Voluntourism

 

During a discussion the other day about what states and countries folks on Ricochet have visited, I mentioned that one of the few foreign countries I’ve been to was Uganda. Rico member The Reticulator said that there was probably an interesting story in that. I responded with a link to an article that I ran across recently about “Voluntourism,” and he suggested it could make for an interesting post, so here goes.

I joined a group of high school kids from our church (including my daughter) in 2009 on a short term (one month) mission trip to Uganda. I’ve been a Christian for about 32 years (making that decision at age 23), and for whatever reason, I had always viewed these types of mission trips dubiously. My wife had been on one to Honduras when she was in high school and it had a lifelong impact on her, but I always thought that there were plenty of opportunities to help people here at home. Being a protective dad, however, when my teenage daughter felt the call to join this trip, I certainly wasn’t going to let her go without me!

My skepticism continued right up to the day we crawled on the plane. Prior to leaving, I spoke with a man who had been a missionary in Uganda for 19 years. He told me that the trip would have much more impact on me than it would on anyone in Uganda. He said that the people there often treat the evangelism efforts as a game – they know that if they tell the white people that they’ve accepted Jesus, they’ll get more stuff – so they’ve likely accepted Jesus many times before. Interestingly, however, he told me that I’d leave a piece of my heart in Africa and would forever pine to go back for it. He was correct on all counts.

The trip had a huge impact on my worldview. We visited an orphanage run by a woman and her two sons. Twenty-two lovely children laughing and playing. Until I read the article above, the thought that any of them might not be actual orphans never crossed my mind. Now I’m not sure. Upon my return, I put together a fundraising campaign for that orphanage and managed to raise almost $10,000.

About a year after my return, however, I got a bit of a shock. I had coffee with the young man who had led our group one day after he had returned from being over there for several months. He told me the orphanage was doing well. VERY well, in fact. It seems that there were at least three other groups or individuals like myself conducting fundraising efforts. The woman who runs it doesn’t tell anyone about the other groups providing funding because she’s afraid it will all be cut off, but suffice it to say that the kids were well taken care of. Shortly thereafter, she handed control over to a U.S. organization that runs several orphanages there, so I suspended the fundraising campaign and switched efforts to another organization with which I had become familiar.

I could type for hours about my experiences and the impacts they had on me, but primarily I wanted to start a discussion on this concept of Voluntourism and the misguided practices of the West to “help” the Third World. Virtually all of the “foreign aid” sent by the U.S., Canada and European countries goes directly to the bank accounts of the leaders of the country. Interestingly, I saw numerous infrastructure development projects going on – all of them run either by the Chinese or Arab entities. Rather than sending checks to the government, they send people in and provide them with the resources to build roads, water systems, sewers, etc. The Arab entities are trying to bring Islam to the people. The Chinese are just putting in the infrastructure they need to develop factories.

I’d love to hear thoughts from other Rico members on any experiences or thoughts you might have.

Published in General
Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 58 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    The Great Adventure!: Being a protective Dad, however, when my teenage daughter felt the call to join this trip, I certainly wasn’t going to let her go without me!

    Amen, brother!

    • #1
  2. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    The Great Adventure!: Virtually all of the “foreign aid” sent by the US, Canada and European countries to these countries goes directly to the bank accounts of the leaders of the country.

    Apropos of nothing: Since 2007, the current Conservative government in Canada has tried to crack down on such wasteful “aid” by refocusing foreign aid programs on specific, accountable, measurable projects.

    This change in focus has been titled the “Aid Effectiveness Agenda“.

    Of course, all the “aid” activists (and “professionals”) are outraged by this, predictably, denouncing it as “budget cuts in disguise”.

    Combine this foreign aid strategy with Canada’s aggressive negotiation of Free Trade Agreements with developing and emerging countries, and I think good ol’ Canuckistan is a pretty good role model for how to do things…

    …at least until the next Trudeau becomes Prime Minister.

    • #2
  3. The Great Adventure! Inactive
    The Great Adventure!
    @TheGreatAdventure

    Another interesting item I found while over there – the US bans all agricultural product imports from Uganda.  Since it is primarily an agrarian economy, this effectively prevents them from developing their country internally through trade.

    • #3
  4. Mendel Inactive
    Mendel
    @Mendel

    I have become very cynical regarding volunteering or supporting third-world aid projects.

    Years ago, my wife volunteered for six months at a Catholic orphanage in India. She did the legwork to find one which was not linked to a western organization, but rather was run and funded locally. Nonetheless, they were constantly fishing for western attention, and my wife was directed to help the kids choreograph the “spontaneous” songs and dances they would perform in case they were able to attract other western visitors.

    And those visitors were often academic groups working in fields with lofty names like “Developmental Science” who would travel to third-world countries to “study” aid projects like this orphanage (while not realizing that most of their “real-life observations” were scripted in advance). These academic groups would then take a week or two to “discuss” their findings on the beaches of Goa with beers in hand, in the process dropping more money on entertainment than the orphanage’s annual revenue.

    • #4
  5. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    The Great Adventure!:Another interesting item I found while over there – the US bans all agricultural product imports from Uganda. Since it is primarily an agrarian economy, this effectively prevents them from developing their country internally through trade.

    Prior to 2007, by law more than half of all food aid (and a third of non-food aid) had to be purchased in Canada .  That’s one of the things the Conservative government changed, since it clearly was more about paying off Canadian farmers and (politically-connected) manufacturers than it was about developing self-sufficiency in developing countries.

    • #5
  6. The Great Adventure! Inactive
    The Great Adventure!
    @TheGreatAdventure

    Misthiocracy

    The Great Adventure!:Another interesting item I found while over there – the US bans all agricultural product imports from Uganda. Since it is primarily an agrarian economy, this effectively prevents them from developing their country internally through trade.

    Prior to 2007, by law more than half of all food aid (and a third of non-food aid) had to be purchased in Canada .  That’s one of the things the Conservative government changed, since it clearly was more about paying off Canadian farmers and (politically-connected) manufacturers than it was about developing self-sufficiency in developing countries.

    I have to say that I’m really pleased that there are (assuming) Canadians on board here at Ricochet.  I grew up in BC but have been gone for many years, and developments in Canada don’t often hit the radar screen of US media.

    • #6
  7. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    The Great Adventure!:
    I have to say that I’m really pleased that there are (assuming) Canadians on board here at Ricochet. I grew up in BC but have been gone for many years, and developments in Canada don’t often hit the radar screen of US media.

    Especially when those developments are conservative success stories.

    Of course, those types of stories don’t hit the radar screen of Canadian media either.

    The Conservative government’s most recent push is a targeted program to promote maternal, newborn, and child health.

    Naturally, the media’s focus has been on how organizations that provide abortion services are not eligible for financial support.  Sigh…

    • #7
  8. The Great Adventure! Inactive
    The Great Adventure!
    @TheGreatAdventure

    Mendel

    I have become very cynical regarding volunteering or supporting third-world aid projects.

     Nonetheless, they were constantly fishing for western attention, and my wife was directed to help the kids choreograph the “spontaneous” songs and dances they would perform in case they were able to attract other western visitors.

    And those visitors were often academic groups working in fields with lofty names like “Developmental Science” who would travel to third-world countries to “study” aid projects like this orphanage (while not realizing that most of their “real-life observations” were scripted in advance). These academic groups would then take a week or two to “discuss” their findings on the beaches of Goa with beers in hand, in the process dropping more money on entertainment than the orphanage’s annual revenue.

    Our “discussion” took place while on a safari at Murchison Falls National Park.  The lodge that we stayed at was about the level of a Marriott hotel, and the food was vastly superior to anything we ate while in Kampala or Gulu.  

    • #8
  9. Mendel Inactive
    Mendel
    @Mendel

    I doubt that either of us have any qualms about the tourism aspect alone. Genuine tourism brings in hard dollars to productive sectors of these countries and lets them utilize their comparative advantages.

    But I’ve slowly become convinced that coupling such hedonistic (used in a strict sense) goals with supposedly altruistic ones does nobody on any side of the equation any good: if anything, it leaves the rich westerners with the impression that things are “looking up” in the third-world country due to their invaluable help, while shielding them from the fact that these countries are actually being held back by structural factors which our foreign and aid policies actually promote.

    I am particularly cynical when it comes to the trend of high school teenagers participating in expensive, parental-funded “volunsafaris” for 2 weeks in Africa as a means of padding their college applications. The layers of bad incentives in those types of trips are too numerous to list.

    • #9
  10. The Great Adventure! Inactive
    The Great Adventure!
    @TheGreatAdventure

    Mendel

    I am particularly cynical when it comes to the trend of high school teenagers participating in expensive, parental-funded “volunsafaris” for 2 weeks in Africa as a means of padding their college applications. The layers of bad incentives in those types of trips are too numerous to list.

    Agreed.  In my daughter’s defense, the thought of padding a college app never crossed our minds – after completing high school she worked for 2 years and started attending community college this past Fall, so there was never any significant college entrance objective.

    I completely understand your cynicism – I have a pretty full dose of it myself.  On the flip side, I came away with a profound understanding of just how ridiculously wealthy we are – even in the middle class, even in the lower class.  The poorest in the US don’t have to walk a mile every morning to fill up a 5 gallon plastic jerry can of water.  In the US, we call cooking over charcoal “barbecue” – over there, it’s their only choice.  We take indoor plumbing, regular garbage collection and so many other things completely for granted.

    When I returned, I would try to describe the poverty to my friends.  I often heard “Well, you can’t feel guilty about what you have.”  My response was usually “How can I not?”

    • #10
  11. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    Mendel:I am particularly cynical when it comes to the trend of high school teenagers participating in expensive, parental-funded “volunsafaris” for 2 weeks in Africa as a means of padding their college applications. The layers of bad incentives in those types of trips are too numerous to list.

    Pack ’em up and put ’em on a bus to “help” a US Indian Reservation or a Canadian Native Reserve.

    The reception by those being “helped” will be far less cozy than on a packaged African volunholiday. They’ve had way too much experience getting “help” from good-intentioned white folk.

    But then, where’s the fun if you’re not received with adoration akin to cargo cult worship.

    • #11
  12. iWc Coolidge
    iWc
    @iWe

    My kid goes to a school that provides a full menu of these kinds of options. Spending time in India or Africa does pad one’s college resume, because Admissions departments are almost universally liberal, so they believe in nonsense causes.

    • #12
  13. iWc Coolidge
    iWc
    @iWe

    The Great Adventure!:When I returned, I would try to describe the poverty to my friends. I often heard “Well, you can’t feel guilty about what you have.” My response was usually “How can I not?”

    You should not feel guilty. You should feel committed to making the world better for all, in ways that actually work.

    Promote liberty: free markets and free minds the world over. And above all, open up free trade with the Third World.

    • #13
  14. Mendel Inactive
    Mendel
    @Mendel

    Misthiocracy:

    Pack ‘em up and put ‘em on a bus to “help” a US Indian Reservation or a Canadian Native Reserve.

    The reception by those being “helped” will be far less cozy than on a packaged African volunholiday. They’ve had way too much experience getting “help” from good-intentioned white folk.

    On a serious note, I have much more respect for high school/college volunteer programs that ship rich suburban kids into American inner cities than for African “adventure volunteering”.

    The plight of poor Africans is so removed from that of a wealthy American that I fear many young adults simply do not have the capacity to relate. However, the connections of that same young adult to inner-city Americans is much closer, and might allow them to gain a real appreciation for such hardships, as well as for the utility (or lack thereof) of their efforts.

    • #14
  15. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    < devil’s advocate mode = on >

    It is pretty easy to say that there are better ways to help African countries develop their economies, and that this sort of voluntourism does more hard than good, HOWEVER, will there ever really be a better option for North Americans than well-intentioned charity as long as European countries refuse to drop their punitive tariffs on African agricultural products?

    For African countries to build strong free enterprise, they need access to markets, and it feels that Europe shows no sign of opening its markets to African producers any time soon.

    From that point-of-view, is it right to tell North American do-gooders to come up with better ways to spend their own money?

    < devil’s advocate mode = off >

    • #15
  16. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    iWc:

    The Great Adventure!:When I returned, I would try to describe the poverty to my friends. I often heard “Well, you can’t feel guilty about what you have.” My response was usually “How can I not?”

    You should not feel guilty. You should feel committed to making the world better for all, in ways that actually work.

    Promote liberty: free markets and free minds the world over. And above all, open up free trade with the Third World.

    Yabbut, short of investing in microfinance banking, how is your average North American “missionary” teenager supposed to “promote free trade” in a way that looks good to a progressive college admissions bureaucrat?

    Best option for teens looking to pad a resume: Make ’em volunteer with local anti-poverty charities. If they want to see the world, they can do that as a genuine tourist rather than couching it in sentimental faux do-goodism.

    • #16
  17. iWc Coolidge
    iWc
    @iWe

    Misthiocracy:< devil’s advocate mode = on >

    It is pretty easy to say that there are better ways to help African countries develop their economies, and that this sort of voluntourism does more hard than good, HOWEVER, will there ever really be a better option for North Americans than well-intentioned charity as long as European countries refuse to drop their punitive tariffs on African agricultural products?

    The US is a viable market for many things grown in Africa. Free trade with the US would be a really wonderful aid for both countries.

    • #17
  18. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    iWc:

    Misthiocracy:< devil’s advocate mode = on >

    It is pretty easy to say that there are better ways to help African countries develop their economies, and that this sort of voluntourism does more hard than good, HOWEVER, will there ever really be a better option for North Americans than well-intentioned charity as long as European countries refuse to drop their punitive tariffs on African agricultural products?

    The US is a viable market for many things grown in Africa. Free trade with the US would be a really wonderful aid for both countries.

    The distance involved doesn’t present a logistical issue for agricultural products?

    • #18
  19. Charlotte Member
    Charlotte
    @Charlotte

    Here is a non-CoC-compliant (really–lots of swearing because, you know, it’s Louis CK), but highly relevant and funny bit from Louis CK. It’s all good, but skip to 2:25 if you just want the part that relates to TGA’s topic.

    • #19
  20. iWc Coolidge
    iWc
    @iWe

    Misthiocracy:

    iWc:

    The US is a viable market for many things grown in Africa. Free trade with the US would be a really wonderful aid for both countries.

    The distance involved doesn’t present a logistical issue for agricultural products?

    Much of Africa is REALLY FAR from Europe as well. So there is a cost for freight, but eliminating tariffs would clearly make things more competitive. Comparative Advantage would mean quite a lot of African ag products would end up in the US.

    • #20
  21. Mendel Inactive
    Mendel
    @Mendel

    Misthiocracy:

    The US is a viable market for many things grown in Africa. Free trade with the US would be a really wonderful aid for both countries.

    The distance involved doesn’t present a logistical issue for agricultural products?

    Not an expert, but I don’t think it’s insurmountable.

    A lot probably depends on the product: after all, we already import a great deal of coffee from Africa. Also, quite a bit of the produce sold in northern Europe in winter comes from Africa, so there is certainly some precedent for shipping perishable food from Africa to fairly far-flung markets.

    • #21
  22. The Great Adventure! Inactive
    The Great Adventure!
    @TheGreatAdventure

    Charlotte

    Here is a non-CoC-compliant (really–lots of swearing because, you know, it’s Louis CK), but highly relevant and funny bit from Louis CK. It’s all good, but skip to 2:25 if you just want the part that relates to TGA’s topic.

    That is fantastic!

    • #22
  23. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    Maybe we’re approaching this topic from the wrong direction.

    Instead of poo-poohing people who choose to spend their own money on packaged beach vacations masquerading as foreign aid, maybe we should see their existence as a business opportunity instead.

    The United States has beaches, after all. The United States has poor people.

    Let’s open up a soup kitchen in Ft. Lauderdale and charge high school students thousands of dollars to spend a week or two ladeling soup during the day and dancing the night away in the evening, with a nice certificate at the end that they can present to the college admissions committee!

    Oh, wait, now I see the appeal of third world excursions.

    No legal drinking age.

    • #23
  24. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Someone earlier mentioned the Chinese and Arabs, with the Chinese building infrastructure to build factories. That is the approach that will really change things and bring up the standards of living.

    Ask yourself, “Why are the Chinese building factories in Africa?”

    You may come up with the answer of, “Cheap labor.”

    But, I thought China had cheap labor. Isn’t that why products are built there?

    Ah, but the standard of living in China is rising. Lather, rinse, repeat.

    • #24
  25. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    Seriously, the more I think about it, the more I’m believing that’s the key to this scam.

    How do you tap a gigantic market of hormonal 17-year-olds eager to cut loose during Spring Break, but thwarted by parents with (only) an ounce of common sense?

    Wrap the whole package in altruism and/or religion!

    “Your precious flowers will be cared for and protected by trained humanitarians as we venture into countries where the beer is 10 cents a bottle, prostitution is completely legal, and all the beaches are clothing-optional. We’ll make sure your singularly exceptional honor society progeny spend all their time building huts, and not partaking of any nightlife or youthful shenanigans. Trust us. We’re missionaries.”

    (Now that my memory has been freshened, I do remember a girl I once knew who went on a “mission” to Cambodia and came home pregnant.)

    • #25
  26. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    Arahant:Someone earlier mentioned the Chinese and Arabs, with the Chinese building infrastructure to build factories. That is the approach that will really change things and bring up the standards of living.

    Ask yourself, “Why are the Chinese building factories in Africa?”

    You may come up with the answer of, “Cheap labor.”

    But, I thought China had cheap labor. Isn’t that why products are built there?

    Ah, but the standard of living in China is rising. Lather, rinse, repeat.

    Also, many of the raw materials are in Africa. Why bear the expense of shipping the materials all the way to China when you can simply manufacture the finished product in-country?

    • #26
  27. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    Arahant:Ask yourself, “Why are the Chinese building factories in Africa?”

    Because African countries hate white people and won’t let us build factories there since they were the ones that kicked the white devil out in the first place?

    I’m sure that’s not the reason.

    • #27
  28. The Great Adventure! Inactive
    The Great Adventure!
    @TheGreatAdventure

    Misthiocracy

    Arahant:Ask yourself, “Why are the Chinese building factories in Africa?”

    Because African countries hate white people and won’t let us build factories there since they were the ones that kicked the white devilout in the first place?

    I’m sure that’s not the reason.

    It might have a bearing, but it seemed to me that white people were almost worshipped – at least by the people on the streets.  Everywhere we went in our little bus there would be small children chasing along the road, shouting “MZUNGU” (white person)!  It was actually a little creepy.

    I think the primary reason the Chinese are building infrastructure and businesses is that they’re smarter than us.

    • #28
  29. Limestone Cowboy Coolidge
    Limestone Cowboy
    @LimestoneCowboy

    The Great Adventure!: …..and for whatever reason, I had always viewed these types of mission trips dubiously. My wife had been on one to Honduras when she was in high school and it had lifelong impacts on her, but I always held a view that there were plenty of opportunities to help people here

    TGA, I agree with both of these points. For the cost of airfare and accomodation, one could hire locals to accomplish most of what the kids will do.

    You and I make the same exception, and that is for local mission trips. Our United Methodist Church here in Texas sponsors week-long summer mission trips called UM Army, in which teens undertake small building and maintenance projects: typically replacing broken windows and screens, building wheelchair ramps, patching or replacing roofs,  or simply cleaning up yards and interiors. The clients are generally either old or disabled and almost always at or near poverty level.

    The volunteers are transported (and supervised) by parent-volunteers in cars, and generally accomodated in a church hall.

    I live in an affluent area and for some of our teens deprivation looks like an older model smartphone.  The impact of these visits on the teens can be profound.

    1. They learn that there are people living in privation just a few hours from home. Many times they are shocked at what they see.
    2. They learn that even their modest skills can make a difference: in a mosquito-infested area a repaired screen makes all the difference if you can’t run your air conditioner 24/7 due to electric costs.
    3. Even at the expense of on-the-job efficiency we encourage the teens to spend as much time as they wish talking to the client(s).  In many cases the elderly have infrequent visitors, and the human comfort of company probably outweighs the material benefit received.
    4. And just maybe our teens receive nuggets of insight and wisdom from the clients. My daughter was deeply moved by the loving care provided by family to a severly disabled young man, for whom she and her team spend a day constructing a wheelchair ramp.  BUT! That ramp meant that the elderly parents could wheel their son to a van, instead of carrying him.

    Other posters have commented that the volunteers benefit more than the designated beneficiaries: From my perspective as a parent-volunteer I agree completely.

    So I really encourage readers of this post to investigate local opportunities for service before engaging in what other posters have (perhaps unfairly) characterized as “college application building”. (To credit the kids and their parents I sincerely hope it’s more than that .)

    • #29
  30. Mendel Inactive
    Mendel
    @Mendel

    Limestone Cowboy:

    So I really encourage readers of this post to investigate local opportunities for service before engaging in what other posters have (perhaps unfairly) characterized as “college application building”.

    As one of the people who leveled that charge early and often, I would say the trend of which I despair is much different than what you describe.

    My high school sent kids to top-tier colleges, and volunteering was considered a “prerequisite” to get into the Ivies. But of course, what actually counted was having one’s name on a list somewhere, so most kids would typically sign up to volunteer (usually 1-2 hours per week), go for the first two weeks and then never show up again.

    The upshot of this – aside from rewarding teenagers for their bad behavior – was that the soup kitchens and adult eds in our town had serious manning difficulties and ended up underserving their populations, to the extent that several started refusing students from our school.

    What you describe sounds much, much better, especially with the adults who both supervise the kids and help them understand the significance of their volunteer work.

    • #30
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.