Reading Voluntourism

Reading Comprehension TEXT1
Voluntourism is a 'waste of time and money' - and gappers are better off
working in Britain
Campaigners hit out at gap years in developing countries
Helping out at an African nursery or digging trenches in rural India might have become a
fashionable – and expensive - rite of passage for thousands of young people each year, but
volunteers would often do more good staying at home and assisting communities on their own
doorstep, a conference on ethical tourism will hear tomorrow.
The growing trend for far-flung gap years often combining an element of work in a
developing country has become one of the fastest-growing phenomena in the global travel industry.
However, a leading UK charity is warning that whilst often well intentioned in their motives,
altruistic young travellers can end up doing more harm than good to their host communities, even
potentially fuelling child abuse.
Mounting concern that the desire to work in orphanages in countries such as Cambodia and
Nepal is actually leading to the abandonment or even abduction of children from their parents to
fuel the boom in eager tourists has led to calls for a radical rethink on the ethics of so-called
volunteerism.
Delegates at a one-day conference at Braithwaite Hall in Croydon, south London, organised
by Tourism Concern will seek to persuade prospective volunteers to think hard about their choice of
destination.
The charity’s executive director Mark Watson said that whilst the desire to help others was
commendable – too many expensive commercial volunteering opportunities ended up exploiting
both those offering help whilst harming the lives of those meant to be on the receiving end.
“Volunteers often have unfulfilling and disappointing experiences; volunteer placements can
prevent local workers from getting much-needed jobs; hard-pressed institutions waste time looking
after them and money upgrading facilities; and abused or abandoned children form emotional
attachments to the visitors, who increase their trauma by disappearing back home after a few
weeks,” Mr Watson said.
“We feel that there are many opportunities for people to undertake meaningful volunteering
in their own community, where they will receive proper training, support and supervision – without
the need to pay a tour operator for the privilege. In the majority of cases people would be far better
(and have a more rewarding experience) volunteering at home and spending their money on
travelling and staying in places listed in our Ethical Travel Guide,” he added.
Among the speakers at the event is campaigner Philippa Biddle, who described taking part
in a development project building an orphanage and library in Tanzania. She said each night local
men dismantled the structurally unsound work they had done – relaying bricks and resetting timbers
whilst the students slept.
“Basically, we failed at the sole purpose of our being there. It would have been more cost
effective, stimulative of the local economy, and efficient for the orphanage to take our money and
hire locals to do the work, but there we were trying to build straight walls without a level,” she
recalled.
Laura Woodward of Raleigh International, a non-profit making sustainable development
charity which works with young volunteers and communities around the world living in poverty,
said few commercial organisations offered high quality placements that brought benefit to their host
countries.
1
She said the conference was right to highlight concerns over voluntourism.
“It’s true that there are many fantastic volunteering opportunities for people in their own
communities and we strongly encourage volunteers to take action in their own communities upon
their return; indeed, this has become a fundamental element of our programmes. Whilst there are
huge benefits to volunteering at home, there are still pressing issues across the globe where young,
international volunteers can make a real difference,” she said.
First and second-language students are asked to answer the true/false statements
Now read the following statements and write TRUE or FALSE after each of them.
1. Many gap-year volunteers are hurting rather than helping their host communities.
2. Rather than volunteering to work abroad, all young people on their gap year who wish to do
voluntary work should focus their energy on helping their own communities.
Third-language students are asked to answer the following questions.
Now answer the following in your own words.
1. Cite at least four examples of young people doing more harm than good in their host
communities.
2. What does Laura Woodward of Raleigh International say has become an important part of
their programmes?

Reading Voluntourism

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Reading Voluntourism

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Reading Voluntourism

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Reading Comprehension TEXT1

Third-language students are asked to answer the following questions.

Now answer the following in your own words.

You might also like