Exploring voluntourism
March 25, 2026 10:46 AM
Barriers to world travel have been collapsing rapidly in the past several decades as very few destinations around the globe are out of transportation reach and a modest budget. With tour companies offering excursions to Antarctica and even North Korea, traveling is becoming limitless.
“Be the change you want to see in the world” has become a rallying cry for students and tourists loading up big backpacks with little red maple leafs carefully sewn on and heading out into the world.
Students are recipients of a large portion of marketing to go abroad and volunteer to satisfy the aforementioned need to give back to communities and to garner experiences that will help in future endeavors.
The power to travel has led to an awareness of one’s impact that is created by such travel. With the tempting choices that beckon eager students, it is vital that opportunities are chosen with an open mind and extensive research.
The most illustrious opportunities are those in exotic locations or in the developing world where there is a perceived “need” for volunteers to work. However, without a tempered skill, volunteers are often relegated to menial tasks; work that could be better done by community members that would have otherwise been paid for the work.
Questions must be posed before embarking. Are these just feel good experiences or are they genuine partnerships between companies and non-profit organizations? At what point though are people buying an experience?
Short-term volunteer projects abroad have become enormously popular, and not just with youth and students on gap years. Mainstream tourists have begun to look for more than sitting on a beach and sipping mojitos. Even top tier resorts are partnering with organizations to provide guests with the opportunity to connect with the communities that they are visiting.
This could be anything from volunteering at an orphanage or teaching basic literacy skills. In an interview with The Christian Science Monitor, the co-founder of voluntourism.org stated that Mother Theresa’s method of work in the slums of Calcutta was a precursor to voluntourism. She would encourage people to visit-volunteer with her for a long or short period of time.
However, choosing short-term volunteer excursions must also be considered, based upon the value of the work that is being done and all the possible impacts.
Criticisms of so called AIDS tourists has been forthcoming recently as volunteers from the developed world spend brief amounts of time in hospitals or orphanages. These brief volunteer experiences may be creating emotional attachments between patients and the volunteer, which have been perceived to have negative psychological impacts.
The good intentions of tourists are also seen as means for profit both at the local and corporate level. For example, resorts in the developing world offer visitors the experiences of working in local orphanages.
Clare Fawcett, a professor of anthropology at StFX is studying tourism and provided advice for students on how to best choose opportunities.
Erve Chambers, who studies the anthropology of tourism at the University of Maryland, has written extensively on the issue of human impacts on communities that they travel to.
Interestingly, in one of his studies which is essentially a guide for reducing impacts, the author points out that sometimes the bus load of tourists that stop in a community to spend money is more desirable than a group of people staying in a community to “help”. A group of tourists buying local goods from a village may be less disrupting to the structure of the community than volunteers who would drain local resources.
There is a point that people must consider whether or not they could have the same type of experience in their own backyard. There are many opportunities to volunteer with organizations in your own community.
What is the difference between helping people in need in South American slums as opposed to people in need Montreal, Halifax or Toronto?
As Fawcett stated in an interview with the Xaverian, “Not all development happens abroad.” In an attempt to serve a greater concept of global justice, it can be easy to ignore the development needs of one’s own community.
Even closer to home, Antigonish has over 60 non-profit community organizations which provide important. This shows that even in small rural areas, there is a plethora of opportunity, meaning that it is not always necessary to circumnavigate the globe in order to make positive impacts on a community.
The first step to any endeavor is to check out the organization or company that offers the volunteer experience.
Gina Sampson, currently acting director of Service Learning, provided advice to students trying to choose volunteer positions. Often the language used by organizations is a good starting point for students looking for mutually beneficial experiences. Sampson points out that warning signs can be seen in sales pitches from organizations that promise grandiose opportunities such as “saving the world”.
Even subtle language that may sound paternalistic or patronizing should be a warning sign. Sampson also cautions that professional schools may seek verification of volunteer work. Being informed of an organization’s policy in providing written verification or a reference for work completed is important, or the experience may not be added to some applications.
Volunteering in the non-profit sector can also show that there are meaningful career opportunities working for such community organizations.
Both Sampson and Fawcett mentioned that students should be wary that when adding volunteer experiences to a resume, they may be judged on the type of organization that provided the opportunity.
For example, tour companies that offer a week of resort life inter-mixed with washing sea turtles may not be as impressive on a resume as a long-term experience working in one’s own community.
Brief Google searches show that there are many tour companies quite eager to sell a “volunteer experience” to anyone that has money and time. As Erve Chambers writes, these must be looked at in terms of economics and not so much as altruistic.
Buying an experience may not be quite as negative as long as the marketing is researched critically. The relationship between who consumers pay for the volunteer placement and the organization that they are being helped is important. Is this a for-profit endeavour for a tour company or does the company exemplify a partnership with the organization or community receiving the support?
Without critical and extensive research, the impacts left behind could make a change in the world that is far from the intentions. A desire to bring about positive change, partnering with the right organizations, and dedicating time to a community can make for a positive experience for both the participant and the host.
