From The Times
One of Britain’s leading charities has warned students not to take part in gap-year aid projects overseas which cost thousands of pounds and do nothing to help developing countries.
Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) said that gap-year volunteering, highlighted by Princes William and Harry, has spawned a new industry in which students pay thousands of pounds for prepackaged schemes to teach English or help to build wells in developing countries with little evidence that it benefits local communities.
It said that “voluntourism” was often badly planned and spurious projects were springing up across Africa, Asia and Latin America to satisfy the demands of the students rather than the needs of locals. Young people would be better off simply travelling the world and enjoying themselves, it added.
Judith Brodie, the director of VSO UK, said: “While there are many good gap-year providers, we are increasingly concerned about the number of badly planned and supported schemes that are spurious - ultimately benefiting no one apart from the travel companies that organise them.”
VSO is drawing up a code of good practice to help gapyear students to find genuine voluntary work abroad.
The charity cited the case of a volunteer teacher in Africa who was surprised to be shunned by her fellow teachers, then discovered that her placement had led to a colleague being made redundant.
In another case, a volunteer in Mexico who thought that she would be working on a rural conservation project spent six months behind a desk in an office inputting data onto spreadsheets.
Another volunteer was asked to survey endangered coral reef in the Indian Ocean and dicovered that it had been surveyed countless times before by previous volunteers.
Taking a gap year used to be the preserve of only the wealthiest students, but it is now big business. Up to 200,000 people do it every year, including 130,000 school-leavers. The average gapyear traveller spends £4,800, and numerous companies have sprung up to get a slice of the market by offering prepackaged trips to projects for just two weeks at a time.
Gapyear.com, one of the biggest players, is offering places on dozens of voluntary projects, including work on a South African horse safari for £2,400 or two months observing coral and marine life in Borneo for £1,895. Another firm, i-to-i, is offering work with orphans in Argentina for £1,095.
In most cases the price does not cover the flight, but in-country travel, accommodation and an orientation session on arrival is included.
Ms Brodie urged students to go backpacking instead. “Young people want to make a difference, but they would be better off travelling and experiencing different cultures, rather than wasting time on projects that have no impact and can leave a big hole in their wallet,” she said.
Prince William went to Chile with Raleigh International in 2000 to help to build schools. The charity said that his work had sparked “a lot more interest” in its projects. Prince Harry worked with orphans in Lesotho.
Tom Griffiths, founder of gapyear.com, defended his business. “Some companies raise the expectations of students to unrealistic levels and make them think they will change the world. When they get there they discover they are only small players in the project and feel disappointed,” he said.
A spokeswoman for i-to-i defended its short-term voluntary breaks and said it made sure that all the projects were sustainable. “Not everyone has a year or two years to go off and do voluntary work,” she said.
Raleigh International backed VSO’s call for caution. “Students should be very careful about the voluntary work they choose,” a spokeswoman said.
I have heard only bad things about i-to-i and I am not surprised they got a mention in this article
Same here, although I've heard terribly great things about others apart from GVN (who seem to have jacked up their prices since I last looked at their website).
I do not like the term "voluntourism" which Peter Griffiths used to say that gap year trips to ‘developing countries were expensive, poorly planned and unlikely to help local people’, as I truly believe that mine did. We were working alongside the local community, as a team to build a much needed and wanted pre-primary block.
Yes, I agree that there should be stricter regulations on gap year companies, but I do not think that all gap year students and all gap year companies should be shown in this very negative light.
I was really lucky that I had an amazing gap year when I went to Africa and the company I went away with, Quest were really good and emphasised the importance of working with the local community, not inflicting our views and values.
I’m finding the debate surrounding gap years at the moment pretty offensive, as I worked really hard to raise the money I needed to go away, but I felt it was very well spent, as I could see where my money was going, a big part of which was a donation to the project we were working on.
Obviously there are lots of conflicting views on volunteer projects. I think it is good that this information is presented, at least it gets people thinking about it. I've had both good and bad experiences. Some good ones didn't necessarily "help" the situations I was working in, but they were good learning experiences nonetheless.
Stay informed and get your news and information from many different sources before making any decisions about volunteering.
If you really want to volunteer I've always said you're better off giving up a meaningful amount of your time. There's tonnes of volunteer projects in your home countries which desperately need people but then the beaches aren't as good here. Some might call me cynical but I saw a poster for a volunteer programme in Huaraz, Peru which went like this (And I kid ye not):
"Sun, sea, sex and volunteering."
If half the Gappers who volunteer with i-to-i and their ilk, counting turtles on a beach in Costa Rica or cuddling Orang-Utan's in Borneo (I could go on about the poor animal management and negative conservation impact of a lot of these projects, but I won't) or teaching English (With minimal qualifications and experience) went on to do VSO work then you could consider "Voluntourism" worthwhile. But how many of these people would give up two years of their life teaching maths or science in Uganda? Or how many would give up their expertise as an engineer or lawyer to a developing nation? I've encountered too much of the attitude that you go travelling and volunteering is one of the things you tick off along with bungee jumping in Queenstown or doing the Inca Trail. If you want to make a difference, make a difference and rather than pursuing money and houses and personal gain in your career, try and give something back to the world.
Gah, I think I need some sleep.
DD
Poster 'QuestOverseas'-
With all due respect, your reply above describing financial aid via unspecified 'overseas projects' and nebulous intangible social benefits does not really do much to differentiate Quest from the kind of questionable organizations that Judith Brodie was talking about. Nor does your website:<blockquote>Quote
<hr>You could find yourself bungee-jumping, ice-climbing, scuba diving or even sand-surfing. You could be planting trees in the rainforest, building sand dams, walking a jaguar, researching whale sharks, playing with orphans; there's lots of choice. Whatever and whenever..we guarantee that you'll make new friends, face new challenges and create unforgettable memories. <hr></blockquote>Playing with orphans seems to be on par with bungee jumping - that sounds alot like 'voluntourism'. Clearly Qwest itself is marketing its own product more as a good time getaway for young people than an opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the life of others.
Wherever an opportunity exists to make a buck, someone will step in to take the sucker's money. While there is no doubt that there are some volunteer organizations that do indeed do worthwhile charitable work, for every 1 that is legitimate there are probably 10 or more who are simply in business to make a profit. But let's not forget where the money is coming from. It is the naive gapper who hands over his/her money without doing enough research that allows these businesses to exist. So the solution is to get them educated enough to do their due diligence before handing over their cash. That is exactly what VSO is suggesting is it not?
" VSO is drawing up a code of good practice to help gapyear students to find genuine voluntary work abroad. "
If that happens and the word gets around via forums such as this, then legitimate organizations will only benefit. So QuestOverseas, I suggest you contact VSO and get on board with them if you are indeed providing worthwhile programs. I also suggest you drop the bungee-jumping et al from your website and concentrate more on exactly what people are able to contribute to through their time and work.
The posts mentioning Quest have been brought to our attention, and we just wanted to have our say. We feel the points made are all valid.
However, the reason that Quest Overseas has included bungee jumping and other activities on the front page of their website is to help attract volunteers in a highly competitive market.
However, once gap travellers looks further and do their research, checking out
Quest4Change.org, then they will be able to see where the difference lies. They will also be able to see all the tangible benefits of the work that Quest has achieved over the last 11 years.
Unfortunately not all gap year students are concerned enough with the project they wish to embark on is, which is why Quest aim to educate all volunteers that travel with them in ethical, responsible travel, which offers long term support to every community which they work within.
Quest are in touch with VSO, Quest also sponsors the ethical volunteering guide, which is along the same lines, in fact Quest is also close to achieving tourism concerns best practise guidelines. I hope that this addresses some of the issues that have been raised by some of the members in this forum.
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