Cambridge Business Association
Learning Service
A review of

Learning Service

The Essential Guide to Volunteering Abroad

Joseph Collins, Zahara Heckscher, Claire Bennett and Daniela Papi-Thornton • Red Press Ltd • 2018

Doing Voluntourism Right

by Patricia Sanders

“Voluntourism” – going abroad to perform volunteeer work – has emerged as a top trend in travel, but it often does more harm than good. Four experts in educational tourism, social justice and development policy offer a guide to leaving a positive impact – and making the most of the experience yourself.

Every year, some 10 million people travel abroad to do volunteer work – a practice known as impact tourism or “voluntourism.” Travelers undertake work such as nature conservation, wildlife monitoring, construction, teaching, caregiving or ímproving human rights, while exploring a foreign place and culture. At best, these experiences provide concrete benefits to communities while fostering cross-cultural understanding. Volunteers often benefit, too, by enhancing their careers or pursuing self-improvement or self-actualization.

But voluntourism – a $2 billion industry – has come under fire for sometimes causing more harm than good. Good intentions go awry when volunteers swoop in to “help” without understanding what communities really need, when volunteers take jobs that otherwise would go to locals, or when people volunteer in order to feel good about themselves rather than to serve the communities they visit.

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