I was recently asked what I thought about the argument that international volunteers often take work away from local people. I thoroughly considered this objection when we designed our trips at PEPY, and I’m constantly aware of the question. At the same time I believe that it is important to encourage a spirit of volunteerism, [...]
Someone asked what the impact of many tour companies and individuals looking to offer philanthropic opportunities in developing areas might be…. here are my thoughts and a story from my experiences in Cambodia. I think that it can be a tricky line to walk for those entering a new culture or area and looking to [...]
My thoughts are, it’s not black and white – it’s not “all good” or “all bad”. In fact, personally, I find it mostly bad. Yet, it’s an industry I work in and believe in, because I think it CAN be done better. Added my thoughts to the discussion started by Easterly’s criticism of MDV projects [...]
I added more thoughts to this week’s development tourism discussion here. – I very much agree with your final paragraph: “voluntourists… should not be led to believe that they’re directly contributing anything other than cash to a development project on the ground.” The fact that many voluntourism and even longer term “volunteer” projects, marketed as ways [...]
First off…. we aren’t charging people to “volunteer”. We are charging people to go on a tour, feed them, put them up, and give them a chance to learn. But that’s besides the point…. Here are my other thoughts in response to a post asking why people should pay $280 to join our August PEPY [...]
Our friend Voluntourism Gal (Alexia Nestora) put this post out on the Adventure Travel Trade Association’s Hub asking for others thoughts. What do YOU think? Trad. Non-Profits vs. Volunteer Sending Organizations POST BY ALEXIA NESTORA The voluntourism field seems to be divided when it comes to the non-profits versus for-profits, but what about within the [...]
Also on VoluntourismGal’s website, I added my thoughts about “Faceless NGOs”. Should volunteer sending organizations list the name of their partner organizations on their site? Do they often fail to do so because they are trying to prevent people from working with that NGO directly? Does that then imply that their desire to support their [...]