International volunteering

Last updated

International volunteering is when volunteers contribute their time to work for organisations or causes outside their home countries. International volunteering has a long association with international development or environment, with the aim of bringing benefits to host communities. [1]

Contents

Trends show that international volunteering has become increasingly popular across many countries over the past few decades. [2] International volunteering is a broad term which is used to capture multi-year, skilled placements as well as short term roles. The term voluntourism has become common to describe certain types of volunteering organised by governments, charities and travel agents. [3]

History

Pierre Ceresole and international volunteers at the first workcamp in France in 1920 PCeresole1920VerdunLarge.jpg
Pierre Cérésole and international volunteers at the first workcamp in France in 1920

On a large scale, workcamps after World War I and early missionary service were the first expressions of international service. [4] Formal overseas volunteering can be traced back over one hundred years to when the British Red Cross set up the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) scheme in 1909. [5] The VAD volunteers, as well as volunteers from many other national Red Cross organisations, worked in battlefields across Europe and the Middle East during World War I to treat soldiers and civilians regardless of the side they fought for. [6] One of the most prominent organisations, Service Civil International, organised workcamps from 1920 on as a form of post-war reconciliation and was formally established in 1934. [7]

Up to the mid-20th century overseas volunteering projects were mainly undertaken by people with direct connections to a particular cause and were considered more as short term in nature. [8] The more formal inception of international volunteering organisations can be linked to organisations such as Australian Volunteers International (formerly the Volunteer Graduate Scheme) which formed in 1951, International Voluntary Services in 1953 in the United States, and Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) in 1958 the United Kingdom. [9] [10] [11] These services and that of the U.S. Peace Corps, established in 1961 during the Kennedy administration, paved the way for broader recognition of overseas volunteering in later years. [12] During the 1960s and 1970s a movement of volunteerism and study abroad programs became popular among university students and graduates and the United Nations launched the UN Volunteers programme for young professionals to take part in a long-term (two year plus) overseas programme. [13] [4]

Eleanor Roosevelt and President John F. Kennedy discuss the Peace Corps, 1961. Eleanor Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy - NARA - 196122.jpg
Eleanor Roosevelt and President John F. Kennedy discuss the Peace Corps, 1961.

In recent years the accessibility of international volunteering for US Americans has increased significantly with many smaller charities connecting volunteers with non-governmental organisations in developing countries. About half of all international volunteering from the US takes place through faith-based organizations. [14] For-profit travel companies have also increasingly been offering paid-for volunteering opportunities, this growth coincided with the increasing number of young people taking gap years and has been termed volunteer tourism and voluntourism to denote shorter-term voluntary work that is not necessarily the sole purpose of the trip. [3] However, many opportunities medium- and long-term opportunities for skilled international volunteers remain, for example, the publicised role of volunteers in addressing the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa. [15] According to US Current Population Survey, the most common activities volunteers engage in abroad include tutoring or teaching, mentoring youth, engaging in general labor, and providing counseling, medical care, or protective services. [14]

Volunteer demographics

Global statistics on international volunteers are unavailable. However, about one million people from the US volunteer abroad each year—almost half for less than two weeks. [14] Shorter-term voluntourism is therefore appealing to many, as it is targeted at travellers who want to make a positive change in the world, while still providing a touristic experience. [16] Volunteering appeals to a broad cross-section of society, but the majority of volunteers are in their twenties and thirties, [14] potentially due to perceptions of volunteering abroad being a more risky activity. [17] The average age of Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) volunteers, however, is 38, showing a broad range of participation across age groups. [18] Recently there has been an increase in baby boomer volunteers. [19] One possible explanation for the increase is that these people are transitioning into a new stage of life and their focus may shift toward finding activities that give their life new meaning. As with domestic volunteering, international volunteering is more common among those with a higher education and from higher income households. Volunteering Solutions on the other hand has an average age of 20 and also has 80% female solo travellers traveling abroad year year. [14]

Critiques and challenges

Certain critiques and challenges are associated with international volunteering.

Outcomes

Measuring the outcomes of international volunteering is an ongoing challenge. Sometimes the costs invested in these partnerships are high. The intangible nature of impact and outcomes is hard to measure and research has been proposed in this area. [20] [21] Similarly, how to measure the success of a volunteer and the supporting organisation's performance is complicated. [22] To allow volunteers to integrate properly into the community, it is essential that volunteers have some useful skills and are reasonably well-informed and trained before the placement. [23] Shannon O'Donnell, a vocal critic of poorly designed international programs, contends that many volunteer organizations compromise the dignity of local populations—these programs often foster a cyclical dependency international volunteers within the communities the programs are designed to serve. [24] Others have critiqued the mixing of models of volunteering designed for international understanding and those designed for social or economic development. [25] Still others are concerned about its postcolonial and historical character, and the impacts this has on the identity of members of hosting communities. [26] [27]

High costs

Related to the impact of international volunteering, the cost of having an international volunteer has been cited as another area of concern, especially costs for air tickets, allowances (such as for housing and food), insurance, training and logistics. Local staff do not require long-distance travel costs, although they do require payment, and the local organisations could put these funds into other activities; however, many volunteers pay these expenses personally. [28] Some institutions provide scholarships for international volunteering. [29]

Still, volunteers are often cheaper than other forms of long-term technical assistance because they live and work under local conditions. Expatriates who work in the same capacity can be paid multiple times more than any allowances volunteers receive (if any). [22] The cost-benefit of international volunteers is hard to quantify, though studies have highlighted improvements in well-being and inter-cultural understanding in communities and schools as a result of international exchanges and volunteers. [30]

Undermining local organizations

One consideration is that volunteers may dominate the local workplace, replace local employment, and undermine management and work culture especially in small organisations and schools. This is due to volunteers often being considered more highly educated than local staff, even if they do not often have much direct experience.

Coming from a different culture can also lead to volunteers imposing their values on organisations. [22] [31] For example, different cultures have different ideas on whether it is more important to finish a project by a deadline, or to be active in the social life of the community, and a person who values punctuality may be annoyed that work stops for a funeral, while the person who values the community may be annoyed at the heartless-seeming person who wants to skip the funeral. Similarly, different cultures have different values about some business matters, with differing ideas about where the line is drawn between impermissible levels of nepotism and building valuable relationships and endorsements. Volunteers are often trained to respect the local working culture and ethics. [18]

Since they report directly to local organisations, they can (and sometimes do) have their contracts terminated if they break any local regulations, which helps to reduce concerns of domination. [22]

Low skills and experience

Young and inexperienced international volunteers sometimes do not have the correct skillset to achieve the project goal. [22] While this may be fine for volunteer workcamps and volunteer trips designed around enhancing international and intercultural understanding, it is a significant problem for international development volunteering (IDV). [32] On the other hand, many of the most prominent international volunteer cooperation organizations (IVCOs) – especially those funded by governments – have minimal educational and skill requirements.

A group of European Voluntary Service volunteers during training EVS Training Group.JPG
A group of European Voluntary Service volunteers during training

Poor understandings of local context

International volunteers from outside the host community can lack an understanding of the local context. While there is often a vetting or selection process for volunteers before they are recruited to serve in developing countries, this process has at times been found wanting. [33] Large international volunteer cooperation organizations (IVCOs) provide their volunteers with significant training before and often their placement, which can help address this deficit. [18] On the other hand, countless smaller and for-profit IVCOs offering unskilled volunteer placements to any participant willing to pay the placement fee rarely provide the type of training and preparation that volunteers need to be successful and helpful in hosting communities. In these circumstances, there is conflict about whether the fees volunteers pay justify the time spent supervising and revising their work, and if a sufficient portion of the fees make it back to the local communities hosting volunteers who are typically responsible for their supervision and training. [34]

Neo-colonialism

There have been allegations from some quarters of neo-colonial advances disguised as an effort to tackle poverty, as some volunteer organisations are connected to national governments, e.g. the Peace Corps, which was set up by the American government. [35] Despite this challenge, most volunteer organisations are non-governmental (NGOs) and are not influenced by government policies. [22] The present structures of international volunteering are also often aimed at impacts on a local, community scale which is sharply in contrast with the macro-political government strategies of the colonial era. [35]

However, many academic journals elaborate that volunteers often have little knowledge or expertise in the work they do when volunteering abroad. This has raised concerns of its value. Frances Brown and Derek Hall write that this creates a neo-colonial narrative; they say the volunteer perspective is framed around the idea that Westerners with minimal experience can effect change in the Global South, just by nature of being from the West. [36] This perpetuates the narrative of Western domination in a post-colonial world, and the need to "save" and "help" the Global South. [37]

Motivations of volunteers

People volunteer for many reasons, but seldom does anyone volunteer strictly for monetary reasons, as very few organisations offer a stipend for volunteering. [28] More compelling motives include experiencing another culture, meeting new people, and advancing one's career prospects. [38] Such motivations are common among younger volunteers who are looking for experience or direction in their careers. [33] People generally volunteer in order to increase their international awareness, to contextualize poverty and its effects, as an education opportunity, and to help people while having a morally rewarding experience. Many believe that the trip will change the way they think when they return home. However, others are just looking to give to others and do not believe that their experience will cause them to think twice about their lives back home. [39] Many participants use these trips to boost their resumes, travel with friends, gain world experience, and see new countries.

A common motivation is to "make a difference" [28] and to "achieve something positive for others" [40] who are less fortunate than the volunteer. Many volunteers tend to concur that there are disadvantaged people in their home countries, but the scale of disadvantage outside their home countries is felt to be greater. Volunteering at home may elicit images of helping the less fortunate, or campaigning with a local pressure group. [40] Volunteering abroad has tended to be associated with international development and bridging the divide between the rich and poor worlds. Volunteering abroad often seems a more worthy contribution in this context to the volunteers than work in their own country. This perspective is particularly true of volunteers who are older and looking for something more value-based as they near the end of their professional careers or after their children have left home. [28]

It is argued that volunteers are categorized by their motivation “based on six main criteria: destination, duration of project, focus of experience (self-interest versus altruistic), qualifications, active versus passive participation, and level of contribution to locals. [41] Certain data has encouraged researchers to propose a conceptual structure of volunteers’, classifying them as shallow, intermediate, and deep. The latter represented those who are prone to volunteer due to the hosting communities' needs, suggesting an authentic motivation of wanting to provide aid where it's needed. A shallow and intermediate volunteer is more so dominated by personal interests, with intermediate suggesting both altruistic and authentic motives. [41]

Voluntourism (aka volunteer tourism)

Definition

Volunteer tourism, also known as "voluntourism", is a specific kind of international volunteering. [42] It is a relatively new concept, combining the nonprofit sector and the tourism sector. [43] Essentially, it is a form of international traveling to resource poor settings, with a primary purpose of volunteering and serving the host community. Voluntourism activities are generally temporary attempts to address education, health, environmental and economic issues. [44] Ideally, voluntourism activities are conducted by non-profit organizations for the purpose of societal good, and poses a chance for volunteers to help and benefit others in an unconventional setting with their skills. [43] Those activities are characterized by the age of the participants, and by the length of time they volunteer abroad. [45] Participants are often young adults (ages 15–30), the length of the trip is often categorized as short term (under three months), [44] and the volunteering is regularly packaged with adventure and travel activities. Voluntourism has undergone intense scrutiny over the course of the 2000s, and an increasing number of academic papers question volunteer tourists' motivations and experiences. [45]

Growth of voluntourism

As a variation of international volunteering, voluntourism's development can be traced back to over a century ago. According to National Public Radio, it is one of the most rapid growing trends in modern travel, with more than 1.6 million volunteer-tourists spending around two billion dollars each year. [46]

Criticisms

Voluntourism programs are more often conducted by profit-making companies rather than charities. [47] Although the intention for volunteers to travel is to empower the local communities, the ultimate motivation of the volunteers is more self-serving. [44] [1] According to a study done by Rebecca Tiessen, the motivations identified by the participants generally fit under the category of personal growth (e.g. skill development, cross-cultural understanding, career choice, etc.), while motivations related to having a positive social impact or desire for social justice in the host communities was not found among the participants, reflecting a one-directional flow of benefits from the host communities to the volunteers. [48] With this trend, communities, journalists, and those who have actually done volunteer activities start to question to which extent voluntourism activities can actually help with the local condition, or will they actually bring harm to the already underprivileged places.

Volunteer-sending organizations, such as Free The Children's Me to We trips, the British company Projects-abroad, and AIESEC, have been critiqued as furthering the aforementioned neo-colonial narrative to youth. The increased prevalence of promotional material regarding trips to "help" the Global South has "increased media exposure in the Global North to poverty in the Global South." [47] Critics argue that the way in which these organizations advertise their trips stigmatizes and frames the developing world as helpless. This plays into Maria Eriksson Baaz's theories in the book Paternalism of Partnership: a Postcolonial Reading of Identity in Development Aid, in which she discusses discourse that frames the volunteer as a developed, paternalistic individual and the donor as underdeveloped. [49] The framing and "othering" of cultures outside the West and Global North can also be found in Edward Said's text, Orientalism . His theory is rooted in the same idea, in which he describes West's patronizing portrayals of the East.

Other criticisms of the voluntourism industry are that not only are short-term volunteers often untrained in the projects they participate in (building schools, health centres, wells), [50] [51] [52] but that projects can fuel conflict among communities, [53] offer bandaid solutions, replace work locals could be doing, and reinforce neoliberal policies. Interactions with children are highly popular amongst voluntourism programs. [54] As a consequence, children in these communities may become dependent and commodified when volunteers are constantly arriving and departing every couple weeks. Orphanage volunteering is also an emerging program, which can fuel human trafficking or child abuse in the host communities, and harm the children's development - according to UNICEF, in Nepal, 85% of all children living in orphanages has at least one living parent. [55] The rhetoric of such volunteer-sending organizations has also been argued to inform a "consumer-capitalist" [56] [57] culture that plays to the wants and needs of the privileged North, at the disadvantage of the Global South.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tourism</span> Travel for recreational or leisure purposes

Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity only", as people "travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure and not less than 24 hours, business and other purposes". Tourism can be domestic or international, and international tourism has both incoming and outgoing implications on a country's balance of payments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voluntary Service Overseas</span> International development charity

Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) is a not-for-profit international development organization charity with a vision for "a fair world for everyone" and a mission to "create lasting change through volunteering". VSO delivers development impact through a blended volunteer model consisting of international, national, and community volunteers working together to develop the systems and conditions for positive social change. In 2018–19, VSO worked in 23 countries in Africa and Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Non-governmental organization</span> Organization independent of any government, usually created to aid those in need

A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in humanitarianism or the social sciences; they can also include clubs and associations that provide services to their members and others. NGOs can also be lobby groups for corporations, such as the World Economic Forum. NGOs are distinguished from international and intergovernmental organizations (IOs) in that the latter are more directly involved with sovereign states and their governments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ecotourism</span> Tourism visiting environments

Ecotourism is a form of tourism marketed as "responsible" travel to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. The stated purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds for ecological conservation, to directly benefit the economic development and political empowerment of local communities, or to foster respect for different cultures and human rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Expatriate</span> Individuals temporarily or permanently residing in a country other than their native one

An expatriate is a person who resides outside their native country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Student exchange program</span> Program in which secondary school or university students study abroad

A student exchange program is a program in which students from a secondary school or higher education study abroad at one of their institution's partner institutions. A student exchange program may involve international travel, but does not necessarily require the student to study outside their home country.

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is a United Nations organization that contributes to peace and development through volunteerism worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable tourism</span> Form of travel and tourism without damage to nature or cultural area

Sustainable tourism is a concept that covers the complete tourism experience, including concern for economic, social and environmental issues as well as attention to improving tourists' experiences and addressing the needs of host communities. Sustainable tourism should embrace concerns for environmental protection, social equity, and the quality of life, cultural diversity, and a dynamic, viable economy delivering jobs and prosperity for all. It has its roots in sustainable development and there can be some confusion as to what "sustainable tourism" means. There is now broad consensus that tourism should be sustainable. In fact, all forms of tourism have the potential to be sustainable if planned, developed and managed properly. Tourist development organizations are promoting sustainable tourism practices in order to mitigate negative effects caused by the growing impact of tourism, for example its environmental impacts.

Community organization or community based organization refers to organization aimed at making desired improvements to a community's social health, well-being, and overall functioning. Community organization occurs in geographically, psychosocially, culturally, spiritually, and digitally bounded communities.

Globe Aware, established in 2001, is an international, non-religious, non-governmental, non-political nonprofit organization headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The organization was founded by Kimberly Haley-Coleman and holds special consultative status with the United Nations. Globe Aware's mission is to promote cultural awareness and sustainability by implementing community projects in various international host communities. Volunteers are mobilized for short term service projects in over 17 program sites around the world. Like peers such as Habitat for Humanity, the organization is led by volunteer efforts.

Rural tourism is a tourism that focuses on actively participating in a rural lifestyle. It can be a variant of ecotourism. Many villages can facilitate tourism because many villagers are hospitable and eager to welcome or host visitors. Agriculture has become more mechanized and requires less manual labor. This trend is causing economic pressure on some villages, which in turn causes young people to move to urban areas. There is however, a segment of the urban population that is interested in visiting the rural areas and understanding the lifestyle.

International Student Volunteers (ISV) is a voluntary not-for-profit organization based in Yorba Linda, California. It provides educational volunteer and travel adventure programs to university students and youth internationally. ISV has offices in each host country it operates in and is also established in Australia as International Student Volunteers Pty Ltd with a head office in Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edinburgh Global Partnerships</span>

Edinburgh Global Partnerships SCIO, or EGP, is a student-run charity based at the University of Edinburgh that assists in community-led development projects overseas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global Brigades</span> Non-profit organization

Global Brigades (GB) is a nonprofit health and sustainable development organization that works with volunteers from North American and European universities, as well as local staff in Central America and West Africa to partner with communities to reduce inequalities. Global Brigades implements their Holistic Model to meet a community's health and economic goals. The organization's model builds community ownership and executes programs with the end goal of sustainably transitioning to a relationship of impact monitoring.

Tourism Concern was a British NGO, advocating ethical tourism through campaigning and educating the tourism industry and travelling public.It closed in September 2018. Its members and staff worked to highlight global tourism's negative impacts and potential solutions, believing that host communities should truly benefit, not suffer, from tourism development. Its web and print archives held by Warwick University document the scope of its work over thirty years. Stated aims were 'to increase understanding of the impact of tourism on environments and host communities among governments, industry, civil society and tourists; and to promote tourism development that is sustainable, just and participatory, and which is founded on a respect for human rights.'

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volunteering</span> Act of freely giving time and labor

Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve on an as-needed basis, such as in response to a natural disaster.

Pod Volunteer is a non-governmental volunteering organisation with an associated registered charity based in the United Kingdom.

Tourism impacts tourist destinations in both positive and negative ways, encompassing economic, political, socio-cultural, environmental, and psychological dimensions. The economic effects of tourism encompass improved tax revenue, personal income growth, enhanced living standards, and the creation of additional employment opportunities. Sociocultural impacts are associated with interactions between people with differing cultural backgrounds, attitudes and behaviors, and relationships to material goods. Tourism can also have significant political impacts by influencing government policies and promoting diplomatic relations between countries. Environmental impacts can be categorized as direct effects including environmental damage, wildlife destruction, deforestation, water pollution, and indirect effects, such as increased harvesting of natural resources to supply food, indirect air and water pollution. Tourism also has positive and negative health outcomes for local people. The short-term negative impacts of tourism on residents' health are related to the density of tourist's arrivals, the risk of disease transmission, road accidents, higher crime levels, as well as traffic congestion, crowding, and other stressful factors. In addition, residents can experience anxiety and depression related to their risk perceptions about mortality rates, food insecurity, contact with infected tourists, etc., which can result in negative mental health outcomes. At the same time, there are positive long-term impacts of tourism on residents' health and well-being outcomes through improving healthcare access positive emotions, novelty, and social interactions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Workcamp</span> International volunteering organization

A workcamp is international volunteering, where groups of volunteers from different countries work and live together as a team on a short-term basis and for a not-for-profit cause, usually for one to three weeks. Workcamps are considered one of the most important types of international volunteering programs. They were first introduced in 1920 as a way of bringing people together for increased international understanding and peace reconciliation efforts.

Medical volunteerism, also medical volunteering, is volunteering in the context of providing medical treatment.

References

  1. 1 2 Thompson, Stephen; Sparrow, Karen; Hall, Jonathan; Chevis, Nicola (2020-10-02). "Volunteering for development: what does best practice look like?". Development in Practice. 30 (7): 972–978. doi:10.1080/09614524.2020.1787351. ISSN   0961-4524. S2CID   225532077 . Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. Anheier, H. K., & Salamon, L. M. (1999). Volunteering in cross-national perspective: Initial comparisons. Law and Contemporary Problems, 43-65.
  3. 1 2 "'Making a Difference': Volunteer Tourism and Development" (PDF). St. Mary's University College. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  4. 1 2 Lough, Benjamin (2015). The Evolution of International Volunteering. Beijing: United Nations Volunteers. p. 1.
  5. "War-time volunteers and personnel records". British Red Cross. Archived from the original on 26 February 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  6. "What did the British Red Cross do during the First World War" (PDF). British Red Cross. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  7. D. E. Woods, Volunteers in community development. Paris: Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service, UNESCO, 1971.
  8. McGray, Douglas (February 2004). "Going the Distance". Travel and Leisure Magazine. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
  9. "Our Story". Australian Volunteers International. Archived from the original on 16 April 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  10. International Voluntary Services. International Voluntary Services: 1953-2003. Harpers Ferry, WV: International Voluntary Services Alumni Association, 2003. Print.
  11. Deeley, S. (2014-11-25). Critical Perspectives on Service-Learning in Higher Education. p. 16. ISBN   9781137383259.
  12. "Executive Order 10924: Establishment of the Peace Corps. (1961)". Ourdocuments.gov. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
  13. "UNV Factsheet 2015" (PDF). United Nations. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 Lough, Benjamin (2015). "A Decade of International Volunteering from the United States, 2004 to 2014". Washington University in St. Louis. doi:10.7936/k7b56j73.
  15. Hanniffy, Darren (2014-11-12). "Ebola volunteers - what you need to know". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  16. Rogers, Mark (2007-09-17). "Voluntourism is on the Rise". Travel Agent. 331 (3): 20–4.
  17. Moore, Amanda. "Access to International Volunteering" (PDF). Washington University. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  18. 1 2 3 Burns, L. "Role of Volunteering in Sustainable Development" (PDF). VSO. VSO & Institute of Development Studies. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  19. Lough, Benjamin J.; Xiang, Xiaoling (2016). "Skills-Based International Volunteering Among Older Adults From the United States". Administration & Society. 48 (9): 1085–1100. doi:10.1177/0095399714528179. ISSN   0095-3997. S2CID   147066947.
  20. Sherraden, M. S., Lough, B., & McBride, A. M. (2008). Effects of international volunteering and service: Individual and institutional predictors. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 19(4), 395-421.
  21. Lough, Benjamin J (2013). "International Volunteering for Development: A Desk Review of Forum Members' Grey Literature". International Forum for Volunteering in Development. doi:10.13140/rg.2.2.30653.82405.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Devereux, P. (2008). International volunteering for development and sustainability: outdated paternalism or a radical response to globalisation?. Development in Practice, 18(3), 357-370.
  23. Raymond, Eliza; Michael Hall (2008). "The Development of Cross-Cultural (Mis)Understanding Through Volunteer Tourism". Journal of Sustainable Tourism. 16 (5): 530–543. doi:10.2167/jost796.0.
  24. O'Donnell, Shannon (31 July 2016). "The Psychology and Ethics of International Volunteering". Grassroots Volunteering. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  25. Simpson, Kate (2004). "'Doing development': the gap year, volunteer-tourists and a popular practice of development". Journal of International Development. 16 (5): 681–692. doi:10.1002/jid.1120. ISSN   1099-1328.
  26. Perold, H.; Graham, L. A.; Mavungu, E. M.; Cronin, K.; Muchemwa, L.; Lough, B. J. (2013-04-01). "The colonial legacy of international voluntary service". Community Development Journal. 48 (2): 179–196. doi:10.1093/cdj/bss037. ISSN   0010-3802.
  27. Lough, Benjamin J.; Carter-Black, Janet (2015). "Confronting the white elephant: International volunteering and racial (dis)advantage". Progress in Development Studies. 15 (3): 207–220. doi:10.1177/1464993415578983. ISSN   1464-9934. S2CID   146490677.
  28. 1 2 3 4 Palmer, Michael. “On the Pros and Cons of Volunteering Abroad.Development in Practice, vol. 12, no. 5, 2002, pp. 637–643.
  29. "Volunteer Abroad Programs". maximonivel.com. Maximo Nivel. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
  30. Lough, B.; Matthews, L. (2013). Forum Discussion Paper: Measuring and Conveying the Added Value of International Volunteering (PDF). Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  31. Lough, Benjamin J.; McBride, Amanda Moore; Sherraden, Margaret S.; O'Hara, Kathleen (2011). "Capacity Building Contributions of Short-Term International Volunteers". Journal of Community Practice. 19 (2): 120–137. doi:10.1080/10705422.2011.568921. ISSN   1070-5422. S2CID   145177874.
  32. Lough, Benjamin J.; Tiessen, Rebecca (2018). "How do International Volunteering Characteristics Influence Outcomes? Perspectives from Partner Organizations". VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. 29 (1): 104–118. doi: 10.1007/s11266-017-9902-9 . ISSN   0957-8765. S2CID   148746139.
  33. 1 2 Mangold, K. (2012). ‘Struggling to Do the Right Thing’: challenges during international volunteering. Third World Quarterly, 33(8), 1493-1509.
  34. Shannon O'Donnell. "The Volunteer Traveler's Handbook," Full Flight Press, 2012.
  35. 1 2 "'Making a Difference': Volunteer Tourism and Development" (PDF). St. Mary's University College. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  36. Brown, Frances; Hall, Derek (2008-07-01). "Tourism and Development in the Global South: the issues". Third World Quarterly. 29 (5): 839–849. doi:10.1080/01436590802105967. ISSN   0143-6597. S2CID   154026470.
  37. Palacios, Carlos M. (2010-08-20). "Volunteer tourism, development and education in a postcolonial world: conceiving global connections beyond aid". Journal of Sustainable Tourism. 18 (7): 861–878. doi:10.1080/09669581003782739. ISSN   0966-9582. S2CID   55974359.
  38. Lough, Benjamin J.; McBride, Amanda Moore; M. S. Sherraden (2009). "Perceived effects of international volunteering: Reports from alumni". Center for Social Development, Washington University. doi:10.13140/rg.2.2.11508.19849.
  39. "Youth as Voluntourists: A Case Study of Youth Volunteering in Guatemala". Undercurrent: The Canadian Undergraduate Journal of Development Studies. 7 (3). Fall–Winter 2011.
  40. 1 2 Rehberg, W. (2005). Altruistic individualists: Motivations for international volunteering among young adults in Switzerland. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 16(2), 109-122.
  41. 1 2 Wearing, Stephen; McGehee, Nancy Gard (Oct 2013). "Volunteer Tourism: A Review". Tourism Management. 38: 120–130. doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2013.03.002 . Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  42. Buchmayer, Kelsey (2017). "Voluntourism Discourse: A Case Study of ME to WE". School of International Development and Global Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ottawa.
  43. 1 2 Volunteering in America, “Voluntourism.” Accessed February 12, 2019.
  44. 1 2 3 Smith, Megan (2015-04-01). "The Cost of Volunteering: Consequences of Voluntourism". Anthropology Senior Theses. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  45. 1 2 Butcher, Jim; Smith, Peter (2010). "'Making a Difference': Volunteer Tourism and Development" (PDF). Tourism Recreation Research. 35 (1): 27–36. doi:10.1080/02508281.2010.11081616. S2CID   51729611.
  46. Magazine, Stowaway. "History of Voluntourism | Stowaway Magazine". Archived from the original on 2019-03-13. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
  47. 1 2 Zeddies, Margaret; Millei, Zsuzsa (2015). ""It takes a global village": Troubling discourses of global citizenship in United Planet's voluntourism". Global Studies of Childhood. 5 (1): 100–111. doi: 10.1177/2043610615573383 . S2CID   144360513.
  48. Tiessen, Rebecca (2012-05-11). "Motivations for Learn/Volunteer Abroad Programs: Research with Canadian Youth". Journal of Global Citizenship & Equity Education. 2 (1). ISSN   1927-2669.
  49. Baaz, Maria Eriksson (2005). The Paternalism of Partnership: A Postcolonial Reading of Identity in Development Aid. Zed Books.
  50. Herrmann, S (2011). "Holding on to transformation: Reflections on global service learning". Critical Service-Learning as Revolutionary Pedagogy: 273–296.
  51. Guttentag, D (2009). "The possible negative impacts of volunteer tourism". International Journal of Tourism Research. 11 (6): 145–158. doi:10.1002/jtr.727.
  52. Simpson, K (2005). "Doing Development: the gap year, volunteer tourists and a popular practice of development". Journal of International Development. 16 (5): 681–692. doi:10.1002/jid.1120.
  53. Doerr, E (2011). "Cognitive dissonance in international service-learning: Possibilities and challenges for service-learning pedagogy". Critical Service-Learning as Revolutionary Pedagogy: 71–94.
  54. "Child protection - How to better protect children in destination countries". Responsible Volunteering. 2018-05-01. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
  55. "Volunteering in orphanages". www.unicef.org. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
  56. Jefferess, David (2012). "The "Me to We" social enterprise: Global education as lifestyle brand". Critical Literacy: Theories and Practices. 6: 1.
  57. Birrell, I (2010). "Before you pay to volunteer abroad, think of the harm you might do". The Guardian.