SELF-INDULGENCE IN THE THIRD WORLD—

“Voluntourism is ultimately about the fulfillment of the volunteers themselves, not necessarily what they bring to the communities they visit.”

This quote was published in “#InstagrammingAfrica:

The Narcissism of Global Voluntourism,” by Lauren Kascak and Sayantani Dasgupta. Voluntourism is the act of sending young volunteers to foreign countries to provide different forms of relief and aid, such as construction or medical care.

However, these volunteers are often untrained or unqualified to perform the work that they’re assigned. Andy Carlton, a student at the University of Wisconsin, recalls her medical mission to Guatemala.

“I didn’t help anyone. I know I didn’t help anyone. We gave them medicine and left,” says Carlton.

On her trip, Carlton acted as a nurse after a brief two days of medical training. She learned to match symptoms with prescription medicine, though she did not feel qualified to offer any medical advice. One of the days on her mission was devoted solely to enjoying Guatemala’s beaches.

I, like Carlton, embarked on a volunteer-based trip to the Dominican Republic in 2011. I was a young, eager high school student who knew nothing about the country or its distinctive issues, many of which were perpetuated by the same type of tourism that my supposed volunteering promoted.

We worked in construction, building an orphanage.

However, none in our group had any previous experience in construction. I mixed cement with a shovel and struggled to carry bricks. Much of our work had to be undone because the blocks weren’t level. We were inefficient, and we took work away from people in the community who were far more qualified.

In terms of interacting with the community, we passed out basic necessities and toys to local kids. We played with them and genuinely enjoyed each other’s company, but, at the same time, we watched kids fight each other over cheap plastic bracelets, stealing them off of each other’s arms. After a week, we left. It seems that the only thing we gave these kids was an interest in materialism and a dependency on Americans.

The genuine connections that we made were cut short by the fleeting nature of our trip. In this way, we were able to feel as if we had made a positive impact without investing time into our cause or making meaningful sacrifices. With the voluntourism industry booming, hordes of young people still flock to so-called third world countries with a savior complex in mind. Though these volunteers may feel as if they’re changing the world, their indulgence can cause more harm than good.