Samantha Nutt on the Problems of Volunteer Tourism | NowThis
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- Опубліковано 18 кві 2018
- Warchild USA Founder Dr. Samantha Nutt says that volunteer trip you might be going on this year isn’t helping anyone.
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“Voluntourism trips are largely designed to benefit the visitor - rather than the host communities - making a spectacle out of poverty and reinforcing outdated stereotypes about developing countries,” she explained. “Volunteer tourism - sometimes called voluntourism is now a multi-billion-dollar industry, with millions of people volunteering while on vacation every year.”
But is this industry all it’s cracked up to be? According to Nutt, reports from Haiti and Cambodia say that orphanages offering volunteering experiences for tourists have been accused of keeping conditions deliberately bleak so that visitors will feel compelled to give more.
Studies by child psychologists on South Africa of orphaned children exposed to ever-revolving foreigners also found that they might become overly affectionate because they constantly form bonds with people who abandon them.
“Impoverished communities around the world won’t be ‘saved’ by our volunteer labor and good intentions.” Nutt warned. “Quite the opposite. What they want, need, and deserve, more than anything else, are the tools, resources, and opportunities to learn and to do that work themselves.”
She also suggests that tourists invest in an area’s economy by buying locally when they visit, especially Caribbean nations still reeling from recent hurricanes.
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The last solution of just being a tourist is probably the best. The money is spent locally and local businesses will benefit. When you give money to a charity that is bringing in outside resources, the resources actually devalue local goods. This essentially is hurting the people you intend to help in the first place.
But there is a catch. No one wants to be a tourist anymore!
This is one of the Voluntourism issues that we might didn't realize. Even the Voluntourism program have the 'give and take' benefits, but we should understand the community feelings when they see a bunch of stranger are doing volunteering for them. Sometimes, it's disturbing or might harm the physiological and they only want the financial support from us. That is why it's very essential to purchase the local products in order to help them improve the economy and fulfill whatever they deserve.
I did a voluntourist trip where I helped put with a summer school program so the kids were sort of just enjoying me being there as a substitute teacher (albeit unqualified) while the regular teachers got a break. Some of the kids were excited to meet the guest from a different place but they weren’t necessarily attached like some of the kids in an orphanage might be like she was describing. They all had homes and families; this was more just like an extra school program or summer day camp. Still, I do think about the kids and how they are doing now, and if it was a positive experience for them to meet me. The company that hosted me encouraged me to take pics and the kids were excited to take pictures since it was more of a novelty, but I don5 have those pics up on my social media because it seemed exploitative and I never got any parents’ permission.
hmm i never thought of it this way, i’ll make sure to do just that when i volunteer or if i do
You can also volunteer at your local community center.
Such a weird Western problem.
Volunteerism is a multi-billion dollar industry, but so is humanitarian work. These are two parts of the same problem, people who want to have an experience and people who believe they are the only way people can be helped. If we take the multi-billion dollars invested in both of these things and just invest them in genuinely local initiatives where solutions are needed none of the countries that need help will have to deal with high-paying voluntourists and highly-paid and budgeted hero organizations that jet all over the world setting the rules on who can participate in doing good.
I could not agree more!! This is excellent!!
Thank you!
Yesss!!! This is sooo trueee!!!
Right on!
thank you! omg the fact that people can’t see how fishy this is is crazy!
❤Samantha Nutt deserves the Nobel peace prize ❤
I believe this. There is some serious evil out there. Even still we can't just stop helping people because it "might" be a scam. There has got to be a middle area.
Yes, the "middle area" is donating the money to organisations that that work on the ground.
The middle area is also just being a tourist, it funnels money directly into the local economy and encourages growth.
@@johnpapadopoulos1393 To a point. Was in the Bahamas last year the tourism in that country does not really help the people as much as the hotel owners... I actually hated being in the tourist spots because it was so fake. The local communities off the beaten path are the places that need the money. There's a lot of problems in many countries some have clear solutions others do not.
Links for legit places to donate would be nice
I think the yt channel named "selfless" has one, it only has two episodes from last year so it should be easy to find
yeah but you can't put "donated to charity" on your college application can you? people who do voluntourism are so self serving
That... is a very, very good point that should be talked about.
@@FuzzyKittenBoots unless they join a ngo like the red cross or unicef and do actual work but that is a diferent story
Big surprise?! This has been covered in multiple scientific articles for over 10 years now!
Thanks! I was about to take an excursion from a resort in The DR to do something like that, but we had to get Covid-tested before coming back to the US. There were “orphanages” (some are dropped off after a divorced parent weds another, I was later told) in S. Korea for expats to do stuff with the kids. Maybe it was unconsciously self-serving since we weren’t doing anything really constructive, like teaching school subjects. It sounded good to do, though, like we could be travelling the country, but.. Maybe it’s a hybrid if intentions. Your heart bleeds for people seeming needy, but it is not going to be dangerous, like saving Africans from Boko Haram or working amongst lepers, but kind of fun (without which, many of us might not sign up).
Wow- one size fits all! All voluntourism is bad? Like anything, it’s what you make of it. Our voluntourism excursion last year to Kenya included a visit to a local primary school. We were excited since my wife is a teacher. After visiting the school and meeting the incredible staff and teachers we forged a bond with the school. Recently visited the school several times and sat down with the principle and also the founder of the school and let them develop both a short and a long term plan for the school with minimal input from us. In the fifteen months since our visit, we have raised money to enroll 15 Maasai children in Primary school. Each of the children is sponsored throughout their primary school years. We have also secured funding for the construction of a fifth grade classroom that is being built right now with expectations to build a sixth grade classroom for the following year. I can see where you’re coming from in many instances but there are no absolutes and please realize that voluntourism can lead to good outcomes for local communities.
I think the length of the stay makes a big difference. I've seen people come and go at a fast pace in those organizations, always feeling so food about themselves but barely doing anything. I've volunteered in 2 different places, but in both, I learned the language, and spent a total of 8 months there. I think that's more valuable than a quick visit.
Depends on what you did there and if you pay huge amount of money for this 'internship'. Maybe it was more useful and fulfilling for you than for the people there? I don't know, only you know.
i understand this completely, but like anything, there’s also a great way to go with volunteering i feel in certain areas, yk we say go and volunteer down the street if you feel this way, but what if you live in a posh community that is flawed but is mostly well off? and you wanna experience the idea of not having much for a couple weeks, but you go with humility and the goal of philanthropy instead? like i think that’s amazing and i think most people would agree, i guess it’s more the system that’s in place that finds more ignorant people who wanna post online instead of actually participate in something bigger than themselves, anyone have any thoughts on this?
Does this include helping teach English (for example in Myanmar?); or volunteering with sea turtles or wildlife sanctuaries?
Go to these countries, just don't sign up with these "charities" you can find a family to live with,no NGO required.
I don't think that 'injecting' yourself into a family is a good idea. In most western countries, you need a criminal records check to work with kids. Do you suggest that non-vetted adults should just 'find a family' and befriend their children?
@@mtmv22 ffs
why are you showing pictures of children without the consent of their parents.
Good question. That's a really sad double standard. No one would do that with a white kid. But when these white saviors come to Africa it's suddenly normal to take pictures of the kids without asking the parents. And what kind of weirdo take photos of kids they are not related ? That's creepy 🤢
Then where can I just do some honest volunteering work in Africa to help those on the poverty line without having to pay extortionate fees to join up????
No background checks required? Why??????
Too many pedo.
After visiting many third-world countries and being in many different areas, in which there has never been any type of
"voluntourism", I can assure you that it is quite normal for children to "cling" to you when you show them love, interest, and acceptance. I think it's good to criticize the things we are used to in order to improve them, but I would always argue that IMPERFECT charity organizations (described as voluntourism) are still better than people who can only criticize and throw insults, without ever lifting a finger to make a difference in the world.
at my school in year 9 we go on a trip to help another nation but we don't do anything that affects people we all do things that help animals or the environment so I did things with turtles
Why the annoying music? Makes it so much harder to listen to what you're saying when some unnecessary droning just keeps going on and on in the background.
This is very one sided. Because of our volunteers we have been able to build 6 reading centers and libraries serving over 2500 child a week. Our volunteers meet and continue to communicate with many of the children they meet long after they travel. Our volunteers have teaching skills that are valuable to changing the children's lives and they experience saving animals from poaching. I hate when commentary like this discourages people from doing volunteer work even when going on vacation. I suggest someone check out what the organization does and how it contributes before making a judgment about the organizations offering the trips.
I've been in third world countries in areas where there's never been "volunteer tourism", and I can tell you first hand that It IS INDEED normal for kids to "cling" to you when they're shown love, acceptance and concern. I'm quite certain that the impact on the community did WAAAY more good than harm. While it's always good to have people criticize the mainstream ways to help make it better, I would suggest that people involved with these imperfect charitable ventures are better than the people doing nothing but hurling rocks and insults from the sidelines while doing nothing constructive themselves.
Perfectly said.
You need to look harder. Volunteer tourism does horrible harm in many cases. Particularly orphanage tourism where conditions are kept bad deliberately, and many kids are not even orphans and just separated from their parents. It's also true that these kids suffer when people they get attached to leave over and over. They don't understand why they keep being abandoned. Why would some random person from the west know how to care and teach children? There are documented cases of tourists with no experience putting up buildings, only to have them torn down again as they're not fit to live in. I mean would you live in a building built by teenagers with no experience and trust it wouldn't come down around your head? Cases of animals being captured, with their mothers often killed, so that tourists can help "save orphaned animals" by feeding primates and tigers with baby bottles. Tourists paying to do this actually deplete the forests of the very animals they're told they're saving.
I could go on, but this is definitely not a good way of helping. If you really wanted to help, and not just feel good about yourself about saving the world with a few weeks ofwork, you'd donate money rather than thinking your unskilled labour is the best way to go about something, or work out exactly where you can do good. There are certain types of volunteer tourism which can be beneficial under very certain circumstances (people with skilled labour needed by locals for work or teaching, organisations needing unskilled labour for unglamourous things like clean ups or for payments to tag along with already set up animal conservation research organisations where the fees help pay for the research to happen), but many do far more harm than good.
@@Jsa460 I think there is to much blamed for the naive volunteer, the volunteer may have just been decieved. I think there are assumptions as well, would long term volunteer be better than short term volunteer? when volunteer places keep the place as it is to attract volunteers, is not the people running the volunteer program at fault?
Kjv Mattew 6:1-4 Take heed that ye not do your alms (BEFORE MEN), to be (SEEN) by them: otherwise, ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms do not ( SOUND A TRUMPET) before thee, as the (HYPOCRITES) do in the synagogues (any place of worship) and in the streets that they may have (GLORY OF MEN). Verily I say unto you, (THEY HAVE THEIR REWARD). 3 But when thou doest alms let not thou left hand know what thou right hand doeth: 4 That thine alms may be in (SECRET): and thy Father which (SEETH IN SECRET HIMSELF AND MAY REWARD THE OPENLY). I will let the HOLY WORD speak for ITSELF.
In all actuality when the West (HELPS) Africa, South America, and Asia the West is actually giving back.
The (Ancestors) of those African countries being helped, built the western countries with their infinite (BLOOD, SWEAT, BROKEN BACKS AND THE MIGHTY OCEANS OF TEARS). Last. but not least and not only
The South American countries saved Europe from starvation, research this history starting with the potato.
So if we haven't money and we haven't a carrer we can't do nothing to help? I amn't agree with that
But you get the best selfies for your tinder
I have no reason to believe what is said in the video , beacause there is no source.
I have no reason to believe that you don't believe what you claim you don't believe... Yeah, that's as irrational as what you just wrote. The woman in the video is a source. She isn't just some random stranger with an ignorant "opinion".
@@Demothios whether her opinion is ignorant is subjective. Calm doon mate. Coall has a right to an opinion. Jeeez.
See this is what’s mind boggling about you people; that you genuinely believe that there are singular sources for every bit of information, that can be neatly cited.
The problem is that with the real world, problems are complex and require a knowledge of great many things to even put all of the information together in a way that is meaningful. This is the whole reason professionals are referred to in the first place.
While I applaud being critical of your sources, “sea lioning”is not an honest intellectual exercise