Volunteering abroad is condenscending and patronising to other races

Surely this should be down to the people living in these communities? All the people I know who have done this sort of thing (not all white, either) got the strong impression that the members of the communities were very appreciative of the assistance & extra help they were getting from the volunteers. Who are you to say that these volunteers shouldn't be doing what they're doing when their work is appreciated?

because youre not correct ?
all your points are simply complete tosh from someone who obviously has a very large chip on their shoulder and a very ignorant one at that...
what makes you think that everyone who goes out to these countries to HELP is an 'unqualified schmuck' throw some statistics for this i dare you.
theyre hardly stealing the jobs there anyway as these people arent exactly paid to go drill a well or build a school? they have no money thats the bloody point, these people are going out there to give them free help and put money into the local economy theyre not there to thumb their noses at them.
infact what possible position are you in to comment on this issue youre nothing but a smug little boy sitting behind a computer arguing about how people in some of the poorest regions of the world [which you couldnt possibly in a million years empathise with] so how in any way is it condecending or patronising to go over and give these people a helping hand. when youre living in total poverty and NO ONE helps you i bet youll be singing a different tune then. hypocrite.

No. Volunteering abroad is something middle class people do to either delay university (and subsequently their working lives) by another year OR to delay paying back their student loans after graduating*.

*Don't say this isn't the case; I know of at least 10 people who have either gone volunteering or gone on an extended working holiday so they can say to the Student Loans company they'd be out of the country to delay paying it back.

The volunteering is welcomed because there is no money in these places to pay people to do the work that the volunteers do. And frankly, some places need all the help they can get.

No it's not. I am intelligent. I am enlightened. In fact, I'd go so far to say I'm one of the most intelligent posters here.

I, unlike most of the braindead, clueless sheep such as yourself have the mental ability to make my own decisions in life rather than following the crowd and doing what everybody else does. As proven by the fact that nobody has an intelligent argument against my point that volunteering is condenscending and insulting to other races and, that the white, middle-class volunteers who go on the projects have a deep-seated sense of superiority that I, as an enlightened individual, do not have.

You know, for someone who claims to be so intelligent, you're awfully ignorant to the facts that:

1. Just because a large number of people agree that something is good, it does not make the opposite an intelligent and original stance to take; it just makes you a wannabe hipster, doing anything to go against any convention, even when it is a good one.

2. Very few volunteers go to these places bearing in mind that they are superior to those who are trained and native. They are simply filling a much needed support position which those areas desperately need, because no one living in poverty will work for free. And yes, it is something that makes the volunteer feel good, but they are also doing good, so this circles back again to your prejudice being born out of spite.

Considering you're so highly intelligent, why are you wasting your time on TSR? Go write a book, start a political party, cure cancer, just gtfo and stop insulting people who don't deserve it.

Wow, way to be condenscending.

So, according to you, basically countries in Africa and other poor places need the help of white westerners to survive?

That's very arrogant of you. Honestly, people like you are no better than racists. What is worse, wanting a race of people to live in their own land living by their own work and produce, or believing said race living in their own land can not survive without your help?

I say the second one. It's condenscending and racist yet the idiots who volunteer refuse to realise how patronising and insulting it comes across, this deep rooted belief that other races need the help of arrogant, middle class white students.

Again, I volunteered before and felt the same way, until I realise I wasn't helping and that if left too it, these "poor", "uneducated", "underpriveledged" countries could do just fine without idiot volunteers going over there to "help".

Tell me, how would you feel if someone described you as uneducated, poor and underprivedged? Insulting words aren't they, yet that's exactly what all the volunteers think of the people they go to "help".

It's pure arrogance and selfish.

Wow, way to be condenscending.

So, according to you, basically countries in Africa and other poor places need the help of white westerners to survive?

That's very arrogant of you. Honestly, people like you are no better than racists. What is worse, wanting a race of people to live in their own land living by their own work and produce, or believing said race living in their own land can not survive without your help?

I say the second one. It's condenscending and racist yet the idiots who volunteer refuse to realise how patronising and insulting it comes across, this deep rooted belief that other races need the help of arrogant, middle class white students.

Again, I volunteered before and felt the same way, until I realise I wasn't helping and that if left too it, these "poor", "uneducated", "underpriveledged" countries could do just fine without idiot volunteers going over there to "help".

Tell me, how would you feel if someone described you as uneducated, poor and underprivedged? Insulting words aren't they, yet that's exactly what all the volunteers think of the people they go to "help".

It's pure arrogance and selfish.

You are completely right! Obviously it might be a bit different volunteering long term but popping over for a few weeks and painting a wall, it's a wonder they don't kill you in your sleep. And I've been on one of these things so think before you neg

1. Just because a large number of people agree that something is good, it does not make the opposite an intelligent and original stance to take; it just makes you a wannabe hipster, doing anything to go against any convention, even when it is a good one.

2. Very few volunteers go to these places bearing in mind that they are superior to those who are trained and native. They are simply filling a much needed support position which those areas desperately need, because no one living in poverty will work for free. And yes, it is something that makes the volunteer feel good, but they are also doing good, so this circles back again to your prejudice being born out of spite.

Considering you're so highly intelligent, why are you wasting your time on TSR? Go write a book, start a political party, cure cancer, just gtfo and stop insulting people who don't deserve it.

No, I think particular areas in some countries need ANYONE'S help, wether it comes from a rich, black American to a middle class Chinese person.

Some people in some areas are not able to survive by themselves because of disease, lack of food/ water etc. volunteers working for charities provide these thing which SAVES LIVES.

You do know that it's not only white middle class students who do volunteer work don't you?

You keep saying that these people would do fine if not for all these volunteers. How many adverts for Oxfam/WaterAid/TheRedCross/Children in Need etc do you need to see to realise that people need help?
These people are poor, they are underprivileged and if they have not been to school then yes, they are uneducated. But if any of these things can be even slightly reversed by ANYBODY then that is a positive thing.

Schools where there is only one teacher for every 100 kids need help. Hospitals/disease clinics where there is only one doctor for every 500 people need help from ANYBODY that can provide help.

I suspect you may be talking about a different situation here. The front-line, lifesaving work of charities such as Oxfam and the Red Cross in conflict zones and areas hit by famine is almost always conducted by trained, salaried, highly qualified professionals or trained, highly qualified professional volunteers (MSF for example). WaterAid, for example, might have a need for qualified experienced hydrological engineers. They are probably unlikely to require an 18 years old with A levels and no work experience, as that person will be a hindrance and has nothing to offer in terms of useful labour, skills or knowledge.

Unqualified gap year students are highly unlikely to end up working in Somali refugee camps or with starving people in Darfur. And the large, reputable charities do not send unqualified volunteers abroad as doing so is too much of a strain on their resources and they understand that these volunteers, while well-intentioned, cannot contribute anything worthwhile.

It is no coincidence that the vast majority of 2 week, expensive volunteer placements are in safe, beautiful, conflict free low to middle income countries (Ghana, Costa Rica, Cambodia etc.) and not in the dangerous, non tourist-friendly, unglamorous places where help (even if from relatively unqualified people) is needed more.

I can only speak from what I've heard from others, but one of my friends is going on a gap year and is volunteering in an AIDS/HIV clinic in Malawi. Hardly Costa Rica is it?

since it stems from the middle-class, white belief that other races are underpriveledge and incapable of looking after themselves without help from middle-class white kids who are out there purely to boost their own sense of self-worth and look good when they return.

It's insulting. I know if i was a builder or teacher in africa i'd feel insulted that a bunch of middle-class, soft white westerners thought they could come over and immediately do my job better with no formal training and act like they're making a big difference when in reality they're only gathering photos to show off to similar middle-class white friends back home.

The volunteers are only in it for themselves. Fact. And they are patronising and condenscending to ethnic groups they go to "help" with their own sense of superiority and belief that the ethnic groups can not survive without their help.

Plus, it does no good. Volunteering efforts should be spent in better training workers in said countries to earn a living teaching or building rather than having some jumped up, poncy kid go over there and do it for a few weeks.

Of course, many of the middle-class kids like 90% of the posters here who volunteer will refuse to see how condenscending it is and will refuse to see that deep down, they have a belief in their own superiority over other races.

I however am an intelligent, enlightened individual and i realise that volunteering abroad does not help and is insulting to the people of the other country. Plus i, unlike other posters here, don't have a belief that i am superior to the "poor, uneducated, underpriveledged" people living in indian or africa.

While I largely agree with the sentiment of the OP I also disliked the tone. I think it absurd for him to presume that most western volunteers consider themselves superior to the people they are trying to help. However:

You seem to believe that the OP is alone in his opposition to unqualified westerners going to developing countries to do short-term volunteering. It's hardly 'hipsterism' to have this attitude- there is a growing backlash against this kind of 'voluntourism' both in the UK and in the developing countries themselves. Numerous articles have been written about the detrimental social consequences of unqualified westerners 'teaching' abroad or 'helping' in orphanages for short periods, and it is widely acknowledged that unqualified English teachers are more of hindrance than a help. It is also widely known that short term volunteers in orphanages can create psychosocial issues for the children in their 'care' and (worse) their voluntourism has spawned an exploitative commercial 'orphanage trade' in certain countries (notably Cambodia). This is all common knowledge. It is troubling that the gap yah kids who volunteer rarely bother educating themselves about the possible negative consequences of their 'work'- volunteering is almost seen as a right for those with the cash to pay for it.

My view (and that of the development professionals I know) is that you should never have to pay for a volunteering position, and anything of less than 6 months is likely to have limited positive social impact.

Perhaps the OP's posting was made out of spite but it should hardly be a surprise to you that many people (including and especially Development professionals) are increasingly concerned by the growth of a largely unregulated for-profit voluntourism industry.

You also make the assumption that volunteer projects are 'desperately needed' which is quite a ridiculous generalisation to make. It always intrigues me for example to see English-teacher positions aimed at unqualified 18 year olds in places like Fiji- a middle-income country with English as an official (and widely spoken) language, which just so happens to have an excess of tropical beaches. Fiji has absolutely no need for foreign English 'teachers' as there is ample supply of local, qualified, trained teachers who speak the language fluently.

The fact is that unqualified volunteers are depriving local people of potential income, training and social status by performing low-skilled menial jobs which local people could easily do themselves. Even where (and I hate the generalisation that this is always the case) there is no money to pay for a particular project, usually payment for services can be made by bartering goods- westerners coming out to build/paint a wall disrupts community cohesion and contributes little.

I for one am mostly against voluntourism as it is largely an unethical practice that causes more harm than good- although of course this does depend on the individual, their skills, and the project/charity in question.

Similarly, someone mentioned people fundraising for what is essentially a fun and pleasurable activity- I fully agree. I would never sponsor someone to take part in what is essentially an adventure holiday, or to do anything fun or exciting like taking a skydive. And I certainly wouldn't ever have the gall to ask for money for these activities (whereas I did fundraise for a marathon, as that was a gruelling activity requiring intense training and committment.)