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| Gap Years and Irresponsible Volunteering | |
 Irresponsible Tourism | Volunteering | Gap Years and Irresponsible Volunteering |
 Topic: Irresponsible travel whilst volunteering |
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reesie
Newbie 
Joined: 19 Sep 2007 Location: Philippines Online Status: Offline Posts: 0 |
   Topic: Irresponsible travel whilst volunteeringPosted: 20 Sep 2007 at 03:07 |
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Recently I was in Nepal, where I revisited a site where I had volunteered on a group program in the past. At the time of my visit there was a group of volunteers who were there on 3-5 month programs. I couldn't believe the behaviour of these volunteers when they were letting their hair down. I couldn't believe the rude behaviour when bargaining for souvineers and once when taking a taxi, were very cheap and fit 6 people in one taxi and then refused to pay the final price. They also complained about the price of food and drink in restaurants in front of their local friends who earn so much less.
I had to distance myself from these volunteers as I found their actions insensitive. I'm now working with the volunteer organisation to write some responsible travel guidelines to include in the orientation pack. I've also contacted some other volunteer agencies to do the same for their respective programs.
It was just appalling to see how volunteers could change so much from being sensitive and respectful in their host village and families, yet when it came to the wider community acted so irresponsibly.
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sallie grayson
Admin Group 
Forum Administrator Joined: 23 May 2007 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 501 |
Posted: 20 Sep 2007 at 12:43 |
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This is a great initiative.All our local partners have written codes of conducts for thier volunteers.These codes are individual to each community.We make it quite clear to volunteers that they will not be welcome in the community or on the project if they do not adhere to these codes.They are given the codes BEFORE they commit to thier placement.To date all our volunteers have been great and have taken great efforts to respect the communities they work and live with....I would add the caveat that a code will only be effective if volunteers, particularly the young and inexperienced, are well prepared and well briefed.
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sallie
www.travel-peopleandplaces.co.uk |
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Whatever
Newbie
Joined: 12 Oct 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0 |
Posted: 12 Oct 2008 at 10:30 |
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As a former member of field staff for a well known, market leader in this lucrative industry I have strong views on the issue of marketing! Gap Years have become a fashionable trend for today's school leavers and the pricing makes it almost inaccessible to anybody outside of the middle class. They are often marketed as a "jolly" and very often the importance of these projects is overshadowed by unrealistic expectations of what the project really involves. As a result neither the project gets what is needs from its volunteers, nor does the volunteer get the experience they are looking for. Responsible marketing is key to ensuring that both parties needs are met.
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