PRINCES WILLIAM and Harry did it and thousands of students and work-break gappers plan to do it every year.
Spurred by philanthropic ideals and a yearning to travel, a growing number of people are turning to voluntary overseas projects to broaden their horizons.
But while many schemes are worthwhile and invaluable there is a fear that an increasing number do little but offer a feel-good factor for gappers while failing to benefit the communities they’d hoped to serve.
People want to make a difference through volunteering but they would be better off travelling and experiencing different cultures, rather than wasting time in projects that have no impact and can leave a big hole in their wallet.”
The warning comes from charity the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) whose leaders are concerned that gap-year volunteering, as highlighted by the two princes, has spawned a multi-million pound industry with well-meaning gappers paying thousands of pounds to take part in spurious aid schemes.
Judith Brodie, director of VSO UK, said: “While there are many good gap-year providers we are increasingly concerned about the number of badly-planned and supported schemes that are spurious - ultimately benefiting no one apart from the travel companies that organise them.
“People want to make a difference through volunteering but they would be better off travelling and experiencing different cultures, rather than wasting time in projects that have no impact and can leave a big hole in their wallet.”
Examples of poorly-planned and managed schemes uncovered by the charity include a volunteer in Mexico who thought she’d be working on a rural conservation project but ended up sat behind a desk inputting data for six months and a volunteer teacher in Africa who couldn’t understand why her colleagues disliked her until she discovered her placement had led to a local teacher being made redundant.
Last year the VSO warned that gappers risked becoming the new colonialists if attitudes to voluntary work in the developing world did not change.
It argued the gap-year market was increasingly catering to the needs of the volunteers rather than the communities they claim to support.
• IF you are thinking of taking time out to volunteer overseas here is a checklist to guide you:
• WILL you be given a defined role and purpose?
• WILL you meet face-to-face with your provider and attend a selection day to assess your suitability for the volunteering opportunities and gain detailed information about the structure of your placement?
• IF your volunteer work and contribution is of real value why are you paying to do it? It should not cost you anything.
• HOW will you be supported with training and personal development needs before, during and after your placement?
• IS the work you do linked to long-term community partnerships that have a lasting impact? And how do volunteers work in partnership with the local community?
• DOES the organisation you are going with have established offices overseas that work in partnership with local people?
• CAN your organisation guarantee you 24-hour a day health, safety and security assistance?
• DOES the organisation have a
commitment to diversity among its volunteers?
• HOW does the organisation encourage
long-term awareness of real development issues?
• HOW will your work be monitored and evaluated so that others can build on what you have done?
