voluntourism really pisses me off. mostly bc i went to a school that MASSIVELY encouraged it. like there were trips to timor leste and remote indigenous communities several times a year. and i guess since the school also donated money, and some people went repeatedly it could have done some good?? but seriously. getting kids to teach or build or whatever is never going to help? i don’t see how it can? they aren’t teachers. they aren’t builders. it’s just a bunch of bullshit to make the school look good.
the only one i ever went on (my parents made me) was an overnight trip where we pretended to be refugees. there are so many things wrong with that scenario– firstly, we were a group of upper middle class kids (so likely no ptsd or anything), we knew we’d have enough of everything, we knew we were safe, we knew it was going to end tomorrow. so it was basically nothing at all like what refugees experience. most of the people on the trip i think were in it to have a great time with their friends, and also feel like they’re charitable or whatever.
what annoys me about it the most though is that it cost $90. like??? there are SO many better uses for $90. specifically, actually helping refugees. it just seems so pointlessly self-congratulatory to me. it made no difference at all and yet it was sold as this massively helpful thing. ugh.