Volunteer travel opportunities enhance your resumé, add another facet to your life-skills, in addition to being an all-round great experience.
But there’s a new buzzword – Voluntourism – what does it mean and how is it different from old-school voluntary work abroad?
The Voluntourism phenomenon
Is Voluntourism the new Peace Corps, or simply a new trend? Let’s take a closer look at the Voluntourism phenomenon. The broadsheets and internet are full of arguments for and against Voluntourism. Basically, volunteering abroad is something we are all familiar with. Years ago, one could explore the possibility of a year abroad, but only if you already possessed a skill such as teaching, nursing, or something practical such as carpentry. You could provide a positive impact within an impoverished community, addressing the three life basics:
- Education
- Sanitation
- Health
Who’s doing it?
Today, however, there’s a new kid on the block. Today’s Voluntourism applicants wipe away any previous imagery of of sage, middle-aged, experienced and kindly folk, sent to instruct locals who – naturally – sit rapt at their teacher’s Birkenstock-clad feet. Voluntourism screams Gap Year, Twenty-something, selfies, smartphones and meaningful status updates on Facebook or Instagram. Getting a close up of your Converse on rich red African soil is so much more Insta-friendly than just posing on Fifth Avenue. Anyway, everyone’s doing it, aren’t they?
A face for the brand
Crowd-sourcing and collaboration
A personal approach
As I write this article, I am weighing up the pros and the cons of Voluntourism on a personal level. Our seventeen year old has recently announced her imminent plans to volunteer in India. Skeptical, with an eye on our ethnic taste in interior design and taste for far-off places, I asked her why?
Because it’s better than sitting around with no job here – we live in mountainous, rural Spain – while I wait for my study course to start. I’m going to study Social Care anyway, so it’s a great foundation.
Okay, impressed so far, I glanced at the cost of these trips, not cheap by our standards. So, how will you finance it?
I get an inheritance starting from September anyway, I can use part of that to self-fund…
It was sounding good. Then in the next breath she asked for a GoPro camera for her birthday- I guess she’s a typical teen after all!
Will you decide to become a Volunteer?
There are several organizations that will handle it all for you, such as Projects Abroad. What do they say?
You can give back to communities in need, or protect endangered wildlife as you travel and volunteer with animals in stunning environments like rainforests.
There’s no guarantee, but it’s pretty much agreed you’ll return a changed person. You don’t have to be twenty-something either! Empowering a local community, enjoying a life-changing experience, creating change for generations to come, it’s all good.
