Voluntourism: When helping does more harm than good


The phenomenon of “Voluntourism” has become a popular and emerging trend of global citizenship over the past decade. According to World Vision, voluntourism is “a form of tourism in which travelers participate in voluntary work, typically for charity” (“Voluntourism: the good and the bad”). From the outside perspective, voluntourism seems like an act of kindness and compassion, but from the inside, voluntourism tends to provide more harm than generosity. The majority of those who make up the “voluntourist” demography are wealthy individuals, high school/university students and Christians. “All seek personal growth, connection to those less fortunate, and the satisfaction of making a difference” (Rosenburg, 2018). These voluntourists tend to target helping needy children in orphanages or build some type of shelter for a local village. Although this is a noble act, most poor countries cannot keep up with the uptake of these new buildings. Visiting orphanages tends to do the most harm because voluntourists spend a week building a connection with a child just to abandon them. Overall, voluntourism is a noble act from the outsider’s perspective but it actually causes more harm because it strips locals of jobs, breaks hearts of children, uses up local resources, and puts up buildings that simply cannot be afforded to upkeep.




References
Rosenberg, T. (2018, September 13). The business of voluntourism: do western do-gooders actually do harm? Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/sep/13/the-business-of-voluntourism-do-western-do-gooders-actually-do-harm.

Voluntourism: the good and the bad. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.worldvision.ca/stories/voluntourism-the-good-and-the-bad.

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