Experiences range from hundreds of thousands of volunteers removing invasive
plants and planting trees in national parks, through saving sea turtles in Costa
Rica and helping clean up after natural disasters, to providing medical aid in a
remote part of India. Some voluntourism experiences involve extended stays, with
large price tags, but there are also many less expensive and short-termed
programs. According to the Travel Industry Association of America, more than
fifty-five million Americans have participated in a volunteer vacation, and
about one hundred million more are considering taking one.
With that level of popularity, there are bound to be both good and bad programs
available. Ideally, a well-managed bit of volunteer work can help many projects
that need a lot of willing hands and continued momentum, while funneling money
into local economies. Volun- tourism can also be a cultural exchange that leads
to greater understanding among people.
Problems include projects that impose volunteers on host communities, programs
that turn out not to exist and volunteers who exploit their hosts’ hospitality.
Some critics feel that voluntourism may do more harm than good – both for
volunteers and the communities they work with. Short-term voluntourists often
arrive unskilled and untrained, and as a result, aren’t able to make an
effective contribution and may end up adding to the general confusion despite
their good intentions to help.
Voluntourism also raises some rather difficult questions about our relationship
with the developing world and how we go about helping it. The UK-based charity
Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) has warned that voluntourists risk . . .
To read the rest of
this article,
please
subscribe to Natural Life's digital edition,
which includes back issue access.
Wendy Priesnitz is Natural Life's editor and a
journalist with over 30 years of experience.
