International Development Organisations on why to say “no” to orphanage volunteering. International Development Organisations on why to say “no” to orphanage volunteering A number of leading development organisations are supporting a growing movement to discourage volunteering in orphanages abroad.
Raising labor rights essential - and makes good business sense. LONDON, England - The first session of the final day was on Employment Conditions in the Tourism Industry.
Wolfgang Weinz from International Labour Organisation explained that more often the people who have most interaction with guests - and therefore create the atmosphere and experience at destinations that might encourage people to come back - are the lower paid staff such as the waiters and housekeepers. "If these staff are not looked after, this will reflect on how they interact with your guests," said Wolfgang Weinz from International Labour Organisation. "What brings people back is the memory of whether we are well treated. You don't need to be a hotel tourism expert assess or to know if the atmosphere is friendly and helpful, even children can tell it. " "The negative reputation that sector can and should be turned around," says Kevin Curran of the union UNITE. "Would I be allowed to do this in my country? " Common Volunteer Mistakes And How To Fix Them. That’s great – honesty is the best place to start – without honesty there are so many pitfalls – so many mistakes that well-meaning volunteers can make.
My organization, People & Places, has been campaigning for better volunteer experiences for volunteers and the communities they seek to serve for over eight years. I would like to share some of the areas where we think honesty would make those mistakes less likely. Gap years: Voluntourism – who are you helping?
“Our concern is that local parents have been told that their children will be better off in these institutions, so they feel it’s a sacrifice they need to make,” said Aarti Kapoor, regional program manager for World Vision’s Child Safe Tourism project (childsafetourism.org).
“Children should certainly not be spending their childhood growing up in an orphanage if there are better alternatives.” Kapoor believes that institutionalising children in this way puts them at a greater risk of sexual abuse and exploitation – including from tourists – and that supporting orphanages through voluntourism is an enabler for abuse. Volunteers should also consider what practical help they could realistically offer in an orphanage. Sallie Grayson from People and Places (travel-peopleandplaces.co.uk), a UK organisation that arranges overseas voluntary placements, said: “Volunteers should ask themselves 'do I have the skills to do this job?’
Read the rest of our gap year planning guide. Working with children - our mistake! by Sallie at people and places (UK) - GoVoluntouring. I'd like to introduce Sallie Grayson from people and places.
Sallie is an amazing woman, full of compassion, unmatched energy, and with a sharp insight on the true challenges of the developing world. The saying 'keeping it real' could be Sallie's personal brand. But what are we doing to make volunteer travel better? You know when you have an idea - and you realise it wasn't such a great idea….and you still don't let go?
My idea - to write about the positive developments in volunteer travel (call it voluntourism if you must but in my book they are two very different experiences). Normally I write about bad practice - I thought it would be good to write a good news piece for a change - little did I realise how hard it would be. The only way I have been able to write this piece is with a number of big fat BUTs. Best for Responsible Tourism Campaigning - World Responsible Tourism Awards. The Best responsible tourism campaign category is for a campaign from a tourism business or organisation which has successfully championed responsible tourism.
This could be a marketing campaign or an advocacy campaign. Award explained: The Best responsible tourism marketing campaign category looks to award a tourist board, tour operators, or tourism organisation or other individual or organisation which has developed a campaign successfully promoting a more responsible way to travel, educating travellers, and changing travel behaviour. What the Judges want: An inspirational, innovative campaign which has had proven, measurable success in changing attitudes to travel and encouraging responsible tourism. 2013 - Best for Responsible Tourism CampaigningWinner: people and places, UK Judges' reasons for winning: "people and places were highly commended in 2007 in the Best Volunteering category and they won this same category in 2009.
The Unexpected Life. Well, it is official, I’m going back to Kenya as soon as I finish up my time here in Geneva and I couldn’t be more thrilled!
I’m already working to pull out the Swahili that has been left in the dusty archives of my brain and clouded with Nepali, Arabic, Spanish, and French–the newest addition to the mess of vocab parading around my neurons. Turns out 4 (soon to be 5) continents and 8 countries in 6 months makes speaking rather confusing. I’m already looking forward to masala chai and being with my host family. I’m anticipating my first day back at Joyland School for the Physically Disabled, and wondering who I will see first and how many of my friends will still be there and how many have moved to other places and seasons of life.
But behind the excitement, gratitude, and curiosity around what this trip might hold, is a subtle voice of doubt. Child protection issues vitally important for volunteer travel. Sallie recently made a presentation about child protection at a responsible tourism event - watch it here (about 14 minutes in ) - there were lots of tweets and a couple of articles afterwards which used the word “passionate”
Dpa news - "Voluntourism" in Cambodian orphanages comes at a cost. Siem Reap (dpa) - A young Swedish volunteer is trying to get a gaggle of unruly Cambodian children to repeat the English alphabet, but they are much more interested in playing with the sparkly stickers they just received from a visiting tourist.
The lesson, in an outdoor classroom only a few kilometres away from Cambodia's main tourist magnet, Angkor Wat, is being given by one of the many young volunteers who are spending their summer vacations in one of the world's poorest countries. "I was here in Siem Reap, so I just walked in and got a position. I was looking for somewhere to volunteer and teach kids who can't get an education," says Fredrick, a friendly 24-year-old backpacker who has been teaching at the orphanage for one week.
Like many other so-called "voluntourists," Fredrick has no university degree or any teaching experience. But Friends International, a leading child-protection group, warns that voluntourists do more harm than good. Voluntourism: Every little helps? / Features / How. Charity expeditions, volunteer tourism, learning holidays: the rise of do-gooding travel appears to know no bounds. An ever-increasing number of us want more from our trips than a tan and an exotic Twitter feed. We either want to improve ourselves by learning a new skill or seeking out immersive cultural experiences, or we want to improve the world — perhaps by raising money on a charity challenge or by volunteering for a worthy project.
All commendable ideas, but anyone who’s planned a big trip knows that intent and outcome are often two different things — and this is perhaps nowhere truer than with volunteer tourism (voluntourism). A steady stream of news headlines have given this relatively new sector of the tourism industry a kicking, painting it as little more than a money-making enterprise that either panders to wealthy First World volunteers or exploits both them and the Third World communities in which they volunteer. The answer isn’t simple. World Travel Market event Progress and failures of voluntourism. "You can work with organizations that support children, but those organizations must be doing everything they possibly can to keep those children in their communities and with their families," said Sallie Grayson, program director of People and Places, commenting after winning an award at World Travel Market (WTM) 2013.
The World Travel Market panel on Responsible Volunteering today (Thursday, November 7) combined signs of progress with revelations of continuing failures to clean up the voluntourism industry, especially concerning issues around child protection and orphanage tourism. On the previous day, People and Places had won the award for Best for Responsible Tourism Campaigning. Today Sallie Grayson opened with a look at developments in the voluntourism industry over the past 12 months. She commended responsibletravel.com for removing all orphanage tourism from its site, hoping that such high profile leadership might encourage other companies to make similar changes. Tourism Concern - News from Tourism Concern. There you are, relaxing in a bar in Cambodia. You’ve just finished a delicious bowl of something unpronounceable; you’re leaning back in your chair with your 75 cent glass of Angkor beer when wouldn't you know it, yet another seven-year-old comes up and tries to sell you some jewellery or a photocopied guidebook.
Bloody kids, they never give you a moment’s rest. Wtm 2013 responsible volunteering people and places. Orphanage volunteering campaign by responsibletravel.com. Provider for Christ Hunting Adventure. Goal: To Support the creation of new and more energized Providers for Christ, and the families of men and women based on Biblical principals. Dates: To be Announced (Sign up for our Newsletter to receive updates) Details: 7 day Safari $2395/Hunter Includes: Transfer from the airport to our camp, accommodations, and meals, worship and Christian seminars by local ministers.
(You may bring your own to share with us as well). You will be invited to worship with the people in the camps. Please visit: www.godwithussa.co.za to view the organization we are working with. ***If you would like for us to have special dates for your Church, Organization or Business group for a private Worship Seminar, contact us. Volunteer travel - more constructive criticism needed.
There has been much criticism of volunteer travel – and ”voluntourism” recently. (Where and how the two differ and the confusion caused by the subjective use of the two terms is fodder for a whole other post – I must do that one day soon!) We at people and places are leading much of that criticism – I like to think that we campaign by demonstrating good practise and highlighting bad practise…. but I am concerned that we may be getting the balance wrong. thanks to Action for Happiness for this image.
Grown Up Gappers! - Travel Articles - Savista Over 50's Magazine - July 2013. “I want to volunteer, but really don’t want to spend my time with lots of gap year kids – I’ve just got mine off my hands!” Make a Difference Now. Name: UpendoHer name means "Love" in Swahili and she is full of it! Upendo is always smiling and laughing. She was born in 1999 and raised in the village of Same. Her mother's name was Stella and her father's name was Elliabu.
Both parents died of HIV/AIDs when Upendo was very young. Upendo is the youngest of four children and has three bothers. Guest Post: 7 Reasons Why Volunteering Makes You Cool. “I’ve never seen another volunteer organisation that takes so much care” Common Mistakes Made Before, During and After Volunteering. Posted January 09, 2013 by Sallie Grayson 2 Comments.
Sons of Thunder : Upcoming Trips. Join us on the field to see raw demonstrations of the power of God and the rich compassion of the love of Jesus for the poor as we venture around the world on Kingdom exploits. SOT mission trips are hands-on times of activation, supernatural ministry and intense impartation. Most of following trips are open for your participation. You can Download a Mission Trip Application by Clicking Here , which is available for use on any Sons of Thunder Trip. Volunteer organisation people and places joins The Code. Volunteer travel - more constructive criticism needed. “Enjoy yourself in poor countries? Become a voluntourist” By Sallie. Volunteer mistakes.