Volunteer tourism, or voluntourism, might seem innocuous initially, but further thought easily exposes the damages this 21st century trend among high school and college students has on the communities being “helped.” Voluntourism taps into a white savior complex that can be counterproductive to the benevolent but misguided volunteer’s intent. Undoubtedly, most who travel to volunteer likely have good intentions and do not mean to harm the communities they serve; yet, ironically, voluntourism is laden with detriments to the very people it is supposedly helping.
In reality, voluntourism is often aimed at benefitting the individual travelling. One Forbes article even praises “luxury voluntourism” and lists spas and hotels where visitors can also spend some time volunteering. Spending the duration of your stay in an expensive resort under the guise of helping people living in dire conditions is not only hypocritical — it’s also disrespectful. Voluntourism has become an opportunity for students to flaunt their altruism in exchange for Instagram or Facebook likes. A West London teacher notes, “under this temptation, charity work can become something to check off their list along with the Taj Mahal and hugging a baby tiger.”
So why can travelling to another country to volunteer for the less fortunate be so harmful? One must look to historical roots of colonialism and the current prevalence of imperialism. It is imperative to understand that many developing nations are still struggling with the impacts of colonialism. The economies, governments and social structures of many Latin American, African and South Asian countries have developed around structures once put in place to benefit the United States or Western European nations, such as unequal distribution of resources. Ignoring this history of oppression can lead voluntourists to perpetuate imperialistic ideals and behaviors, like inappropriate power relations. Voluntourists rarely ask for input from the communities, thereby enforcing the notion that American volunteers know what is best for a country they have likely never been to before. Going to an “underdeveloped” nation to volunteer perpetuates imperialistic views that these people are helpless and need aid from Western countries in order to prosper. This is often referred to as a “white savior complex” because (usually) a white American travels to a country and views his work as “saving” that community. In reality, it is entirely possible that underdeveloped nations would have quickly progressed if they had not been exploited by Western nations through colonialism.
There is, indeed, value in being exposed to cultures other than one’s own. However, there are ways in which travel abroad and volunteering can be damaging. Unfortunately, some voluntourists do not truly care about helping people and creating change that lasts after they leave; thus, the volunteer has a responsibility to take action to mitigate the harms of their privilege. I am not denouncing all forms of volunteering abroad — meaningful change can be implemented through volunteering — but we must be vigilant to avoid the detriments of voluntourism. Volunteers should research the area and become familiar with the customs, history and traditions of the people to familiarize oneself with the culture. This would aid in analyzing how best to honor and help the people of the communities. One leader of an education travel company found that “young travellers have good intentions, but what's missing is a humility and thoughtfulness that acknowledges that they don't know anything about the culture and language of their host country and what's been tried there before or who's leading the changes.” Thus, many voluntourists can ironically hinder social change in the communities they visit.
One young woman recounts her realization that her past voluntourism efforts were not well received:
“Our mission while at the orphanage was to build a library. Turns out that we… were so bad at the most basic construction work that each night the men had to take down the structurally unsound bricks we had laid and rebuild the structure.”
This might have been a more extreme case, but the message is clear: privileged American students are probably not the best people to be building orphanages, wells and libraries. A better, more effective use of resources may involve contracting locals businesses to build these structures. Not only would this provide jobs opportunities to locals, but the architecture will be built by individuals who know how to construct a building. Further, allowing community members to have input in these projects can increase likelihood that time, money and energy are well spent. After all, who would best know what a community needs than the community itself?
Ultimately, voluntourism can absolutely be beneficial, if executed well. But too often, young students don’t fully understand the exploitative nature of voluntourism.
Meghan Grumbling is a Viewpoint writer.
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