How to analyze volunteer travel opportunities and make responsible decisions.
Is my volunteer trip helpful or hurtful? Yes, it is. The truth is even the best voluntourism experience can cause harm to the community you’re trying to support. On one hand, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Ouch. But then, as Mother Theresa said, “the greatest good is what we do for one another.” So, if you want to have more of the good, and less of the well-intentioned hell, make sure you get the answers to all of these questions.
(Heads up- there are some affiliate links at the end to meaningful reads on responsible volunteering, near or far. You know the drill: at no extra cost to you a purchase from the link will provide me a small commission. I’ve read and enjoyed them all and, regardless, transparency matters.)
What is Voluntourism?
It started as a catchy hybrid for volunteering while traveling. But now voluntourism has also become a nasty word in some circles. For some it’s a symbol of privileged, clueless cultural vampires flying in to carry some water, teach a class, take pictures with children and feel good about themselves. To others it’s a necessary research tool, the magic keyword that rolls out opportunities.
For us in this article, I’m going to use voluntourism neutrally. Just a shortened buzzword for any volunteering while traveling. No judgment.
What is Needed Versus What You Want
Before you start flipping through destinations and searching for the right program, stop for a second and ask yourself this question, “What skills do I have to offer?” One of the biggest differences in voluntourism being good or bad, helpful or not, is whether you are actually offering a needed service that YOU can do.
When I went to Nepal I would really have loved to ditch the mental health background that was burning me out. It would have been fun to stay at the Buddhist monastery and teach English. I would have really liked to teach one of the tangible skills to help women start a business. But I’m a terrible teacher when it comes to language and I have no idea how to weave or which crops to plant. It would have been fun to be someone else with a different skill. But, I can’t run from it: I’m a mental health therapist. The skill I had to offer: creating an educational curriculum on mental health awareness.
Being a volunteer in another culture is naturally unbalanced. You take more than you get in almost every instance. You want your efforts to be long-lasting. If community members can build on what you’ve done, you’re making a contribution. But in order to offer something that can either be finished or replicated over and over, you need to have skills.
Questions: “What skills do I have? What can I offer that other communities need (and not just something that I want to do)?”
Understanding Fees
Alright, I’m going to say something that a vocal chunk of the volunteering travel world doesn’t agree with: paying to volunteer doesn’t automatically mean it’s a bad program. There are a lot of forums full of people saying, “Don’t pay to volunteer! It’s all a scam! I showed up at (insert place) and went to a (monastery, school, hospital, etc.) and was able to volunteer for free.” And folks, that is wonderful. If you have the navigational skills, the confidence, and don’t have loved ones that need the comfort of an agency to contact, go for it.
But, a lot of us don’t fit all of those requirements. I’ve also spent my entire adult life working for non-profits. When an organization has employees, there are expenses. A lot of us enjoy directly serving others as a career, and we also need to pay our bills.
So, here are the things to look at with fees and this DOES determine quickly whether the voluntourism program is good or bad for it’s community.
What do your fees go towards? You should be able to see a breakdown of the fees. Again, honest programs have nothing to hide.
How many of the organization’s employees are local/based in country? If a good percentage of the agency’s expenses go towards salaries (not uncommon), how many of those employees live in the community? How many are citizens of the country? Many organizations pay hefty salaries to management companies based out of the country.
How much is the fee? There’s no “avoid this price point” because cost depends on length of time in country and the activity. But it’s safe to say that if you’re paying thousands or even close to it you’re WAY over the average costs of the country you’re in. This is another tell-tale sign that you are paying expenses for an advanced infrastructure in another country. More money spent doesn’t mean more money goes directly to the community or local employees.
Where are you staying? Part of your fee normally goes towards accommodation. Watch the hotel stays. Many organizations charge you a higher rate than the much cheaper, local one. Your best bet is a program that has you stay with a host. You get a richer cultural experience and your money for accommodations and food supports a local family. Just make sure you have a good sense of what to expect from your host stay.
The Right Questions to Ask the Organization
There are a LOT of organizations, or NGOs, out there. And here is another area where it is crucial to separate voluntourism into good or bad. Many are truly trying to help a community, even if they are not doing so effectively. Others are out to make money, a whole lotta money, off of volunteers worldwide who want to travel with purpose.
While there are some tools and organizations that rate and judge various NGOs, there are always loopholes. Sometimes solid grassroots NGOs can’t compete on those sites with the big names in non-profit. And bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better. Your two best bets: read reviews and talk to past volunteers, and ask tons of questions.
Things you’re going to want to know:
What is a typical day like for your volunteers? Here’s a hint- there is probably going to be a lot more free time that requires more initiative than you would have thought. If an NGO owns that up front, it’s not a good thing.
Can I talk to past or current volunteers? Reviews, whether for volunteer organizations can be faked just like they are on shopping sites. Go to the source.
What are the biggest frustrations for volunteers on your project? The most common frustrations: feeling like you’re not doing enough and like things aren’t organized enough for you to do your job. As the director of the program I volunteered with talked about multiple times, many people have unrealistic expectations for how much they will accomplish in the time they’re volunteering. But if complaints range to lack of training, support, misrepresentations of living conditions, etc., beware.
Will I work in a team or alone, and will I be supervised? What language skills do I need? For my experience, having a local volunteer that partnered with me was crucial. He not only translated, but was a guide through all of the customs I didn’t fully understand in spite of a lot of reading and prep. It would have been a very lonely experience, not to mention worthless to the communities, if I hadn’t had his support, another volunteer’s, and the program leader checking in regularly.
What aspects of my volunteer experience will I need to organize myself? It was a bit eye-opening when I first found out I would have to figure out how to catch the unreliable Nepali bus on the road near my host house and travel down the valley to Kathmandu for a program meeting. Who am I kidding, it was terrifying on day 3. The host family helped me, but I should have asked about this beforehand to be prepared.
What should I wear during work? During leisure hours? Clothes aren’t just about what you should pack, but what works and what is culturally appropriate. A good program should not only be able to give you a list, but provide you with information before arrival and then a training once you’re there on customs, clothing, needs, and so on.
What are the safety concerns of living and working in the area? Everywhere has safety concerns. Even Disney World. A reputable program wants to freely discuss any political instability, gendered violence, natural disasters, food safety, crime, and environmental concerns. A good voluntourism program wants knowledgeable and prepared volunteers who actually work on issues. Again, they’ve got nothing to hide.
What does the organization expect from a great volunteer? A good voluntourism program wants you to succeed. They want you to be productive. They want GREAT volunteers that can get in there, be active, be effective, and need as little hand-holding as possible. That’s what all organizations want. A reputable organization should have strong, clear answers for what they expect from volunteers and you should even sign something saying that you understand what they want beyond the absolution of liabilities. Bad voluntourism opportunities don’t spend much time drawing all this out. They want you to come, pay your fees, and they’ll find some way to fill some time.
Volunteering with Children- Avoid Orphanages!
Just a few quick words about volunteering with children. A lot of volunteers want to work with children and there is nothing wrong with that desire. Please remember that it is not healthy for any children anywhere to become deeply attached to a revolving door of people that they don’t see again. The research in psychology is very clear about the negative impact of these attachment breaks on adult relationships when children grow up. If you volunteer with kids, make sure your role is appropriate for the length of time you’ll work with them.
Think about what type of supervision and background checks you’d need to work with children in your own country. If a program doesn’t watch you or check your background and turns you loose by yourself with a group of kids, you should be skeptical. And please, please, please, don’t volunteer with orphanages. The sad reality is that in many countries parents are conned and children are trafficked and presented as “orphans” for volunteers to pay to come and help. Don’t support unethical practices. Supporting families so children can stay at home is always a better solution.
Resources
The more you know, both about your area and volunteering itself, the better your experience will be. These books go deeper than destination and into ethical volunteer work.
When Helping Hurts– when well-intentions go wrong and how to stop it
Dead Aid– how modern foreign aid has been damaging
Half the Sky– women’s health and opportunity determines the entire country’s economic path. Global volunteering for ethical empowerment of women.
Poor Economics– challenges most NGO structures and pushes free will-aid
The Life You Can Save– a 7 step guide to ethical volunteering
Little Princes: One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal– an intro into the shady racket of “orphanage volunteering” and an appeal to otherwise help families
May the road rise to meet you travelers, and may you give back a little of what you get.
I love this post! Thank you for getting this message out. It is especially important to think about the reasoning for WHY you want to volunteer, if it is to help or if it is to feed your own ego and show off on Instagram. I really support volunteering when done the right way and I hope I can do it while traveling long term and not being restricted on time (it is obviously harder to leave a building brick for a community to continue developing in a week than in a month or more).
Saving this for future reference:) Keep up the good work, lady!
This is such a nice guide. I was looking for options to volunteer last year and all I saw were programs where I had to pay a lot of money. I do understand that one needs to pay some money towards boarding and lodging but some of them were ridiculous. This gives a good explanation of what to look for.
Thank you, Raksha! I am certainly not the only resource out there, but if you ever have any questions, I’d be happy to discuss!
Great points covered in here!
Thank you! 🙂
Such an important topic to bring awareness to. I think you covered a lot of great points here. One additional thing to think about is whether the volunteer positions could be done by a local. Often time orgs that seem good could actually be creating more and longer-lasting change if they employ locals instead of a constantly-changing stream of volunteers. There are definitely some positions and situations where it does make a lot of sense to have volunteers, but thinking about this aspect critically is important.
Fantastic point, Katie. I’m going to go back and add that to this piece. While a lot of focus was on the international volunteers in the program I worked for, none of it would have been possible without the local volunteers. And the work was so demanding for people who were also trying to live their lives (most were students) that there was high turnover. Employment, at least partial, would definitely be a better option. Thank you for that reminder!
Rebecca – I really appreciate the questions you raise in this post. I worked at an economic development cooperative in Guatemala City, and there is also an international volunteer program that the organization runs. You are spot on with your questions because when a volunteer shows up without a real understanding of the situation it is not good for that individual or for the organization you are volunteering with.
A few specific points you shared that I think are really important:
– Fees – Yes, you’re right. Paying a fee isn’t a bad thing. Volunteers are not free for the organization. It takes time, resources and manpower to coordinate and manage volunteers.
– Where are you staying is another great one! I would also add that volunteers should understand how far or close they are to a city. For example, how feasible is it to be able to travel around and do some sightseeing on weekends? Is that safe?
– One additional question I would add is to make sure before volunteering you ask about specific concerns regarding being a single woman, LGBTQ+ safety or if you have any specific health concerns that may be important to consider.
Again, thanks for this list. Hope folks who are new to international volunteerism read this!
Thank you for your support and feedback. I whole-heartedly agree with that piece about how far or close you are to the city as well. I’m going to add those specific pieces too. One of the couples who started orientation at the same time I did (and ended roughly at the same time) was 8 hours away from Kathmandu on a very…demanding bus route. And while they still had a good experience in many ways, it was certainly much different than the one I had. I’m going to add more on the gender and LGBTQ+ pieces as well. Thank you, Courtney!
Great post. I hadn’t considered many of the points you brought up.
Thank you, Sharyn!