Voluntourism: Who is it really for?

        Today I passed the 2000 mark for views! I want to thank all of you, whether it be friends, family, or avid followers, for the reads and comments. I hope we keep this going!
        As a way to honour this momentous occasion, I did some digging and I found my first ever blog post! I wrote this blog post for Smart Solutions last year, and I think today it's more relevant than ever, so I'd love to hear what you think. A lot of what is written is based on my experiences in the summer of 2009.
        P.S. If you haven't already checked out the Smart Solutions website (link above), make sure to do so. I can sincerely say it is the best student-run international development organization I know and it has all the potential to develop into something huge. Support it, and you're helping an organization that will help millions some day!

WAYBACK PLAYBACK!!

More and more often we hear about our classmates and colleagues partaking in volunteer experiences abroad. It’s almost commonplace to hear that someone has traveled to Tanzania, Peru, Vietnam or Kenya; and not for the purpose of vacationing, but instead to volunteer. Is this because of the growing interconnectedness of our globe or is there also another phenomenon in play? Today, there exist hundreds and thousands of NGOs offering volunteer opportunities in developing countries. With that, the lines between service, development, and tourism have been blurred. This new niche market has been coined by many as ‘voluntourism’. The term refers to travel with the purpose of volunteering for a charitable cause. These travel opportunities are a chance for Westerners to experience new cultures all the while ‘making a difference’. Volunteer positions can be anything from ecological conservation to teaching to working at the local hospital.

Building on personal experience, I question the benefits that these experiences actually have on the community in which they take place. Faults of the NGOs that prevent it from making a lasting change are the involvement of inexperienced/unskilled volunteers and the near-sighted views of their objectives.

Volunteer vacations were initially developed to cater to people who had no previous experience with a cause, giving them a chance to ‘do something good’ all the while experiencing new places and challenges in locales they may otherwise not have visited. However, the real needs of a project are sometimes things that volunteers cannot support. Language barriers, lack of local cultural knowledge, and lack of skills prevent volunteers from being a good fit for most projects, so instead “tour companies often create projects for the volunteer”. These projects typically require little investment of ideas, energy or commitment. As the core needs of the project cannot be fulfilled, NGOs create projects and tasks that meet the desire of the volunteer to ‘feel helpful’ without doing much for the community at hand.

Two summers ago, I taught English at a government-funded school in Nicaragua. The children had barely enough money to feed themselves on a daily basis nor did they have the resources to meet their basic health needs but, somehow, there I was, teaching them English- a resource they may very well never have the chance to use.

These types of opportunities also have a habit of being very near-sighted in terms of their goals and objectives. Volunteers will participate in one-off projects that are not monitored or evaluated in the years to come. There is nothing in place to ensure the sustainability, practicality, or even utility of the project or measures put in place.

AFRICA IS NOT A COUNTRY.

What is with people referring to Africa as though it’s one big country?! This has got to be my biggest pet peeve. Get it right. It is a continent. A continent with 54 independent countries [*].

I'm always so thrown off when I ask the question “Where are you from?” and get “Africa” as a response. Or even worse, when someone is oblivious enough to ask a question like "Do you speak African?"
And this isn’t an attack on people who do come from a country within Africa; I know it’s easier for you to respond that way because every time you do answer with “Burkina Faso” or “Tanzania” you get a confused or startled look.

Stop being so ignorant people! Africa is a continent with 54 countries; that is to say, 54 sovereign nations – each with its own history, culture, and traditions. You can’t group the entire set of countries into a single identity. If its wrong to assume Italians and the British are the same simply because they’re both in Europe, why is it any more acceptable to do so with Egyptians and Congolese?

We are, of course, products of our upbringing and environment. Besides sheer ignorance, I think this is a problem rooted in our education system. I really think courses in elementary to high school need to stop focusing on the US so that students can actually start learning about the rest of the world.

Getting educated is easy… you can start by looking at a map! 

What do you think? Does this bother anyone else the way it peeves me?! What factors do you think are at play besides a poor education system? Comment and let me know!

[*] Debates exist about the number of countries in Africa due to classification disagreements concerning the island countries (e.g. Madagascar, Mauritius) and Southern Sudan

On a different note, this was posted on a blog I follow in response to all the Kony hype. Made me chuckle!

The Venice Problem: Tourism, Friend or Foe?

You’ve all probably heard how Venice is sinking and, if you’re an avid traveler, you've already thought about seeing this beautiful UNESCO heritage site before it disappears. 

But have you ever stepped back and asked yourself why it's sinking? Or if we can prevent it?

Tourism is Venice’s largest and most booming industry. With one third of all cruise ships worldwide coming to Venice each year, the city has become one of the world’s most important cruise destinations. Since 1997, the number of passengers cruising through Venice has risen from 280,000 to 1.8 million last year (source: Toronto Star).

Naturally then, tourism is a lucrative sector in the Venetian economy. Its quick return on investment makes tourism the city’s greatest source of income. Tourism is crucial then because it keeps the city running... right?

It, of course, isn’t quite so simple. Just like anything done in excess, tourism in such big numbers has done damage to Venice's fragile ecosystems. Quite frankly put, mass tourism may end up destroying the very things we go to visit. There’s no denying that Venice, a city on water, is a sight to see, but we need to be precautious and forward thinking in our use of the city’s resources. Our use of nature is very quickly turning to an abuse of nature.

The Science Behind the Claim

With high demands for tourism, aquatic transport has soared in the city, causing the gradual destruction of the lagoon ecosystem, with its mix of sea and fresh water and its relatively shallow bed which is home to plants which can oxygenate water.
Sea level rises and more frequent storms are expected to increase the level of the Venetian lagoon by 20 inches by the end of the century, threatening to undermine the foundations of centuries-old palaces and churches and swamp some parts of the city altogether.
High tides, particularly during the winter, already flood much of the city, including St Mark’s Square, the focus for millions of tourists. The situation was exacerbated by the increasing number of giant cruise ships which visit Venice – their wake erodes the delicate mud banks and wooden piles on which the city is built. (cited directly from: The UK Telegraph)

Venice faces an influx of 60,000 tourists daily, which is almost double of what Venice has been calculated as capable to sustain. Tourism has also made Venice an expensive place to live. In additional to its environmental damage, the city is suffers from a social problem - abandonment.

KONY 2012, part 2

This blog post is in reference to all of the controversy of the "Kony 2012" video that went viral this week. 

Like I said previously, my recommendation of the video wasn't because I support Invisible Children (IC) or because I agree with their initiatives, but because I think their marketing camping was brilliant. 

The root of the controversy:

I think the real issue is that people are watching this video with a very simplistic mindset. They aren't being critical, they're just taking everything at face-value and absorbing all that Russell conveys in his video.

I think those wanting to educate themselves are going about it the right way. There are always 2 sides to a story - probably even more in this case! There is a lot we can’t confirm because we aren’t in Uganda, we can’t see what is happening.... which is all the more reason why we shouldn’t just believe it blindly. (pun intended?)

I think we need to also process what it means to be allowing for Kony to be taken down with the help of US military forces. Is ok'ing US military intervention really the best idea? It hasn't worked the best in the past. Is the US military force even a party you trust to handle these situations? Or is the US once again acting in its own interest? The US government has a long track record for only getting involved when it benefits the American people. && Let's not forget the recent discoveries of oil in Uganda (source: Ugandan news article). Hmm, and the US is suddenly willing to help with a problem they know has existed for decades...

There are also some saying that the LRA (standing for Lord's Resistance Army) numbers are down, that their resistance is weak, and that Ugandans are finally rebuilding their communities (source: Reuters Africa). If it’s true that the LRA is weak and down to a dozen soldiers, why are we rushing in to save the day now? What’s the need for all the $ that Invisible Children is asking viewers to donate? How will the money be used (please note how the video BARELY touched on this topic)? Is it even pragmatic at this point? Throwing foreign aid and handouts has doesn't empower local communities, it doesn't help them rebuild... we know that, so why are we repeating the mistake?

Yes, Uganda still has problems today – it is a country ridden with corruption. There are still Ugandans living in fear in IDP camps, afraid of the possibility that violence will return to their land. I think it’s awesome that people are now aware that this problem exists, that there is more to this world than their little bubble. BUT these problems cannot be fixed by uneducated Westerners flying over to “help”…. it just isn’t sustainable. Or practical for that matter.

KONY 2012

  Joseph Kony. Uganda. 2012.  

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I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t know much about Joseph Kony before this video, but I do now. And now is what matters. I have two choices: to sit with what I’ve learnt, or to do something about it. There’s a reason Ghandi says “be the change you want to see in the world”, CHANGE NEEDS TO START SOMEWHERE. And somewhere is YOU.

In a globalized and connected world, action is so easy, awareness is SO easy. This is our chance to take action. Not everything has to be a on a global, life-changing scale. The little things we do matter too. Donate that spare change, share that link. This is my first step; I want you all to please take out half an hour of your day and watch this movie. I guarantee you will get something out of it. I'm not selling you Invisible Children as an organization - I haven't done enough research to make that verdict- BUT I am recommending this video simply for the opportunity to be better informed.

 

On a bit of different note, I’m going to analyze this video from the standpoint of the Dragonfly Effect. This is a book I had to read a few weeks back for a course; it pretty much outlined how a few small steps can make big change. The reason I bring it up now is because the video was a perfect illustration of everything the authors said a successful social movement needed.

The Dragonfly Effect, written by Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith, teaches readers how to harness social media in order to drive social change… that is, how to translate good intentions into meaningful action. A dragonfly is a metaphor for the endless possibilities that one can achieve, namely because it is “the only insect that can move in any direction when its four wings are working in concert”.

Aaker and Smith provided four “wings” to create social change:

Focus, Grab Attention, Engage, and Take Action.

They essentially believe that implementing all four wings together can bring about unprecedented change. So did it work? Did Russell and his movie succeed with all four wings?