Convict Edd Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 considering its teaching english to 4-8 year olds and i am building the schools and houses not the teaching part i dont think you should be like that, we are travveling to help these people and your correcting my grammer shows how people care... I dont care. We have enough poor kids and problems in this country. You want to help someone? Why not start on your own doorstep? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callippo Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 things are not what they seem here. This is voluntourism. A multi-million pound, and highly commercialised, multi-national business. check out these links Gap-year 'voluntourists' told not to bother http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/browse/sectors/youth/doc/gap-year-voluntourists-told-not.html VSO UK's director, Judith Brodie, doesn't pull her punches in condemning such sharp practice. Young people who want to make a difference, she says, "would be better off travelling and experiencing different cultures, rather than wasting time on projects that have no impact and can leave a big hole in their wallet". Before you pay to volunteer abroad, think of the harm you might do A damning report says that well-intentioned westerners do little to alleviate the lot of poverty-stricken children in developing countries http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/14/orphans-cambodia-aids-holidays-madonna Cambodia's orphanages target the wallets of well-meaning tourists http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/cambodias-orphanages-target-the-wallets-of-wellmeaning-tourists-2252471.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiSiSi Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 It does appear that the OP is asking for funding for a holiday. A working holiday maybe, but a holiday nevertheless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callippo Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 it's compounded by the good possibility that the volunteers are neither needed nor wanted at the point of contact. orphanages in war-torn deprived parts of the world yes, they do appreciate volunteer input, but not the type that turns up for a month or two, just long enough to take a few pictures of them with happy smiling children to show their mates back home, or to put on their CV to hopefully show prospective employers the next year that they haven't been bumming around on the beach at the Full Moon Party (when for the other 11 months of the gap year, they probably have been). think about the kids. Just as soon as one lot of well meaning foreign youths turn up, then another bunch do, the next month. It's like a revolving door. It's hellos and goodbyes all the time and not stable. Not good for them at all. unfortunately merely having a white face and the ability to speak English isn't enough to make a contribution. You have to put some time in, six months at least to help, or really have proper engineering skills to rebuild bridges, etc and other infrastructure after natural disasters like tropical storms and floods. Just being keen isn't enough. You shouldn't have to pay to work on these projects and the good charities don't expect to be paid, they get their funding from elsewhere. All they want is properly motivated and qualified volunteers rather than these fly-by-nighters. Voluntourism is iffy at the best of times, even when it's them that are paying for it out of what they've earned in a luckier economic environment like in the west (or more likely, what their parents have earned). When they're trying to solicit sponsorship for it that's even worse. You shouldn't be paying anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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