So I have just read Jennifer Conlin's article in the NY Times entitled, "Trips to Help Shape the World." It's briefly about volunteer vacations and these newish organizations that organize one-week (or more) excursions to some underdeveloped country, where you do some volunteer work and go on sightseeing tours withyour own guide and everything. It's a new twist on tourism intended to promote a sense of goodwill while still maintaining your tourist status.
Now, while I have certainly done a good share of sightseeing and relaxation on this trip, I feel like these volunteer vacations are contradictory and frustrating to anyone seeking viable volunteer options. Spend a week playing an African orphan and then dine in a 4-star restaurant? This is completely ridiculous. Organizations like Cross-Cultural Solutions ask that you pay thousands of dollars to spend a week in a location, not including airfare. Who can afford that? The people who actually want to do some good in a place can't just hand over $3000 for a 2-week placement. That's a 3-month budget for me. And forget about doing a long-term placement with one of these organizations. A 3-month placement with Cross-Cultural Solutions costs nearly $6000.
Furthermore, our great frustration with LIFE Argentina was that there was absolutely no continuity. Children who live in unstable environments need continuity, and they need to know that friendly faces don't just come and go every few days. While I think that some help and some support is better than no help and no support, long-term placements are ultimately going to be the best. The volunteer gets to establish a solid connection with the community he/she is working in, and the people become familiar with the volunteer and hopefully will learn to trust and respect that figure. These programs seem to ignore that basic principle, and at times the volunteer component of these "vacations" seems to be an afterthought. Volunteering shouldn't be a frivolous expense.
I think what my biggest problem with "volunteer vacation" organizations (sorry, Cross-Cultural Solutions, but you are getting the brunt of my disgust) is that at the present moment, these are the most publicized and easiest ways to volunteer abroad. (Volunteer South America is a great resource for free and low-cost options.) There is a severe lack of information about organizations that don't charge thousands of dollars for your services (and keep that in mind, CCS charges thousands of dollars for your mere presence in an underdeveloped country), and I fear that this is because there is also a lack of such organizations in general. What angers me the most is that while these organizations maintain that such high costs are necessary because they benefit the community you are working in, as well as pay for your food and housing (though not always), Eben and I know for a fact that such costs are completely unnecessary. Inti Runakunaq Wasin in Cusco, Peru, asks for a $50 donation, regardless of how long you stay (coincidentally, most volunteers are long-term). What exactly is CCS (and LIFE Argentina, for that matter) spending its money on? I smell a rat.
In a nutshell, if you're looking for a different sort of family vacation and happen to have an actual income that affords you the luxury of dropping several thousand dollars, then an organization like CCS can probably offer a neat way to spend your vacation. But if you want to do actual volunteer work, then these organizations are money-suckers that do little good for the world.
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6 comments:
I respectfully disagree with you. I've actually done 2 programs with CCS and have also volunteered on my own without CCS as a point of comparison. The amount of staff supervision that CCS gives the volunteers is absolutely the key to why the volunteer work actually works for the community. When we volunteered on our own in the community without CCS we were taken advantage of by the people that connected us to the place we volunteered and we weren't really sure if, in the end we helped or not. With CCS their staff are locals and they REALLY know what they are doing. The are so awesome. I would argue that no serious volunteer would go without a high quality organization that cares like CCS. I understand how you might think the things you do but don't take it out on CCS. They are doing unbelievable things in this world and you should not be taking a good organization of dedicated and committed people and saying bad things about them - especially if you don't have any first hand experience with them. I encourage you to reconsider your position and anyone that reads this to make their own decision by asking anyone that has actually done a CCS program.
Point taken. I name CCS because that is the org that was highlighted in the article that prompted this post, but I am speaking of expensive volunteer orgs in general. I do have a friend who has volunteered with CCS and had a wonderful experience, but I don't think the costs are justified when I know that serious volunteer work (run by locals, as you say, who do know what they are doing and genuinely care) is possible for a fraction of the cost. I think your negative experience volunteering independently should not be construed as what will happen to people who forego such a supervised program. Peru, though certainly underdeveloped, is much more expensive than some countries where CCS operates, and I spent less than half of what CCS asks during my volunteer month there. As I stated in my post, I think CCS is a cool option if you want to go on vacation and do something good for the world at the same time (a vacation with volunteer component). If you're interested primarily in volunteer work, though, then I think it's ridiculous to have to pay thousands of dollars for that experience. There *are* inexpensive, professional orgaizations out there, and they're hard to find, but I would much rather give my money to them than to a large group like CCS.
i'm not surprised your friend had a wonderful experience with Cross-Cultural Solutions. as I said, i've been on two of their programs and i also met a lot of people that did CCS programs in other countries and had such amazing things to say about it. the volunteer work was very solid. I am working on my masters in social work and I have my undergrad in international development. i did CCS twice for 6 weeks each time. CCS was totally worth the money because I had the peace of mind of knowing that that the place that I was volunteering at was legit, my work was going to be worth my time and effort, I'd be with people I could trust, that it was safe (especially as a woman), that I'd be healthy eating the food at CCS (and the water!!!) and that I'd be with other great volunteers. i'm not arguing with you, i just want set the record straight for people that read this so they have the right information about something that I know about first hand. your blog is awesome by the way! -Angie
CCS was for me half about volunteering and half about cultural understanding on both sides of an exchange.
One of the reasons for choosing CCS over some other volunteer programs was that the organisation is recognised for taking the volunteer work seriously. A lot of effort is put into making sure that you are wanted and are of benefit wherever you go. There is no presumption that "we" know what is best for "them". I agree that in many circumstances, volunteer programs are on the shallow side when it comes to being more than an extra puddle of a tourist option.
What I would like to know is where does the thousands of dollars that you spend go?
What I loved about Peru was Huanchaco, one of the finest surfing beaches in Peru. A favorite spot for beach lovers and surfers in Peru, Huanchaco is known for its pristine beach and superb waves, attracting thousands of locals and tourists, especially on weekends. Huanchaco is also known for its caballitos - handmade boats made out of straw. After this great country I went to Argentina and got a buenos aires apartment. I have to say that both places are beautiful, people are warm and you never want to leave!
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