Daniela Papi wrote a great post the other day giving advice to a young lady interested in volunteering overseas. Her very first point was to consider volunteering locally first. It is a valid point and one that comes up frequently. Why travel across the world when you can volunteer in your own community?
My office is in Gastown- the infamous downtown eastside of Vancouver. Things can get so sad here at times that at one point my husband commented that of everywhere he has been in the world (we have travelled a fair bit), nothing shocks him more than what he sees in the alleys of Gastown. The thing is Vancouverites can just as easily choose to ignore the downtown eastside as they can what is happening elsewhere in the world. You don’t have to drive through this area of Vancouver. And if you do you can roll up your windows and lock the doors. Your home can be a 15 minute walk from here and you can almost forget any problem exists.
So why get involved in community development half way around the world when there are opportunities to get involved where you live? I have this little catchline for what I do. It used to be “the world is becoming smaller” but that didn’t make sense. It is now “the world is becoming more connected.” For good and for bad this is the case. For good- it is a good thing that we are concerned about all humankind regardless of where they live and what their circumstances are. For bad- we have something at stake when we ignore the hardships of people elsewhere- peace and poverty are inextricably linked and the impact can be felt half way around the world. And I am not just referring to conflict or terrorism. Perhaps more relevant would be issues of food security, climate change, environmental degradation, and health.
Poverty in your home community (and everything that comes with it) is different than in other countries around the world. The cause of poverty, the impact of poverty on the local population, and the issues surrounding poverty (health, education, job opportunities, etc) are different. Volunteering when done well, can be a great way to learn first hand about community development in other areas of the world. One benefit of learning about community development elsewhere is understanding the differences between poverty in the “Global North” and poverty in the “Global South.” This allows you to be better informed about global issues and will help you to make informed decisions as to the role you want your country to take overseas (in conflicts, in aid, in development) and in deciding what charities to support and where to donate your money.
On a personal level what you choose to do half way around the world will impact your life back home. People that volunteer overseas are more likely to return to their home community to volunteer locally and become committed to local governance and local community development. Sometimes it takes an experience far away from your every day life to help you gain a new perspective on your home community. It was my husband’s experiences overseas that enabled him to really notice the downtown eastside. And he returned home more interested than ever in being committed to local issues.
You hit most of what I see as the key points.
The part that I think is largely missing from the ongoing voluntourism conversation and debate (overall, not picking on you
) is simply that international volunteering is really about *the volunteer.* It’s about what she or he gets out of the experience. It’s about how it changes her or his life. About how that kind of up-close-and-personal interaction with the world’s poor opens their eyes and their worlds.
And in my opinion those are more or less valid reasons for wanting to pursue voluntourism (obviously with a very large number of caveats). It *does* change your world. It surely changed mine – I got my start in international humanitarian aid as a result of being a volunteer.
But I think we need to come around to openly acknowleging that voluntourism thing for what it is (and, importantly, what it is not): it is about the volunteer.
J. Thank you for contributing your comment. Greatly appreciated. I do agree with you. I think when we are honest about how and who benefits from the experience we can then start to make beneficial changes to the whole experience.
Briefly, being honest about how the community could benefit includes:
1) Giving back to the community through fundraising for a project the community wants to see happen (not what you want to see happen).
2) Working with existing local organizations (rather than creating something new).
3) Ensuring the local community has a say in the project and better yet has control over the project.
4) Using the fundraising experience in your home community to raise awareness for the community and organizations you parter with.
Great post, Jane. It is the honesty / transparency about these exchanges that is so often lacking. What is the volunteer trying to get out of the experience? What is the sponsoring (local) organization hoping to get out of it? And what are the costs and benefits to those being ‘helped’. There needs to be a good balance among these. But without the discussion, a good balance is hard to come by. I’m reminded of a quote I tweeted recently: “The first lesson of building community is that everyone needs to be able to speak their truth.” To work on cross-cultural communities we have to work on ‘safe spaces’ for all to ‘speak their truth’.
Bonnie, you touch on a very important point. It is so easy to go into a community and think you are having a conversation where everyone feels able and safe to speak “their truth.” I believe this is a challenge in many community development scenarios- particularly in areas where people feel like if they don’t agree with the ideas of the aid provider they might lose out on an opportunity- regardless of whether that opportunity is right for them. The flip side of course is it is so easy to go into a community with all “your” preconceived ideas. It is much more challenging- but vital- to create an environment where the community members can voice their ideas- unimpeded by the unspoken power dynamic of the “have’s and have not’s.”
How come so few people return from the Global South to talk about collaborative solutions to global poverty? Many people talk about THEIR organizations which help global poverty; substantially fewer talk about the Millennium Development Goals?
Why is this? We could use a few people to act locally in support of global thinking and action. If everyone traveling down South to help would tax themselves 5% ($100 on a $2,000 trip) for these efforts, much could be done.
If you want to organize a viewing party for TEDxChange, there’s still time to do so. Doesn’t need to be fancy.
http://www.ted.com/pages/view/id/446
If you want to organize a debate afterwards on “Just give money to the poor instead”, that’s fine. Get folks thinking and exploring, not donating and then turning off their brains and hearts.
(This isn’t to say there shouldn’t be “voluntourism” as some critics of it were easily misunderstood to be saying. Just don’t go back to your normal life after, as dozens and dozens of people in my hometown have done.)
Thanks Jim. Curious how the tax would be implemented and applied. I think you are right that people often don’t do much when they come home. Perhaps they don’t know how to fit it into their every day life. But raising awareness after a trip is an important component of the experience. Sometimes people do quietly apply what they learn to their personal lives- through the charities they contribute to, how they vote etc.
Interesting post Jane. I think that experience that you describe in terms of the downtown east side in Vancouver is something I have thought about as well. I wrote a post about how people view problems in their own communities a couple of weeks back
http://shawn-bapala.blogspot.com/2010/09/problem-of-proximity.html
I wonder if people are willing to volunteer abroad because in a way it is less of a commitment. If you were to volunteer to address problems in your local community then you would have to accept the fact that you are living in, contributing to, and possibly profiting from a system that creates those problems. In a way it might be easier to fly off somewhere and volunteer to address problems for which it is easier to rationalize away your responsibility.
Hi Jane -
I just found this post. Thank you for linking to by blog and for continuing the conversation.
I want to add to points. One thing that has bothered me about voluntourism is the point J makes – we should call a spade a spade. It is GREAT that voluntourism is changing the lives of the wealthy traveling elite (myself and likely most of us reading this included) – but then let’s acknowledge that. That is OK – as long as we are taking the other areas you and others mention into account – and as long as we are not running around proclaiming we are saving the world in a week – but instead LEARNING how to improve the world, and mostly improving ourselves along the way.
I had not really considered the impact “being needed” or “doing good” has on us, when isolated from the poverty discrepancy and wealthy elite “guilt” situation involved in most voluntourism….. until I listened to this podcast. http://reader.pepyride.org/a-travelers-transformation-from-voluntourism
When you have time – listen up. This is a perspective we rarely hear – from someone who has grown up in poverty: in a gang before being a teenager, abused, etc. One could argue that Lesly’s life was “changed” by his voluntourism experience because of the realization that he could be needed in the world – could do good in the world. I thought this piece was really powerful and it was a perspective I had not look at this issue from before.
FYI – my friend is the founder of Globalhood, the group Lesly traveled with, and when I head this piece, I asked if I could meet Lesly and his group. I met with about 20 students in the Globalhood group at their school when I was traveling through NY last week. Some had traveled abroad to volunteer last summer and some were just part of the school club – but all had benefited from learning about THEIR potential to do good. I realized it wasn’t just the act of going away – but even more so the sense of community that came from being surrounded by people who believed in you and the great facilitators/teachers who work with them on this program.
As such, it can be argued that we don’t need to “go abroad” to get this experience – but we need to find another way to get both the sense of community and the feeling of being able to “help” others through our own powers to recreate a similar catalytic experience at home. A friend of mine is starting a project called “Community Connect”, taking “rich” kids from LA and showing them their neighborhoods. They are taking the public bus, having dinner with immigrant families in an area filled with day laborers, and will spend the day traveling with a group of them as they try to find work for the day. They will also meet with communities in an all-Korean part of town, learning from them about the difficulties they have found, and successes they have had in their new lives in the US.
There is indeed a lot we can learn in our backyards, it it just easier sometimes to find the groups we are willing to show us those things in far away places – because it is easier for all of us to admit that poverty exists far away from us – not somewhere closeby which might mean we should be compelled to help. It’s easier to talk about poor communities in Vietnam and say “I wish I was still there so I could help more….”
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Daniela Papi – PEPY, Jane Reitsma. Jane Reitsma said: RT @danielapapi: Just saw the piece by @JaneReitsma on local vs. international volunteering – added my comments here http://bit.ly/bG2PGt [...]
This is an interesting article; however, I will have to disagree, to some extent, that the poverty faced by Americans is as bad as, or worse than, poverty faced in some developing countries.
I agree that we should all gain a deeper understanding of local poverty, as this will enhance our ability to engage in community development both domestically and internationally.
However, I was born in India and lived there during my childhood, and have gone back several times since. I have also had experience working with people in poverty here in the U.S. – both as a student and an employee. Currently, I work on fair housing issues and speak with a lot of poor individuals who are homeless, minorities, immigrants, undocumented workers, and others who are among the working class and have suffered from discrimination and horrible treatment here in D.C. I speak and meet with people every day who are on government benefits, unable to find a job, and truly struggling in this economy. Mental illness is also a big problem. However, I must say that the poverty that exists in our own communities and backyards, though it is a travesty, is in no way comparable to that in India or other developing countries.
At the end of the day, do we have an imperative to help the poorest of the poor? And by discouraging things like voluntourism or even volunteering/working abroad, and by trying to get people to focus their efforts domestically, are we ignoring the poorest of the poor, the bottom billion, those in the most need?
I don’t think we should discourage people from going abroad to work. In all honesty, much help is needed in the area of international development. More than what is needed in the U.S., in my opinion. In the U.S., we have poverty and homelessness, but not at all to the scale as is in India. In India, I have seen my family’s servants and maids living in slums, small huts, not able to send their kids to school. Children and families live and bathe in the park across from my grandparents’ house. Huge piles of garbage line both street corners next to my grandparents’ house – the piles rise to the height of a one story building. Sanitation is poor, as a result. Beggars are everywhere, often crippled, and lacking any type of wheelchair – often, they literally pull themselves around on the ground with their hands. Whatever the level of poverty is in the U.S., at least most everyone other than the homeless have a place to stay, a toilet, and sanitation. And at least they are receiving government benefits/SSI/SSDI. You just can’t compare the level of poverty, in my opinion.
That is why, I say we need more people to go work in the international field. However instead of discouraging volunteers, we need to generate better, more intelligent volunteer opportunities.
Some amazing additions to the conversation recently. And I would love to keep the discussion going.
Shawn, I understand what you are saying. Perhaps a slightly different way to word it is that people often have a hard time figuring out how to fit local activities in their regular day to day lives so it is easier to block off 2 weeks and go overseas to volunteer.
Then Daniela makes a good point that sometimes we are less willing to see the poverty that is right under our noses. I would imagine our governments have something to do with this! Indeed there is poverty in Canada and the USA and clearly there are inequalities where people don’t have the same access to a safe home, healthy food, a good education, and good health care.
Which brings me finally to Akhila. She is right. Poverty here in North America is simply not the same as it is in other countries. And why should we feel guilty for wanting to help people outside our country?
My mom and I talked about this a while ago. My answer was that we need to get involved in what we believe in and are passionate about. Through this passion comes commitment. If your passion lies outside of your home community then that is okay- it doesn’t make you a bad person. But it is important to go into it with your eyes wide open, to truly listen to the people you work with, to be part of a collective solution (and not to believe you ALONE are the solution).