Green Flags for Voluntourism Programs

Feb 1

Estimated 3 minute read

Wanting to give your time and energy freely is a beautiful gift. It can be especially difficult to ensure that a volunteer organization is not inadvertently exploiting the community they serve when looking for opportunities abroad due to language barriers and cultural communication differences. Read on to learn about the pros/cons of voluntourism and some questions to ask yourself + your prospective program coordinator before officially signing up to participate in a program.

What is voluntourism?

Voluntourism is a more recent style of travel that combines tourism and vacation with volunteer work. Although this type of travel was developed with good intentions, it has earned some negative feedback through the years. It is important to make sure your time volunteering has the impact you intend it to.

Pros of voluntourism

An often fun and unforgettable experience
Volunteers gain insight into a new perspective
Allows community participants access to a global/international community that they may not have previously had

Cons of voluntourism

Volunteers can provide unskilled services + take away jobs from skilled local workers
Funds may go to program organizer instead of the community partners
Puts children at risk (i.e. short term travel specifically can leave children at risk of creating insecure attachments with volunteers who come for a week, connect with the children, and then leave - never to be heard from again)

Questions to ask yourself

Do I have the skill set to do this well?
Why do I want to go?
How much time will I need to meet my above goals?
Does that align with how much time I am willing and able to give right now?

Questions to ask your prospective program

Is this program committed to its local partners?
What do you do specifically to protect the populations they serve?
What percentage of volunteers are from the local community?

Green Flags in voluntourism programs

They are happy to answer your questions about the ways in which they support their partner communities.
They have specific roles and ways to support the partner organizations they are happy to share with you.
They partner with well-established local organizations or hire mostly local volunteers who can have a regular and consistent presence in the establishment (this is especially important when it comes to volunteer organizations that work with kids!)

VIRGINIA D. WORONOFF, BILINGUAL M.S., CCC-SLP

Author & Program Founder

Virginia is a bilingual speech-language pathologist with years of experience working in the field internationally, as well as the founder of Speech Train Exchange.

Speech Train is an exchange program that connects you with local clinics to complete a practicum placement, gives you access to a renowned course on updated methodologies when working with multilingual and multicultural families, and connects you with the local interprofessional community through networking events. We also provide housing, tourism guidance, and language support as needed. Whether you are a new or experienced traveler, our programs are designed to be customizable and provide you with the structure you need to get started.