http://www.theguardian.

com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/mar/19/gap-yah-volunteers-not-all-bad-says-new-report

Gap yah volunteers not all bad, says new report

Joe Sandler Clarke
Thursday 19 March 2015 Last modified on Thursday 19 March 2015

theguardian.com

Voluntourism has come in for plenty of criticism in recent years, but the stereotype of volunteers as
well-meaning but incompetent students on gap years may need a rethink after a new report highlighted the
unique contribution made by them in the fight to end poverty.
The researchers, who spent two years speaking to more than 3,700 participants from four different
countries, were from Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) and the Institute for Development Studies (IDS).
They found that volunteers make a valuable, yet often understated, impact on sustainable development,
and that they can be an effective means of reaching poor and vulnerable communities while also giving
them access to valuable public services. In Mozambique, for example, the number of Aids patients
receiving home-based care provided by volunteers rose from 17,790 to just under 100,000 between 2004
and 2008.
Among the reports central findings was that having volunteers embedded in the local community they are
supposed to be supporting helps promote trust and effective partnerships. Volunteers were also found to
be engaging in meaningful projects to share their skills with local workers and help alleviate their workload,
while simultaneously fostering a new spirit of altruism within the communities they worked in.
However, it was not all good news. According to the report, problems occur when the relationship between
the community and volunteers becomes too one-way, with community members dependent on volunteers
for skills and NGOs reluctant to share their knowledge.
The report also found examples of volunteers being co-opted by local politicians and having their work
hijacked by the political agenda. There was also evidence of volunteers being used to plug gaps in
essential public services, with local workforces blighted by poor pay, lack of training and absenteeism. As
the report states, many of those volunteers who are helping to extend the reach of services to the most
marginalised are often the same individuals who are living in poverty.
So does this mean that all the dire warnings about the impact of so called voluntourism schemes on
developing countries are overstated? Not according to Mark Watson, executive director of the charity
Tourism Concern.
Theres a difference between voluntourism and doctors going to help in a developing country, he argues.
One thing Africa is not short of is unskilled labour, so western teenagers going over there to help can end
up taking away jobs from local people. In our experience, genuine volunteering organisations will sell these
trips as ways of self-improvement for young people, rather than making claims about them aiding
development.
Katie Turner, VSOs global research and advocacy adviser, argues that voluntourism is not a bad thing in
and of itself. This was a learning piece for us. Weve used it so we can understand how volunteers can be
used more effectively, and look at how we can support them better, she says.
We dont believe that all voluntourism is bad. It depends on the impact it has on the ground. From our
point of view, if its purely a case of volunteering for the sake of the volunteer, thats not truly volunteering. It
has to be about the impact of the work on the ground.
Have you volunteered abroad? What was your experience? How did it shape you into the development
professional
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comments (7)
I agree that voluntourism - or whatever term is used - can be positive, and can be a huge force for
positive social change on a global level. However, I believe it is still a legitimate argument about the
job market. The projects may not exist without the volunteers, but if volunteers donated their airfare
and expenses they could fund a project hiring local workers. Probably two projects. So it is still
important to recognise that international v
We've known this for a decade and have been promoting the benefits of volunteering abroad (we
don't use the term 'voluntourism'). It's a fallacy that volunteers take jobs away from locals as well.
Many of the projects they work on wouldn't even exist if volunteers weren't there. It's good to finally
see something positive about volunteering abroad instead of the rather tiresome slating these
well-meaning people and projects often receive. Thanks.
I completely agree with you that it is nice to see something positive about volunteering. Our
charity Azafady (www.madagascar.co.uk) could not obtain many of our vital school building
projects for example, were we not to use any volunteers in the workforce. We have a strong,
local Malagasy construction team who are paid, and who work alongside volunteers on
construction projects. Without the volunteers, labour costs (which already many donors do not
like to fund!) would be extremely high, making a school very difficult to find funding for, and
therefore the volunteers can make a difference in the overall proposal cost and be the
difference between a project happening or not!
I agree that voluntourism - or whatever term is used - can be positive, and can be a huge force for
positive social change on a global level. However, I believe it is still a legitimate argument about the
job market. The projects may not exist without the volunteers, but if volunteers donated their airfare
and expenses they could fund a project hiring local workers. Probably two projects. So it is still
important to recognise that international volunteering may often place the value of cross-cultural
exchange and relationships over immediate local needs.There can be real long-term, positive
outcomes from fostering such relationships, but for me it's still a manifestation of the problematic
donor-driven model of aid and development. However, I do agree that slating volunteer projects isn't
helpful, but equally, I think the more that critical evaluation and self-relfection is included as part of
any volunteer experience, then the more positive and impactful that experience is likely to be for all
involved.

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