Taking a “gap year” to travel and volunteer has become a popular rite of passage among high school graduates. Whether it be a back-packing trip to Africa, or a tour of Asia, many young people are participating in “voluntourism” – a chance to travel, while also participating in some local volunteer work. While on the surface this may seem like a good way to see the world while helping those in need, it often causes more harm than good.
I took a gap year to travel to Nicaragua with Canada World Youth, a government-funded volunteer-based organization. I chose to work with Canada World Youth as it made it very clear to all participating volunteers that they were not participating in humanitarian aid or “helping” another country – but rather that we would be participating in a cultural exchange; an experience in which we would take the time to learn about the local culture through host families and partner organizations. We also worked to further understand women’s issues in the community of Condega. We were required to partake in a week of training before going to Nicaragua, in which we covered important concepts such as equity, power privilege and systemic racism. The training ensured we were honouring the people of the community, and leaving it in a way that is sustainable and healthy.
This concept, however, does not seem to be a common one. Often times, profit-driven voluntourism companies prey on volunteers' good intentions. The industry is growing as more and more people are seeking meaning, fulfilment and a sense of purpose in life. If this is not met in their careers and daily lives, volunteering whilst travelling is a powerful way to meet this desire. However, far too often, volunteers are engaging in work that they are in no way qualified to do, and often affect the locals in a more dramatic way than one would expect. Among them are untrained medical volunteers, eager for experience, who tackle procedures beyond their training or ability, and potentially put a patient's life at risk, or under-qualified construction workers, whose hard work is often re-done or adjusted by qualified locals. In some extreme cases, tourism companies will take advantage of both well-meaning tourists and children in orphanages uncovered by Pippa Biddle's CBC investigative documentary titled Volunteers Unleashed. It tells of children who have not lost both parents, but rather were sold to the company. These children, who have already experienced emotional trauma, then create bonds with the volunteers, and are then forced to watch group after group abandon them and return home. Even in cases of more legitimate orphanages, the same concept is true: children bond with people with whom they cannot even communicate, and are then abandoned. Many of these companies provide a chance to hand out food to the impoverished, or throw in a visit to a local orphanage, alongside days at the beach and going on safari. Critics argue that dropping in to take photos of locals reduces them to the animals of the safari.
While these are extreme cases, well-meaning tourists have the potential to take away jobs from locals who desperately need them, and participate in work that has been determined by the tourism company, rather than work that is truly needed by locals. People are led by their hearts instead of their heads, and it is imperative that tourists do thorough research to ensure the work they are doing is truly helping, rather than hurting.
Jennifer Hamilton is a local student and aspiring writer.
