30 Sept 2012
22 Sept 2012
Voluntourism
I agree with this:
'... short-term volunteer projects can do more harm than good. Wealthy tourists prevent local workers from getting much-needed jobs, especially when they pay to volunteer; 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.'
Voluntourism packages sold for profit by Western companies can devalue the positive intentions of their customers, often teenagers, by prioritising their desires over the needs of a poor community. Often the volunteers are completely untrained for the professional work they assume, such as teaching, and although they can bring friendship and care to a community, they can also inadvertently replace local professionals and destabilise actual development.
When it comes to orphanages and schools it is unacceptable that unchecked foreigners are allowed to work alone with children. This would never be permitted in the UK and should not be permitted when sending British volunteers to other countries. I have witnessed personally the risks of this negligence. Criminal record checks should be mandatory for all work with minors.
Not only can poor communities loose out on these ventures, the volunteers themselves can pay thousands of pounds more than necessary to cover their basic needs. This extra money, which could be donated to the communities in question, is earnt instead by Western companies.
Volunteering abroad should utilise the volunteer's own skills or profession. It should provide unpaid work without causing local redundancy or employment insecurity. It should suit the project's current needs and development. Finally, it should foster true international partnerships - people to people - instead of matching rich, paying groups with poor, dependent groups. Local leaders should have the final say, not businessmen in London.
I know life isn't perfect, but some volunteering options are too far removed from their original purpose.
21 Sept 2012
I just watched Coraline on TV
I love how this entire thing is stop-motion puppetry and not computer graphics.
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