Volunteer Travel - Controversy

Controversy

While some experts on volunteering welcome the expansion of volunteer vacations as an opportunity to provide more resources to projects and to encourage a volunteer ethic in people, others have pointed out that the business methods used by tour operators, such as exclusivity deals, and catering to the needs of the volunteer rather than the volunteer project, exploit the communities the projects are intended to help. In many different provinces in these third world countries where voluntourism is most prominent, orphanages often take children out into the main city where they play in the streets with one another or play instruments, in an attempt to garner donations from tourists and volunteers. Many also invite potential and actual donors to visit the orphanage itself, and many then ask them to volunteer there. What these donors do not know, is that orphanages network themselves with volunteer organizations to ensure a steady flow of money and volunteers to their organizations. In addition, in order to ensure that such funding is never reduced and to promote additional donations, some orphanages are deliberately kept in decrepit conditions despite having adequate resources for dramatic improvements. Some news organizations have done inside reports on the volunteer industry finding exploitation.