David Clemmons, Founder of VolunTourism.org

We have spoken before of the importance of hearing critiques from those who have actually participated in voluntourism experiences, as opposed to those generated by armchair voluntourists or “shock-jock” writers or journalists. So, it will likely come as no surprise to those of you who have followed our work here at VolunTourism.org, that when we get a chance to showcase someone’s effort in this regard we most assuredly will.

Take, for example, Michelle Dobrovolny’s piece – “Confessions of a Voluntourist” – which appeared in the July/August issue of The Internationalist. Now this is the kind of piece that anyone who is seriously interested in voluntourism can gain some insights from. Not only does Ms. Dobrovolny discuss her personal experiences of being a voluntourist, she actually includes discussions with others on the subject.

For example, in an interview with Fred ‘Bokey’ Achola, she discovered some of the positive and negative opinions on the subject, as she quotes him in the excerpts below:

When I ask Bokey why he accepts voluntourists at the shelter, his response is immediate: ‘Volunteers bring money. So many of our children attending school, their fees are paid by former volunteers.’”…

…”‘The effects of voluntourism are both positive and negative. What we need to do is try to reduce the negative and build on the positive, says Bokey.

For him, building on the positive would require little more than a change in attitude. He has no complaints about what voluntourist(s) actually accomplish – or fail to accomplish. In his experience, what has been most challenging is the approach of some of the voluntourists.

“‘Don’t just criticize. If you think we are doing something wrong or could do something in a different way, then explain why the way you do it is better,’ he says. ‘If volunteers come, they should first try to understand the way of life here and accept that this is the way it is.’”

In another part of her piece, Ms. Dobrovolny quotes an excerpt from an interview with Barbara Vodopivec, co-author with Rivke Jaffe on a piece entitled “Save the World in a Week: Volunteer Tourism, Development and Difference,” which is a great article in and of itself. Here is the quote from Vodopivec in Ms. Dobrovolny’s article:

‘Voluntourism has popularized the idea of how we have to change the so-called “other” and not actually critically reflect on our own behaviours and lifestyles,’ she said via Skype. ‘In the end I think volunteering is a lot more about learning than it is about making a substantive change.’”

Reading Ms. Dobrovolny’s piece brings to light the importance of having an experience and then critiquing that experience. Fortunately for us, she is willing to critique it in a manner that is rarely, and I mean rarely, seen from writers on this subject. She really takes us through the journey of her mental processes as she tries to rationalize the swinging pendulum of her own thoughts, feelings, and conclusions (as if she is saying – whoops, forget that conclusion, have to come up with another conclusion). So very refreshing to see someone basically show us that she really doesn’t know where she stands after the experience! How many of us are actually willing to “publicly” display how diabolically confounding these experiences can be?

Final Thoughts…

Observing the unfoldment of voluntourism around the world – be it through articles like the one produced by Ms. Dobrovolney or engaging in direct connections with stakeholders as I am here in Bolivia – there is definitely a shifting vibe on what voluntourism represents and how individuals who have participated in it feel about it.

I came across a young woman’s “bio” this past week, sent to me by a colleague, and she included in it her connection to voluntourism – used the word itself. Coming from someone who is involved in social impact investing, this should not necessarily surprise us, per se. The point really is that the term voluntourism and what it represents is finding new inroads into the thinking and awareness of those who have participated in it.

Perchance we are entering a time frame where voluntourism is really what people are interested in – traveling to a part of the world, experiencing that part of the world as a traveler, and yet making an effort to serve that destination on some level. More articles like Ms. Dobrovolny’s will definitely help us understand how individuals are experiencing these journeys, and, perhaps, will assist in making them even better.

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David Clemmons, Founder of VolunTourism.org

One of the things that I enjoy about working in the Southern Hemisphere is the change in perspective. The sun is in the northern part of the sky, for example. As October, November, and December roll around, it gets warmer, the birds come to life and the foliage explodes. I recommend to everyone who has lived in the North to spend some time living in the South – it really helps you understand how the other half lives.

What else happens when you go South?

Well, you can decide for yourself once you get here. But one of the things I appreciate are the perspectives of voluntourism and what it can do for small & medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – what are referred to in Spanish with the acronym MiPyMES – micro, pequeñas y medianas empresas. Here are just a few recommendations from local communities and stakeholders in Bolivia thus far:

English-Language Development

The English language has had little uptake in Bolivia, although it is presently being offered for school-age children. The former generations have had little English language training and it is evident that it is a significant deficit for those who do not speak the language, particularly those in the tourism sector or who interface directly with visitors in some way.

If there is one consistent message I receive from those with whom I interact here, it is: “Can you teach me English?”

Improving Crop Yields, Assistance with Crop Harvests

WWOOFers Unite! For those with agro-businesses, the opportunity to learn additional techniques for improving yields and possibly getting support with crop harvests is also important. Residents express interest in learning new techniques, particularly things related to organic production. They also express interest in having visitors participate in agricultural activities – monitoring seedlings & small plants during cold nights, assisting during the harvest, and general support in labor-intensive portions of the growing season.

Such assistance can make a sizable difference for agricultural MiPyMES.

Research, Training & Development – Tourism Sector

The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index for 2009, of the World Economic Forum, ranked Bolivia 114 of 133 countries and next to last in Latin America (Paraguay coming in at 122), with a score of 106 in the preceding year – 2008. For those with a background in tourism, marketing, communications, product development, and/or research, and the like, the MiPyMES of Bolivia are eager for a transference of skills and support to give them a boost in this arena. Communities do not wish to become tourism “mega-destinations,” but they would very much like some additional skills to assist them in building their respective capacities to run their businesses more efficiently, communicate with “the world,” realize more revenues, and to enhance the overall experience of visitors (nothing beats that word-of-mouth advertising, as we know).

Voluntourists can, of course, support these businesses with conversational English language (point #1 above), but there is real interest in learning how to conduct research, for example, and develop products and services that are related to yet-to-be-discovered activities and locations throughout Bolivia.

Final Thoughts…

These are just some of the items that have been raised during discussions with stakeholders here in Bolivia. Of course, what I really want to put forward is the notion that voluntourism, often ascribed to playing with orphans or building houses, can have a much different reality in a place such as Bolivia. But don’t take my word for it, come and talk to some of the folks here in Bolivia. They will tell you what voluntourism can do for their communities.

When I think of all of the rhetoric and grand-standing of those who condemn voluntourism, I can only chuckle because I think what has been missing in most of these condemnations are the results of conversations like the ones we have been having in places like Argentina, Jordan, Bolivia, and elsewhere over the years. What has impressed me in the last several years has been the interest to have voluntourism help tourism and the tourism supply chain. “Strengthen our capacity to host visitors” is a recognizable statement often heard in these discussions.

If this is really the case, if residents really want visitors to come to their respective parts of the world, then shouldn’t we be assisting voluntourism to do exactly this?

For those who have been hypnotized by cries for voluntourism to exit orphanages and to be banished altogether, let this provide a shift in perception – voluntourism, in the opinion of a representative sample of residents, can serve a real function in the advancement of small & medium-sized enterprises. The infusion of voluntourists’ financial resources and the investment of their time and additional resources will provide these entities with a well-balanced “meal” – ample nutrition to support them in hopefully moving toward a more sustainable future.

David Clemmons, Founder of VolunTourism.org

This past week, The Harvard Crimson (30 August 2012) released an article on a cheating scandal at Harvard University. Liz Dwyer, Education Editor at the Good Blog, broached the subject with these words:

There’s not a school in the world that doesn’t have a policy against cheating and plagiarism but they never seem to deter some students from taking a dishonest shortcut to a good grade—not even students attending the oldest and most prestigious university in the country.”

If you manage to read The Harvard Crimson piece, there is a highly rated comment (81 likes versus 6 dislikes) that follows the article:

@Former TA: Former TA and resident tutor at Harvard (5 years). I was very surprised to observe how many students studied for exams at Harvard. Instead of trying to master the material individually, many of them would band together in groups (5, 20, sometimes even larger) and create “study guides” by splitting up the material and each contributing a few pages to a small booklet of notes. They would then focus on memorizing the booklet, sometimes with haphazard results. As a TA for several large courses, I noticed that on final exams students would often simply regurgitate anything remotely related to the topic of the question; many of these “essays” had a canned feel because they came straight from the same guide that their classmates were using. The solution? 1) Admissions: stop looking for activity stars, and start looking for students who are intellectually curious and care about learning; 2) Campus culture: needs to change; there are too many students who focus on clubs and CVs, and who don’t care enough about learning to think for themselves — instead they prefer to take the easy way out, shopping for gut classes over house lists and relying on sloppily prepared guides; 3) Professors: need to stand up to the task of education; inspire students to value deep understanding over shallow cleverness, effort and integrity over quick results. There is a culture of ego at Harvard that engulfs students and teachers. It is part of the game to make things easy for everyone and pump one another up. Not enough professors take a stand against grade inflation, etc., because really putting in the time to teach would take away from research. Not enough students take the responsibility of learning seriously — the comment from the student at the end of the article is indicative of an expectation to be spoonfed “the right answers.”"

This comment brings across some good points, and certainly ones that could be paralleled and/or applied within the voluntourism community. However, what I would like to focus on for this post is an idea that has been brewing in the back of my mind for some time – “Are voluntourism stakeholders really just ‘cheating’ themselves?”

Cheating, Ethical Breach, or Uninformed Actions

If the voluntourism community had a set of good practices that had been agreed to and adopted across all entities, then one might argue, and with substantive reasoning, that if an entity acted in a manner directly opposing or outright “violating” some of these good practices, the entity would indeed be “cheating,” a la the code of student conduct at Harvard University. Such a code of good practices does not exist for the voluntourism community. This being the case, what about ethical breaches and/or uninformed actions?

It is possible that there are entities operating in the voluntourism space who are taking a page from paleontology and implementing Neanderthal-like (apologies to the Neanderthals of old) approaches to voluntourism. In some cases, these actions could be flat-out ethical breaches of conduct – code or no code. In other cases, they could be the product of uninformed actions. Under either scenario, it is difficult to call out anyone for cheating. Is there a way to address this?

Transparency: An Answer To Allegations Of “Cheating”?

If there is any area that voluntourism might be looked upon as “cheating” at this point in time, it has to be in the arena of transparency. We simply do not have data, real data, on the subject. Who are the stakeholders in a given voluntourism program’s supply chain? How many voluntourists are actively engaging in voluntourism each year? How much money is changing hands? Where is it going and how much of that money winds up in the local community? What are the local impacts – social, environmental, economic, etc? What are the short, medium, and long-term results for the stakeholders – local community, voluntourists, operators, governments, etc? How many voluntourists are paying for “volunteer” visas, rather than tourist visas in destinations which have volunteer visas? How many local jobs are being created? How many small & medium-sized enterprises are reaping the benefits of voluntourism?…

Without data, we cannot provide informed opinions on voluntourism and we certainly cannot determine to what degree individual practitioners, voluntourists, or other voluntourism stakeholders may or may not be taking advantage of a loose system.

Final Thoughts…

Just as some students at Harvard University may be collaborating to create a study guide for a given course to minimize effort and to maximize return on investment, it might be said that some members of the voluntourism community are operating from a minimum standard of conduct in order to benefit significantly from a loosely structured system of governance – virtually no government oversight/regulation, no industry-wide codes/standards of good practice, etc.

This should not translate into a series of “damning” commentaries on voluntourism as a whole, however, particularly if those who slam the current practices of voluntourism stakeholders are benefiting thereby.

If there is any “cheating” going on in regards to voluntourism, it is probably best described as the “cheating” that voluntourism stakeholders are directing toward themselves. Without an emphasis on transparency and open-access data, long-term sustainability of the sector has little hope of fruitful realization. If the call for transparency comes from the stakeholders themselves, and is followed by actual data collection and dissemination, then “allegations of cheating” may very well be dismissed. Such a call will not put an end to criticisms or judgments directed towards voluntourism, but, at minimum, it will doubtless infuse rebuttals with some duly-informed opinions.

David Clemmons, Founder of VolunTourism.org

First off, let me offer a “thank you” to Cynthia Ord for kicking off her most recent post on Gadling.com with a reference to our work here at VolunTourism.org – thanks again, Cynthia!

Secondly, I am pretty excited about some new directions we are exploring with data collection around voluntourism. Take a look at this fine work from ESRI.com, one of the companies working with us on our project here in Bolivia. We will be sharing much more information on all of our ground-breaking activities in the weeks and months ahead, so stay tuned!

Thirdly, my colleague Luc Lapointe and I are working on a new model for voluntourism based on common pool resources (CPRs) and complexity theory – two items of great importance to the late Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom.

Finally, I wanted to bring to your attention a blog post from a young woman in Colorado who is preparing to head to Haiti. There are several features to this blog post that are important to recognize for those of you who are following emerging trends and approaches to voluntourism. I have four items I want to bring to your attention.

1) Note the excitement and willingness to share the experience BEFORE she leaves on her trip…

If you’re new to my blog, please visit my initial post regarding my Haiti trip. In short, I am going to be doing lots o’ running and working with some adorable kiddos!

Clearly, this young woman has connected her trip to a personal passion and is interested in sharing the experience well before she sets foot on a plane, and even before she has made the final payment on her trip!

2) Note that she has convinced another person to join her, but not just anyone, a registered nurse…

I totally convinced my BFF Angel to come along, too! She is an RN (soon to be an NP once she graduates!) and this type of trip is totally up her alley. I knew she would be intrigued when I told her about it, and I was right.

It is not a new phenomenon that “voluntourists” are encouraging their friends and family members to join them on a trip; however, it is interesting to note that this individual demonstrates some selectivity in determining who to ask – she, in essence, is playing the role of selecting a “voluntourist” based upon criteria she may have seen, read, or come into contact with during her own discovery process. This is not simply a “best friend.” This is a best friend with skills that might be applied in Haiti.

3) She has selected a trip that requires an additional donation, i.e., she is interested in supporting the project beyond just the fee she is paying…

Anyway, now that my portion of the trip is covered, I am turning my attention to donations. Yup, you knew I was going to mention it again, right? RIGHT?! I don’t have an easy task ahead of me as each of the volunteers are asked to raise $1000, but I think I can do it!

So, do you want to donate to my trip? If you do, pop over here and feel free to donate whatever you possibly can! Just be sure to include my name (Heather Balogh) somewhere so that it is credited towards my donations!

Crowdfunding has always been part of the volunteer-travel space on some level, but it is really starting to ramp up. We have been discussing how best to support this emerging “donation” trend that has proceeded from the age-old “mission trip” models of faith-based organizations. What we want to begin emphasizing here at VolunTourism.org, however, is that these monies can and should be considered not as donations but as “investments.” As such, these monies are subject to currency exchange loss, along with monies spent on trips themselves, so our questions is: “Are there ways we can pool and leverage all of these monies going to one place (as investments) and put them to better use?” We’ll keep you posted on our progress in this department.

4) Finally, we see another emerging trend and that is the involvement of others in using their own “business” in generating donations to support an individual…

But guess what else? I HAVE THE BEST NEWS EVER! My dear friend Will Rochfort from WMR Jr Photography made the most generous offer!…

Will also happens to have the best heart in the entire world. When I told him about this Haiti trip, he offered to donate 100% of his photography proceeds to my cause!

Yup, you read that correctly! If any of y’all hop over to his website and purchase any of his photos between now and December 1, he is going to donate the money to my Haiti fund. Seriously. And I didn’t even ask him to do this….he offered it all on his own. How could you not want to own a print of a photo captured by the nicest man in the world?!

We have spoken of cause marketing in the past, recognizing the work of American Express – the company that kicked off this unique form of purchasing-power-meets-doing good in their famous Statue of Liberty Campaign. But now we are seeing this emerge at the micro-level. Most assuredly, this will not hurt WM Jr Photography, not in the least. It will increase traffic to the site, let people know of the work, and provide them with an opportunity to consider utilizing the photography services in the future.

Final Thoughts…

Reading some of Elinor Ostrom’s remarks on complexity theory and common pool resources has given my mind an opportunity to truly reach beyond the preponderance of existing academic literature on voluntourism – to see it in new ways. Most of all, it has assisted me in providing an invaluable insight to our work here in Bolivia – “Voluntourism is not complicated; voluntourism is complex.”

The investment of individuals and groups who are planning to engage in travel that has as one of its purposes to be of service to a destination has yet to be fully realized. Since I am living this everyday, I have to be careful about suggesting that anyone should be able to see just how complex the inter-connecting linkages are; instead, what I would rather do is continue to point these out so that academics, companies, NGOs and others who are possibly considering this travel genre will begin to see how remarkable, beautiful and extraordinary this expression of human desire truly is.

Judge voluntourism if you must, but take a moment to celebrate it, if you will. Love it, hate it, be indifferent to it; nevertheless, at some point, you might be open to accepting the notion that voluntourism is on some level a demonstration of the awakening of our “humanity” potential.

David Clemmons, Founder of VolunTourism.org

I am a routine kind of guy. I meditate in the morning and the evening every day. I try to workout each day and walk at least 3km, minimum. I am a vegetarian, and I will not break that habit for any culture, any place I happen to be in, regardless of how rude it may be perceived or how hard people push me to do otherwise. I relish daily “alone time” like a drowning man does air. It makes for a pretty simple life… until, that is, you try to integrate it into a voluntourism experience. This is where creativity and patience play a big role. The question then is this:

Should You Abandon Your Daily Routine As A Voluntourist?

Short answer: NO!

I just wrapped up a paper with my colleague Dr. Jan Jones of Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) – a case study on our research experience in Jordan. One of the items we included in the case study is the following quote:

When do you honor the traditions and customs of another culture and completely abandon your own?”

In my experience in Jordan, I came across a number of items that caused me to struggle. I remember initially how my ears would hurt at the end of a given day after hearing Arabic uttered in communities, on street corners, in meetings, and elsewhere. I could not apprehend the emotion behind the words, and this proved very disconcerting.

One of the ways that I was able to process the feelings that were unleashed inside of me as a result of not being able to understand the essence behind what was being said was to get in a walk, and sometimes a run, and take time to meditate. I would also prepare my own meals – making sure that I was putting the best food in my body that the Jordan Valley (aka “the bread basket” for the country) had to offer. I must admit, however, that this would sometimes cause my colleagues much consternation. They wanted me to be available to do things with them in the evenings, for example; yet, I realized that I would not have been the best I could be on the following day had I ventured away from my daily routine.

Voluntourism Tempts Us Away from Routine, But We Must Resist

When we get out into the field as voluntourists, it is of utmost importance to take care of ourselves. This point cannot be overemphasized. When you pass that cart on the street corner and you think to yourself, “I could eat just one of those delicious items or drink just one cup of that beverage,” think twice. Remember you have a responsibility to the rest of your group (if you are part of a group, of course), the local residents, the entity you are voluntouring with, as well as its representatives, your friends and family at home, and, of course, yourself. Dealing with folks who become unwell and who are from a foreign land or are unfamiliar with a given destination is not what anyone wants to do. So, keep in mind that when we talk about routine, we are, in part, talking about monitoring what we put into our body and making sure it will not cause us and others discomfort.

If we can think of our daily routine as an extension of our service to the destination – by serving ourselves we are, in essence, keeping our service to the destination at the highest level possible, then we will not forget to incorporate the elements of our daily routine. The temptation to step away from routine will be there – there is so much to do, so many people to meet, and sleep and taking care of ourselves can certainly wait until we return home. Some may even pride themselves in staying away from routine, demonstrating to themselves and others just how much they can fit into a 14-day period. Congratulatory remarks from companions may certainly follow, but can you say you have actually done your best to be of service to yourself and to those around you by stepping away from routine?

Modifying Routine to Honor Your Circumstances

This is not to suggest that you will be able to follow your daily routine completely when you are venturing about on your voluntourism experience. Thus, it is important to be selective. The things that you know are truly important to your personal sanity and well-being should be included – although you might have to skip that cup of coffee as part of your daily wake-up call regimen. Knowing yourself and the things that make you function at a responsible level are significant. In my case, this means meditating in the morning and evening, putting good food in my body, and getting some exercise. As straightforward as these are, one must set aside the time necessary to incorporate these into the daily itinerary within your voluntourism journey. This requires communication with your host organization. You need not go into detail, but make a point of letting them know that these things are essential in terms of your daily routine. Once you have modified your routine, then prepare to modify your in-destination itinerary accordingly. Be flexible while being adamant about the inclusion of the most important elements of your routine.

Final Thoughts…

It is human nature to hesitate to think of ourselves when we are supposed to be considering our service to others. Nevertheless, if we become so centered on “wanting to be of service to others” without counterbalancing this by serving ourselves, we run the risk of failing to accomplish the former. Routine can be that all-important item to include on our packing lists.