When I signed up to volunteer at an orphanage in Africa, I pictured myself somewhere in the Serengeti, dressed in Banana Republic. I had always wanted to be one of those people concerned with world affairs and after declaring anthropology as my major, I opted to add some humanitarian travels to my resume. Arriving in the slums of Nairobi, the summer after my first year in college, I was utterly unprepared to be standing face-to-face with absolute, abject poverty: over 300 children squeezed into a crumbling building; hungry bodies sleeping on a cement floor in urine-soaked clothes. I had hoped to be changed by encounters with poverty. I wanted the profound. I wanted to be the girl at a dinner party who the hostess points to and says: "and she worked in Africa."
Don't be embarrassed for me. My heart was good. And therein lies the essence of voluntourism: this trip was about me, my desire for a life-changing experience, my heart (and ego). I spent that summer volunteering with orphaned children, and while they seemed to like me, I could not help but wonder if I had helped at all.
I sought advice from my esteemed professor (whom I wanted desperately to impress). I was nervous but expectant imagining what she would say when I told her I had spent my summer in Kenya (by this point I had stopped calling Kenya "Africa"). Would she invite me out for lunch to hear about my journey? Would she ask me to co-author her next book? I sat in the chair opposite her desk and braced myself for her total admiration. "That sounds like a very meaningful summer." My pride quickly turned to shame as she inquired, "Your life has changed, but what has changed in the children's lives, as a result of your trip?" While at the time I failed to grasp the implications of her questions, I suspected we weren't going to be trading diet tips over lattes anytime soon.
I spent a lot of time that year wondering if I had unintentionally exploited the children I'd traveled so far to meet. Did I help the little ones learn the days of the week and the older kids practice their written composition? Yes. Had my trip contributed in any significant way to a more just, safe life for them? No. I was a 19-year-old, providing unskilled labor, to deeply traumatized children, for a very short of amount of time. The price of my plane ticket would have been better spent on the salary of Kenyan teacher, a source of continuity for children who deserve it the most.
I know what you are thinking: whether or not your niece spends her summer at an orphanage in Kenya has nothing to do with Kenya's unemployment rate. Why not encourage young people to volunteer in poor countries and learn about the world; it's better than having them spend their Spring Break playing beer pong in Miami. Agreed, but we have to stop making this about your niece, and start making it about vulnerable children who did not sign on to be the playmates of volunteers, too many of whom fail to align their objectives with the real needs of the poor.
Besides, what if the desire to travel to needy orphanages and the conditions of needy orphanages are related -- in a supply and demand sense -- more than we realize? Before volunteering in a developing country it's important to consider the effect the trip will or will not have on the long-term injustices facing orphaned children. Will you be volunteering within a structure addressing these issues in a sustainable way, in solidarity with local leadership, or will you be extending your safari for personal gain?
At Flying Kites, the Children's Home in Kenya to which I have dedicated my career, we have replaced a volunteer program with an ambassador program. The program includes an intensive application process and requires months of fundraising prior to traveling, to ensure that the people who join us in Kenya are committed to the cause, and not simply the experience. For these reasons, we now attract a lifeline of supporters who recognize that the most valuable gifts they can bring to organizations like ours are in the time spent advocating and fundraising; meeting the children is a small part of a much greater commitment towards addressing the real needs of orphaned children. Still, people argue that the standards for this program are too demanding. I tend to agree, but I have learned that, at the intersection of the well-intentioned and the downright poor, the stakes are always higher.
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http://www.swaraj.org/illich_hell.htm
The repetitive breaking of bonds of affection, developed with volunteers, further traumatises already vulnerable children. To the point where the children are cauterised from love and can not develop normal, trusting relationships. Volunteering in childcare institutions causes great harm.
Allowing a stream of short-term, untrained, young volunteers from abroad to care for vulnerable children in our own towns and cities would not be allowed.
For more information about the harm done by well-meaning volunteers in orphanages, please see www.replace-campaign.org or contact me.
Please don't stop helping children in need, but please be aware of the harm done by placing children in orphanages. An orphanage is no place for a child.
any way i stay in kenya, and maybe you can guide me about how can give any help to those poor children. thanks for cooperation
PS. This changed who you wish to become and forced you into a reality that not many are willing to accept and the way the world really is in some countries.. You alone will help to guide others toward this reality. Who can possibly measure the future outcome from you alone?
But I must say that in thinking over the same issue I've tried to look at the bigger picture. After my time at Flying Kites, I went on to volunteer abroad again with a small group of other students. I watched as my peers went through similar journeys as I had in Kenya. I agree completely that most begin the journey as your archetypal niece - self-absorbed, naive kids looking for another resume builder. But that's not how we end the journey; the vast majority come back deeply transformed - so much so that many reevaluate choices and revise life plans. Many of us are now working our hearts out in social justice career tracks instead of the business world we'd originally intended to join. For me, that month in Kenya is why I work obscene hours in a low-paying position - it's why I sacrifice materialistic stuff, vacations, and above all time with family and friends (check out: http://tinyurl.com/88p6myr ). But since that summer, I have never once looked back.
So while you're right about the nature of volunteers, I think you're missing a big part of the cost/benefit equation here. We're all benefiting in a world where our greatest human resources are being diverted from typical paths to productive and rewarding careers putting the needs of the marginalized and vulnerable first.
And frankly, we have people like you and organizations like Flying Kites to thank for it!
I suppose the ‘bigger picture’ for me remains rooted in the questions I still struggle with daily, such as “under what circumstances, if ever, is it okay to use orphaned children as a vehicle for personal transformation?”. While I'm not convinced that the “vast majority” of volunteers revise their life plans after such trips, if even 5 percent of all voluntourists turn out like you Katie, it might have all been worth it.
I know you say you haven’t looked back since that summer you came to FK, but don’t forget to glance back once or twice, our child sponsorship drive is in full force and we need your help changing Gichinga's life :)
That being said, what concerns me the most about voluntourism is something that the blog Good Intentions are Not Enough had a piece on (too lazy to look it up... sorrrry :). It's something Leila also alluded to: the issue of contributing to a system that is not beneficial to children. Many orphanages have people coming in and out constantly in the hopes of gathering more donations, but we know that this type of thing isn't good for kids.