Importance of Being an Ethical Traveller.

At face value, these seem like impactful activities to undertake. It makes voluntourists feel good and seemingly helps communities. As a former volunteer coordinator who managed these short-term programs, I witnessed first-hand the issues that these voluntourism stints cause. I am here to tell you that it is time to hit reset on how we help communities in low- and middle-income countries.

When I was 25, I took a career break and moved to Cambodia, and worked at a school for former street children. It was while I was working there that I eventually realized I was not helping the future of Cambodians. I witnessed local staff who became complacent and disempowered after having foreign volunteers taking over their jobs. I sat by as children developed attachment issues due to the revolving door of volunteers. I organised activities for groups of rich philanthropists to come and play with the children for an afternoon, in the hope we could source funds to keep the organisation running for the next few months.

I had moved to Cambodia because as a former voluntourist, I truly believed that this was the best way to develop a country. But I was wrong, and I was naive.

I was introduced to the Human and Hope Association, a nightly English school, by a friend. Founded by Cambodians, the Human and Hope Association was open two hours an evening with volunteer Khmer staff, and sometimes foreigners, teaching English and Morality to village kids and teenagers at a fee of 50 cents to $1 a month. They were responsible for developing their community and their people. They had the drive; they just needed the resources.

I left the school I was working for and began working with the Human and Hope Association, under two conditions. One, we had to stop the foreign volunteer program and two, I had to eventually make myself redundant, and leave the organisation to be entirely run and driven by the local team. I had realised that for organisations to be sustainable, they needed to be run by local staff. And for local staff to run organisations, they needed to have access to an empowering environment.

We spent the next few years developing the organisation, upskilling local staff members, and implementing a range of poverty-alleviating projects. In 2016 I was voluntarily made redundant and the Human and Hope Association has been entirely locally-operated since that day.

Locals are best placed to solve the needs of their community
Ask yourself why you are best placed, as a foreigner, to solve the issue of child marriages in Nepal or female genital mutilation in Sudan, or why you should be building a house in Thailand. In most cases, the people who are best placed to solve these issues are local staff. They know the culture and the community, what has worked and hasn’t worked, and they are there for the long-term.

Working with vulnerable people requires a unique approach
People who are vulnerable or experiencing trauma need to be worked with in a sensitive manner. Local people can provide consistency and ongoing support; know the language and the culture. We may not realise it, but when we volunteer in schools and communities in countries like Cambodia, we are interacting with people who are living in difficult situations; and we can unknowingly worsen that trauma with our words or actions. There can also be attachment issues due to a revolving door of voluntourists.

It sends the wrong message
For far too long, the narrative of countries like Cambodia being ‘helpless’ has existed. Voluntourism amplifies this belief, as it perpetuates stereotypes about people who come from these countries as unable to solve their own issues.
This isn’t the case; people from lower-income countries are innovative, resourceful, and resilient and can achieve a lot with limited resources. When we participate in voluntourism, we inadvertently send the message that development can’t happen without hands-on help from foreigners, which isn’t the case.

Voluntourism is a short-term solution to a long-term problem
Voluntourism is short-term. People may help at organisations for just one day or a few weeks. But most issues are long-term problems. That house you build? Who will take care of the maintenance? That class you teach? Who will provide consistency? Those trees you plant? Who will take care of them when you are gone? When change comes from the local community, it instils a sense of pride and ownership. Local communities must be invested in the process of development because if they aren’t, the chances of the programs succeeding or change being permanent is very low.

There is a simple way to help people and that’s by being an ethical traveller.

Support social enterprises
There are countless for-purpose businesses to support across the world that train people from marginalised backgrounds or support charities with their profits. Shop, dine and stay at social enterprises or ethical businesses so that the employees can remain in stable employment and break the cycle of poverty.

Don’t give or buy from street children
Find reputable NGOs that support education, health and support services, to support with your tourist dollar instead, rather than give money to street kids directly.

Buy locally sourced products
Find out where your food and souvenirs are made, to support the local economy, so you can back a small business at the same time.

Pay attention to the culture
You don’t want to inadvertently offend the local people by not adhering to their local culture. Make sure you pack appropriate clothing for your destination, read up on cultural do’s and don’ts, and even learn some basic words so you can show respect to your host country. It will enhance your experience and ensure you are leaving a positive footprint.

The pandemic has disrupted the world, and hundreds of millions of livelihoods have suffered. Voluntourism is not the way ahead. As travellers, we can help empower communities, by being ethical travellers