I’ve written about orphanage voluntourism before – in my post Orphanage voluntourism holidays. As an adoptive mother, I’m passionate about this subject, as anyone who’s ever talked to me about volunteering abroad will know. I’m writing about it again, because The Better Volunteering Better Care Network have asked me to support their #StopOrphanTrips campaign to raise awareness of the great harm which is caused by volunteers visiting orphanages.
So, here goes.
Here are ten big reasons why you, your children, your friends, relations and anyone else that you know should never, ever visit an orphanage as a volunteer.*
- Most ‘orphans’ living in orphanages worldwide aren’t orphans.
- Volunteering in such settings encourages the separation of children from their families.
- International volunteering in residential care centres is creating a demand for ‘orphanages’ and ‘orphans’: kids are becoming a commodity.
- If children can’t live with their parents, experts agree that the best place for them is with another family, rather than in residential care. That’s why most kids who can’t live with their birth families in the UK are fostered or adopted.
- Some residential care centres are being run as businesses, generating money from volunteers, resulting in a demand for ‘orphans’.
- There’s evidence that some residential care centres are linked to child trafficking.
- Even though you may have good intentions towards children, not everyone is as well-intentioned as you. Your visit normalises access to children by unqualified staff.*
- Being exposed to an ever-changing parade of visiting foreign adults has a negative effect on children. For example, kids may form attachments to volunteers, and then feel abandoned. Or they may lose the ability to form healthy attachments. Or they may become confused about their culture and identity. And so on.
- If you want to volunteer to help children, there are plenty of groups in your own country who would welcome your support, such as schools, sports clubs and youth groups. You’ll have to undergo child protection checks first though. Which is as it should be.
- Would you be happy for your child to be away from you and in close contact with random, unqualified foreign strangers who’ve been through no checks? Nor would I.
*unless you’re a qualified, fully-vetted doctor, nurse, teacher, psychotherapist or other professional who can actually help children. In which case, I’m sure that you know far more about it than I do, and well done you for using your skills and expertise to help these kids.
Find out more
You can find out more about The Better Volunteering Better Care Network here and follow the #StopOrphanTrips campaign on social media.
Petition
You can sign a petition for volunteer travel organisations to stop orphanage volunteering here.
I’d love to know what you think about this issue – do let me know by commenting below.
Hi Greta,
My daughter has recently returned from a week in an orphanage in Ghana. An experience that she will probably never forget. She witnessed abusive treatment of some of the children with learning disabilities who had been locked in a room (which the kids referred to as ‘the prison’) for being ‘naughty’.
An investigation is underway as we were able to gain support from Comic Relief Safeguarding department who are now working with the orphanage in an effort to work towards a positive outcome.
Now that we know that plans are in place to investigate the orphanage and hopefully, safeguard the children we would like to turn our focus on exposing the agency and all agencies alike that promote and profit from voluntourism without meeting their obligation to ensuring the safety, health and wellbeing of children and other vulnerable adults within projects to which they send volunteers,
I am not sure where to begin on this mission and would welcome any advice that you can offer.
Gill
Hi Gill, this is shocking to hear, and it’s great that you want to raise awareness of the issue. I’m going to email you directly about this.
Our school money project Vietnam has stopped working with orphanages in 2010. We have seen you are fully right about orphans who are not really orphans. Orphanages in Vietnam becomes more and more a tourist industry.
Now we only work with poor children with a family home basis. We don’t work with Western volunteers either.
We wish you success with your campaign.
Please give us your idea about our school money project.
Thank you for your comments. I don’t understand Dutch, so I can’t read about your project, but it sounds like you’re doing all of the right things!
On our website you can also read our policy in English language
Gretta, thanks for your important post and raising awareness. I am sure the vast majority of people think they are doing the right thing and helping when they volunteer however as you rightly point out without vetting, training and qualifications they are likely doing more harm than good.
I am wondering if there is a particular age group or demographic that is attracted to orphanage voluntourism?Happy to spread the word in my networks
Katy recently posted…Photo journal – trip to Hobart, Australia
Thanks Katy – the more people that know about this, the better.
I don’t know the demographics for orphanage volunteers, but I understand that it’s a popular option for backpackers and people on gap years.
I thought this might be popular with backpackers. I’ve signed the petition and also shared with some groups I belong to that have a lot of younger backpacker members.
Katy recently posted…Photo journal – trip to Hobart, Australia
Thanks for your support Katy.
I had no idea orphanage volunteering was a thing; I can see why it’s attractive. One would probably get an intense high and bragging rights for having “helped.” I can also see the harm and the heartbreak it would cause to both volunteer and even more to the children. Thanks for this post. I will repost!
Natalie recently posted…Why Write About Celiac Disease on a Family Travel Blog?
Thank you Natalie, that’s really helpful.
I was reading about voluntourism a few months ago and it really opened my eyes about how careful we have to be. The specific orphanage situation is truly terrible and I do hope it becomes more widely known.
Thank you Trish, it is a terrible situation.
I had no idea that this was even a Thing Gretta – what an important issue to raise, thank you, I will sign and share x
Chris @thinlyspread recently posted…Palm Oil – Good or Bad?
Thank you for your support Chris – the more people that know about this, the better.
This is brilliant Gretta. Such an important issue to raise and I think a lot of the time it’s just misplaced good intentions….people need to realise how they’re not helping the situation though.
Exactly – I think (and hope) that most volunteers in orphanages just don’t realise the consequences of what they’re doing.
When I first heard about orphans not really being orphans (from a friend who works in Cambodia) I was shocked that people could be cruel as to exploit children/families like that. Thanks for shedding more light on this topic!
Shobha George recently posted…Seven Things I Learned on a Street Art Tour of Shoreditch
I think that most people just don’t realise that this is happening. That’s why I wrote this, I guess!
I had no idea that this happened, and I totally understand every point you’ve made and why it shouldn’t. Plenty of other ways to help, as you say x
Steph Curtis recently posted…Little things can lead to breakdowns
Thanks Steph x
Thanks for raising this issue Gretta, I genuinely had no idea about orphanage voluntourism… In fact, I’m a little shocked that people would do this. I’m sure they have kind intentions but paying to volunteer doesn’t sit well. One of my best friends worked for MSF for several years and she had proper training under intense pressure to go and work abroad for humanitarian projects, so the idea you can just pay to help… the money could so be better spent elsewhere. Keep up the good work, I’m off to educate myself more about it!
Thanks for commenting and sharing Ting. The more people that know about this, the better.
What a great piece. I am so pleased to see you talking about this and i hope it is widely shared. The whole altruistic tourism is so misjudged. How heartbreaking that the orphans are rarely orphans but have been separated from their families for the purposes of fleecing others. Keep this campaign up! Nicola http://islingtonfacesblog.com
Thanks for your support Nicola.