Voluntourism

 

As a traveller who has volunteered on a couple of occasions in Africa, I wanted to bring awareness to voluntourism. Done right, it can be beneficial to local communities, the environment, and the volunteer. However, some organisations may not be in it for the right reasons or have unethical practises. It is important for a volunteer to do their research before selecting an organisation.

Voluntourism

There has been a long association between volunteering and travel, with origins going back to missionaries during the nineteenth century. In more recent times (COVID excluded), volunteer tourism has become a global phenomenon, dubbed voluntourism. It is estimated that the number of people who participated in voluntourism has grown from 1.6 million per year in the 1990’s to 10 million in recent years. Contributing up to $2.3 billion Australian dollars a year to the global tourism economy.

More and more businesses have moved into this market, mostly charitable, however for-profit companies are also growing in voluntourism as commercial enterprises. The types of projects travellers might join range from social, health, education, environmental and more. Yet this growth has come at a price, often with host communities, environments and at-risk populations being exploited. It is likely that a volunteer may not notice these practices until it is too late. An Australian 3^rd year medical student I met while travelling in Africa, recounted to our group about the traumatic experiences and scenes she experienced while volunteering in a rural hospital. A program she later reported for malpractice.

Despite this, there are many examples of quality, and sustainable projects which have improved lives and environments globally. Good practice allows for altruism, international development, and cultural understanding. Volunteers who have had enlightening experiences, take home new perspectives of the world, building global awareness and a desire for social change.

The messaging in these organisations have evolved to include the ethical status of voluntourism, rather than the historical “saving the world” concept. I believe organisations need to be transparent about their goals and business practices to build global trust with volunteers, in the hope that transparency will show unethical and unsustainable programs for what they are.

 

My Experience

One of the projects I worked on is the Desert Elephant Project in Namibia facilitated by the Elephant Human Relations Aid (EHRA). EHRA focuses on human-wildlife conflict. Desert elephants roaming Namibia are often destructive in their search for water, competing for the same resources as humans. In their quest, elephants may damage water pipes and tanks leaving communities without a water source. EHRA works with local communities to build protective walls around water tanks and pumps. It is tough, real conservation work; however, it combined my love for elephants and the desert. Spending time in what I consider beautifully brutal environments with majestic mammals was an experience I will never forget. The project was split over two weeks, the first focussing on building the protective walls, the second on patrol, monitoring and tracking the elephant herd movements.

The build week is hard work. Mornings spent collecting rocks, collecting sand, mixing cement. Jigsaw puzzling a section of wall, then again mid-morning, collecting rocks, collecting sand, mixing cement. Lunch, siesta, then more collecting, more wall building. After a week, we had completed the wall around the water tank. The patrol week was one to remember. Counting herds, marking their locations, contributing to a data bank of knowledge. Waking up every morning to sunrise, climbing a koppe and admiring the world around me, grateful to be immersed in it.

There are so many experiences to reflect on, not just regarding elephant interactions, but the everyday tasks. Seeing and learning how other cultures do groceries, interact at markets, how mothers hold their babies, and understanding their values. This is what makes a person grow and return home with new perspectives.

The Future

I look back on this experience from seven years ago and I am confident that it was the right program for me. They have continued to run and expand the program and do not participate in unethical practices. Personally, it would take a lot of research for me to choose an organisation to volunteer with today. I have seen how tourism can affect indigenous cultures, and how it commercialises their differences. The travel slump created by COVID restrictions I am sure put new pressures on these groups. As global travel starts to rebuild, it will be interesting to see the future of voluntourism. Will it continue to focus of the ethical and sustainable, or will the messaging fall back into “saving the post pandemic world?”

Benson A (2011) “Volunteer Tourism Theory and Practice” by Benson A in, Volunteer tourism: theoretical frameworks and practical applications. New York, NY: Routledge.

McGehee N (2014) ‘Volunteer tourism: Evolution, issues and futures’, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 22(6):847–854. doi: 10.1080/09669582.2014.907299.