Voluntourism in Africa: a word of caution
Voluntourism in Africa: a word of caution
Travelers to Africa often are tempted to confuse tourism with volunteering. It seems they have an innate wish to help the country while coming to Africa. This article wishes to debunk that commonly held myth.
Africa is loaded with graduates, university or professionally formed, that are unemployed. These freshly graduated folks have to compete with an army of unskilled volunteers that come for a couple of months, sometimes even for a couple of weeks. Often, these fresh arrivals are unexperienced kids from the UK or the USA that have just finished high school. They are willing to pay fortunes to middlemen that "place" them in an African country. Often, the top three placements involve orphanages, wild animals or teaching English.
On a macro-economic scale, sending a person who has never been to Africa with no experience, is absurd. Calculate the price of plane tickets, the travel, the preparations and the long training and nurturing once they arrive is mind-blowing. The comparative advantage of these arrivals compared to the local workforce is nihil.
On a personal scale, these volunteers also create havoc. By working "for free" and actually paying middlemen large sums to be able to pay, they skew the local work conditions. Why would a school hire an African graduate if they can get them for free?
A great analogy would be sending planeloads of Africans to the US to work for free in the McDonalds. In the US, we would call this human trafficking, in Africa, its called voluntourism. Same thing.
Westerners should stop thinking that Africa needs unskilled workforce. This seems to stem from an inntae, neo-colonial perception of Africa that is untrue. Moreover, they should be aware that they are doing more wrong than good and are, in essence, selfish in their objectives.
Safari companies are very well aware of this worrying trend, and play into it. Several companies even offer "voluntourism" trips, which are nothing else than money-making exercises trying to appease the need for Westerners to "help" Africa. Our tour company in Uganda refuses to play that trend, and there are many more.
In brief, if you want to come to Africa, stick to tourism, and leave neo-colonial ideas behind. Golden triangle with Ranthambore national park tour package Find your perfect "Christmas" farm Journey Suggestions For Your Holiday In Andorra India Tour: The Most Memorable Trip Out Christmas shopping toddler stolen in the blink of an eye! Tourist Attractions In Manipur Group Tours To India Jaipur Festivals Kumarakom Backwaters Tour Scouting Out The Camp Summer Overnight Girl Camps Travel in Malaysia The Importance Of Web Hosting Comparison Where The Wealthy Holidaymakers Will Visit In 2011 - Monaco