Tag Archives: voluntourism

L.A. Works creates virtual volunteer projects and connects people to ethical programs

It can be overwhelming to find a responsible volunteering opportunity in Los Angeles, but L.A. Works makes it simple with the click of a button. And now you can volunteer virtually doing everything from leading a fitness class to climate change advocacy.

By Kristen Kabal

Looking for an ethical volunteering program in L.A., but you’re not sure where to start? L.A. Works helps solve that problem by teaming up with hundreds of vetted local nonprofits and connects people to volunteer opportunities.  It kind of works like a dating app.  All volunteers have to do is browse through projects on their website that best suit a their skill set, availability, location, age and personal interest, then select a program to sign up with. It’s that simple.

From Venice to downtown to Hollywood, to Van Nuys, L.A. Works has projects throughout the city. Volunteers can participate in everything from homelessness, animal causes, senior services, adult education, sports & recreation, environment, children & youth education and more.

RELATED: Love for the elderly puts smiles on senior’s faces with handwritten letters

In response to COVID-19, the organization has implemented new health and safety policies, has shifted on-the-ground projects to focus on urgent needs like volunteers at COVID-19 testing sites and has created several opportunities to volunteer through Zoom. So while Los Angelenos are encouraged to volunteer, anyone, anywhere can now get involved.

L.A. Works is designed to make volunteering as easy as possible and eliminate the intimidation some feel when going through the process of finding programs. They have a series of introductory projects that people can start out with if they are new to volunteering and can usually be found on the homepage of their site. For anyone 55- years- old and older, the nonprofit will look at your resume and match you with an organization that is right for your professional background to help make the application process hassle-free.

In addition, they will work with nonprofits to help them with every aspect of getting up and running from writing out volunteer descriptions to helping to find volunteers. They also help corporations set up projects to get their employees active in volunteering.

L.A. Works has been serving the Los Angeles community since 1991 and have guidelines in place to ensure organizations they partner with are responsible, they won’t work with individuals, only 501C3 tax status nonprofits and they don’t allow for projects that are one-on-one with kids. When there are projects that involve children, volunteers must be background checked with the DOJ before permitted to join the program.

For more information visit laworks.com.

Harlem Grown: How one man transformed a NYC neighborhood from the ground up

Why Tony Hillery left his thriving limousine business and started Harlem Grown–a nonprofit helping NYC kids getting healthy.

By Kristen Kabel 

Ten years ago, Tony Hillery was living the American Dream. He was a successful business owner, had a house in the suburbs and was able to send his kids to private school. But then the financial crisis hit in 2008 and his company was severely impacted. Depressed about the economic state of the country, he went for a ride on the subway and randomly got off at 135th and Lenox in Harlem.  Half a block away was an elementary school and he decided to volunteer. For a brief time he taught parents the importance of education, which was ironic since he was a high school dropout.

After about three weeks, he realized that wasn’t the right role for him and quit, but he never stopped thinking about the kids and how he could help them. Knowing that the children relied on school lunches, lived in poverty and didn’t have access to healthy affordable food, he found a new mission–Harlem Grown.

Hillery, a 2017 CNN Hero, turned the vacant lot across from the school into a youth farm where he grows organic produce. The kids from the school come and help grow the produce, which is then given to anyone in need for free.

The first year they grew 38 pounds of vegetables, which was a wonderful accomplishment, especially since Hillery had never grown anything before. However, he soon realized there were other programs he could implement to help the community when he sent chard home with one of the girls from the school. The next day he asked how it was and the girl said her mom threw it out because she didn’t know what to do with it. That sparked the idea of teaching these young children about healthy food and how to prepare it. So Harlem Grown started free cooking lessons among other classes offered to the neighborhood.

To date, Harlem Grown currently has 13 “farms” and grows thousands of produce a year for communities to enjoy at no cost.

Volunteers are needed to help on the farms, no experience required, and those with specialized skill sets are always welcome for special projects. For more information please visit http://www.harlemgrown.org/volunteer.

Watch how a team of hairstylists and makeup artists give back to Puerto Rico

With Puerto Rico still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and damaging earthquakes, volunteers are stepping up to help the island in unconventional ways.

By: Heather Newgen

Puerto Rico has always been a popular vacation spot and destination for tourists, but for Lou Rod it’s something much more–it’s home.

“My family, including my grandparents and mother, were both impacted by the hurricane. It broke me,” Rod revealed.

Although he no longer lives in Puerto Rico, he comes back often to visit family and friends, and when he saw the amount of destruction and how many people were affected by the events, he decided to do something about it.

Rod who is the, Founder and CEO of MLR Artist Management, created the campaign Care 4 Puerto, which helps the locals in a few  ways. One, he travels with his creative team of professional hairstylists, makeup artists and manicurists to the island to give residents makeovers. Two, he brings essential supplies like clothing, diapers and batteries to hand out to anyone in need and he also helps stimulate the economy by hiring locals for the days he’s in town doing a variety of projects.

RELATED: How a team of hair stylists and makeup artists helped Puerto Rico “feel human again”

“A lot of times when you think about giving service after such devastation, you think about rebuilding a home or getting water supplies or food supplies–those are the basic needs to survive. We’re not necessarily building houses here. We’re not in those types of industries or trades, but we were able to use a trade that we specialize in. We were able to create a project where we’re providing comfort, we’re providing luxury services that is the first that’s taken away from individuals because they’re trying to make ends meet,” Rod told The Voluntourist.

For the last three years, the talented group of artists have visited Puerto Rico on their own dime to volunteer, and will continue to do so on an annual basis.

Please watch the video to see Rod and his team in action as they give back and make a positive impact in Puerto Rico.

Watch World Vets in action as they help reduce the street animal population in Nepal

Watch how a team of volunteer veterinarians from World Vets give free medical care to street dogs in Nepal.

By Heather Newgen

It’s 7:30 a.m. and volunteer veterinarians from World Vets head to work. As they make their way through the dusty streets of Thamel, the touristy area of Kathmandu, some are laughing, others are excitedly chatting and one befriends a street dog they call Ryder.

The group of vets, who are from the U.S., Canada and Australia on this trip, have one common goal–to sterilize as many dogs as possible in an effort to reduce the massive population, improve their quality of life and decrease public health issues for underserved communities. According to local reports, an estimated 25,000 dogs live on the streets of Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital.

As they catch their ride to a makeshift camp an hour outside the city where they’ll perform surgeries and medical treatments, they coax Ryder onto the bus with food and put him at ease. He doesn’t know it yet, but he’s about to be neutered.

World Vets is an organization that provides free medical care for animals in 48 countries. All volunteers are veterinarians, licensed and non licensed technicians, pre veterinary, veterinary and technician students, as well as those who are simply animal lovers with trained vet skills.  All volunteers pay for their own expenses.

Related: See what it’s like to volunteer at Sneha’s Care in Nepal

“I love it because it’s something I strongly believe in—the sterilization of animals everywhere,” Dr. Helen Valentine, whose been on three World Vet trips said . “It really helps decrease the overpopulation and it’s an opportunity to travel and see the world and meet up with a great group of people,” she added.

To make the biggest impact, World Vets partners with local organizations such as animal welfare groups, foreign governments, non-governmental organizations, agriculture and public health officials, as well as, a wide variety of veterinary professionals to learn about the needs of communities in the countries they service.

For more information visit https://worldvets.org/.

See what it’s like to volunteer at Sneha’s Care in Nepal

If you haven’t been to the colorful, yet chaotic city of Kathmandu, Nepal, add it to your bucket list.  Not only does it offer a memorable holiday with its beautiful cultural landmarks, historical sites and endless adventures, but travelers have the chance to give back in an ethical way by helping street dogs.

RELATED: Orphanage Tourism in Nepal: What You Should Know

The street dog population continues to increasingly grow in Nepal and while government officials aren’t doing much to help the situation, some locals are stepping up to help protect the animals.  Sneha’s Care was established in 2014 by animal activist Sneha Shrestha to help protect the estimated 25,000 stray dogs from cruelty and abuse. The team not only campaigns to introduce animal welfare laws, but they’re actively educating the public about responsible pet ownership and animal rights.

The shelter is staffed with people who care for the 160 dogs currently living at Sneha’s Care, but also needs volunteers to do a variety of projects like cleaning the shelter, feeding the dogs, taking them on walks, washing their dishes and giving them lots of love and attention. You can also do IT and art projects as well. In addition, Sneha’s Care is also in need of skilled volunteers with a veterinarian background.

Volunteer housing with Wi-Fi is offered for $150 a week. Three vegetarian meals a day, drinking water and transportation to and from the shelter is included. Volunteers are expected to work 6 days a week from 10:00AM to 5:00PM and it’s strongly recommended to get the rabies vaccine beforehand.

Watch the vlog on what it’s like to volunteer at Sneha’s Care and you’ll see it’s hard, dirty work, but the dogs will love you for taking good care of them!

For more information visit SnehaCare.org.

By Heather Newgen

An honest look at IVHQ in Kenya and why volunteers should avoid them

At first glance IVHQ looks like a credible voluntourism organization. However, there isn’t anything ethical about the company. I volunteered with IVHQ in Kenya and was shocked by their misleading agenda and how they used locals  in harmful ways to solicit volunteers and tourists.

By Kate Wilson

In late 2012, I had completed a double Bachelor degree of International Development and Public Health. Before I started a career in community development, I wanted to volunteer for a few months.  I did as much research as I could and settled on going to Nairobi, Kenya. IVHQ seemed like a reputable organisation with great reviews and low fees for the three months that I planned to be there.

I inquired about IVHQ before I booked a program. I sent an email to the organization asking about the process, the costs and the details of the program in general. In my email communication, I asked whether I could read reviews and testimonials about the specific programs as what I had found online were volunteers talking and rating the accommodation, food, and their hosts, which I personally did not care about.

RELATED: 9 Things I Wish I Knew about IVHQ before Volunteering with them

FIRST RED FLAG–NO HONEST REVIEWS

The program coordinator suggested the testimonial page on the IVHQ website as well as the IVHQ Facebook page were good places to get information. I noticed that on both sites, the reviews were all positive but they did not elaborate on the activities of the actual programs.

I pushed aside the uneasy feelings I had and  moved forward. I narrowed my program choices down to the HIV/Aids program and the Women’s Education Program. I emailed IVHQ again to ask what these programs entailed. I received an email response from Joe Gichuki- the Coordinator for Network for Voluntary Services (the IVHQ office for Kenya).

This was his response:

“The HIV/Aids and Women’s Education Program are almost the same in terms of activities. There may however, be slight differences. Basically those doing these two programs are placed in centres which have been set up to enlighten or give hope to those affected and infected by HIV/AIDS scourge.  The centres have different activities eg; home visits meant to reach out to those people who are sick and have no one to care for them. During home visits they do cleaning, cook and feed the weak and sick. Other activities include enlightening them on the importance of having a well-balanced diet, good hygiene, importance of taking their medicine correctly and the negative impacts of involving themselves with hard drugs and taking of illicit brews. In other times, they visit hospitals to give hope to the sick.”

“For those doing HV/Aids program you may them places in hospitals where they can do counselling and actual testing of HIV/Aids. These are only those who have basic experience and qualified to do this. Those doing Women’s Education can work with teenage girls in schools to teach them on the reproductive health. Different centres have their schedule on how this is all achieved but basically this is what the two programs are involved in.”

RELATED: Why I don’t Recommend Volunteering with Frontier in Fiji

The Women’s Education program had a description in the volunteering manual which read:

Due to ongoing initiatives to support those affected by HIV/AIDs, many women living with HIV/AIDS are still able to continue and function on a day-to-day basis, but need support to be able to do so. IVHQ and our local partner work closely with centres which support these women, and their families, providing counselling, guidance and sometimes child care. The primary aim of these centres is to empower the women through income-generating projects, education and skill training. At many of the centres, many women are able to learn sewing, tailoring, candle-making and jewelry-making through subsized courses, and the women also have access to finance and small business management courses, enabling them to start their own craft-making or tailoring business to generate an income and provide for their children and families. In these centres, volunteers can assist in any area including counselling, skill training and campaign/education development. Volunteers on this program do not need previous experience or training in HIV/AIDS or Women’s Empowerment, however we do strongly recommend volunteers gain some understanding of the subject prior to their arrival.

SECOND RED FLAG–NO EXPERIENCE, NO PROBLEM

I was both intrigued and confused as to how I, a volunteer with relatively no experience with the above activities, would be any help to the women at the centre. I assumed that when I arrived I would be the one working alongside qualified and experienced nurses, social workers or community health workers that would provide me with training, but that wasn’t really the case.

RELATED: Beware of Frontier

THIRD RED FLAG–UNHELPFUL ORIENTATION

At the orientation, I was placed with a group of women who were HIV positive. The orientation was very vague as it didn’t offer any indication of the activities involved, details of the group of women, nor any training. Volunteers would be ‘thrown in’ to navigate everything themselves without a support person and this didn’t seem responsible to me.

On my first day, I was introduced to a group to six women from the WEEP centre- which stood for ‘Women’s Empowerment Education Program’. Apparently, it was a government recognised organisation. At the site was a two room primary school with about 30 children and a smaller room where the 6 women met. The group was ‘run’ by a local nurse named Gladys. The women were initially a bit shy but then opened up about their stories.

LOCALS BEING TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF 

Over the course of a couple of days, it occurred to me that these women were not empowered at all. Instead, they were conditioned by Gladys to come across as weak, poor, helpless and sad. They claimed to not have any work because of their HIV. Gladys was providing them with an income, rationing it out weekly for the women to pay for their rent, food, medication and children. I was dumbfounded. I felt as though these women were not who they claimed to be at all but were in fact brainwashed by Gladys so that volunteers and tourists would give them handouts. These women previously worked as secretaries, teachers and housewives. These women were told to believe all of this negativity when I knew that they were strong, healthy and intelligent. I was unsure as to how long this was going on for.  There was a local woman there to assist me who claimed to be a social worker, but I never knew if this was true or not, because she didn’t seem very interested in helping the women too much and looked to me for guidance instead.

HELPING OUTSIDE OF THE PROGRAM

Over the next week, I discussed with the women what they would like to do to generate their own income. They wanted to make bags and clothing to sell at the market. Gladys gave them money to get started. Another volunteer and I went into town and purchased Singer sewing machines for the ladies to get started. These would be theirs to keep. The morale and attitudes within the group lifted. A volunteer with a teaching background offered to teach the women English for an hour a couple of times a week. I taught the women how to make simple meals on their coal stoves. The women were becoming more independent, confident and happier.

FINANCIAL SHADINESS

Gladys had set up a space with souvenirs ranging from clothing, bags, jewellery and homewares that she claimed the women had made. The sales of these items would go directly back to the women.  I asked the women about this and they admitted that they didn’t make any of the souvenirs. Gladys would buy items from the local market, increase the prices and tell volunteers and tourists that the women made these. Only a small percentage of the money went to the women and Gladys pocketed the rest. It occurred to me that the money Gladys had was in fact my volunteer fees. At this point, I was suspicious of Gladys’ motives. It didn’t sit well with me knowing that Gladys was controlling the women’s finances and lives in general. I spoke to the other volunteers and the ladies and we came up with an idea for the ladies to generate an income. We would help the women set up a ‘clothes washing business.’ Their first customers were the volunteers staying at our house. They needed bags of clothes washed and hung to dry. The ladies were enjoying running their own small businesses and having control over their finances. Gladys didn’t like the idea and not being ‘needed’ or in control of the ladies and wanted them to stop with the business.

RELATED: An Honest Look at Voluntourism: What’s Working and What Isn’t

In addition to WEEP, I visited another group of HIV positive women known as Power Women.  These women were self-sufficient running their own jewellery making business, hair salon and were now in the middle of establishing their own child care service on the premises. They encouraged visitors to spend time with them, to participate in any of the activities that they were doing and they never asked for donations. I asked these ladies if the women at WEEP could join them as I didn’t trust Gladys and I thought the ladies could benefit from each other. The Power Women were a little hesitant at first, but happy to include the other ladies in their group. Unfortunately, I was only going to be in the country for the next week, and I was worried about the ladies. We confirmed with the women that the sewing machines were theirs- one each to keep and to take to the Power Women space if they wanted to go there. Gladys claimed that the machines were hers and not the ladies’. I took this up with NVS and they ensured me that Gladys would not take them or be involved with the ladies anymore. Some of the other volunteers kept in contact with the ladies after I left and I really hope NVS stepped up and made sure the ladies were ok. Being a young girl, with limited support, limited experience and who lives on the other side of the world is not the right person to hold so much responsibility. I didn’t have the time or resources to ensure that these women would be safe and I didn’t know who the other volunteers were that would be ‘assigned’ to the group after I had left. The whole program was not well managed, organised or clear. It felt as though NVS didn’t care about who was participating in this program as long as they were willing to provide handouts.

GOING ROGUE

I felt that I wanted to do more with my time while I was there so I accompanied some other students who were in teaching programs. I spoke to the Principals of two schools in the Kibera Slums and asked whether I could teach the students eight subjects- one per week. These were; Relationships, HIV/Aids and social stigma, Menstruation, contraception, STI’s, hygiene and sanitation, nutrition and pregnancy. I didn’t have a teaching degree but I did have a degree in public health and health promotion. As far as I was aware, only some of these subjects were taught at schools and not in very detail. When I asked the Principals why, I was met with a few responses. The reasons were that the current teachers employed at the school did not have the knowledge to teach them. Another reason was that the teachers were too embarrassed to teach these subjects and that they didn’t have enough government funding to employ a local health teacher. I was put into the school timetables immediately and the teachers were really excited and enthusiastic. I created fun, educational and interactive classes that the students enjoyed. Other volunteers loved the idea and joined in with some of the classes. A couple of weeks before I had to leave, I spoke to some other volunteers just starting out their programs and asked whether they would take over and teach some other classes at other schools in the area. They were very keen. I wrote a proposal to IVHQ asking whether they would include these subjects as part of a separate teaching program for future volunteers. My idea fell on deaf ears and I was never given a reason. The only reply I received was that “it is not possible”. I tried to contact IVHQ again when I returned home but no one from the organisation ever got back to me. This was just another disappointment with NVS and IVHQ.

I honestly don’t feel as though they care about anyone besides themselves and raking in as much money as they can from unsuspecting volunteers. IVHQ isn’t an ethical program and I advise volunteers against giving them your money or time. This  organization isn’t actually helping local communities. Instead they use to them lure in volunteers and tourists for their financial gain.

Volunteering in New Orleans with Camp Restore

Looking for a responsible volunteering project in New Orleans? Camp Restore offers several programs for skilled and unskilled workers.

By Heather Newgen

In 2005 Hurricane Katrina swept through the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm, causing severe destruction along its path from New Orleans to Mississippi to Alabama, however, NOLA was hit the hardest after the levees failed due to poor engineering. As a result, over 1800 people died and the majority of the city flooded, causing an estimated $108 billion dollars worth of damage.

In the months following the catastrophe, support poured in worldwide and Camp Restore was an organization that was created in response to Hurricane Katrina. Years later is still working to rebuild the city with the help of volunteers.

“What began as hurricane relief has grown into efforts to address large-scale systemic challenges, such as restoring the wetlands that protect against hurricanes, supporting local schools and youth programs and helping new, innovative community nonprofits get off the ground. We achieve this through partnerships with more than 150 fellow nonprofits and churches,” their website states.

Camp Restore partners with over 80 local nonprofits, so there are plenty of volunteer projects that skilled and unskilled volunteers can do like working in a community garden, recycling Mardi Grad beads, rebuilding a home (if you have experience) and so many other projects.

Although Hurricane Katrina swept through the Gulf Coast in 15 years ago, pockets of New Orleans still needs assistance. Volunteers are always welcomed. There are several ways to give back and  Camp Restore is an organization that takes groups of volunteers or individuals who are traveling alone and want to make a small difference.

Affordable volunteer housing is offered and and available to those who prefer to stay on site at Camp Restore.

Check out the video to see what it’s like to volunteer in New Orleans and how you can give back.

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Beware Frontier is “Highly Corrupt, Dishonest and Littered with False Advertising”

I’m writing this review of Frontier to help others learn from my mistakes. While I can’t speak for every project, you should know this company is highly corrupt, dishonest and littered with false advertising.

By Alex Ushkin

I was looking for something that combined adventure travel with volunteering, which was a main reason I went with Frontier. However, from my experience they cannot do either adequately. So my advice would be to travel with a reliable company and find a separate avenue for volunteering. I signed up for a 30 week program with Frontier. My time was supposed to include 10 weeks in Southeast Asia, 10 weeks in Fiji and another 10 weeks in Central America, which turned out to be much less. The entire 30 weeks cost around $13,000 plus additional $1,700 for open water and advanced diver certifications for the Fiji marine volunteer project.

Frontier was so disappointing, a total scam and not worth the money. Let me be your lesson on this. Avoid Frontier at all costs. I made the terrible decision to go with Frontier so hopefully I can at least pass on some knowledge to prevent others from being swindled. I truly believe they are a fraudulent company.

Frontier

SOUTHEAST ASIA TRAIL (October to December 2017)

If you’re traveling on your own for 10 weeks in Southeast Asia and spend $4,400, you’re probably only going to spend that much if you stay in nice hotels, eat out a lot or do expensive activities. But I spent about that amount with Frontier and I’m not sure why. We stayed in budget accommodations and there was nothing extravagant about the trip. I’m fine with hostels and cheaper restaurants, but 10 weeks in Southeast Asia should not cost $4,400 if you are traveling on a budget, which is what we did. What you get is a whole lot less than what is promised and falsely advertised. I’ve been to many hostels good and bad. The ones Frontier has volunteers stay in are largely in the not good category–though I admit some were fine or good. I paid the program fee in advance, but when you arrive you’re put on a budget, which was $10.00 a night. Even at 10 weeks that’s $10/night x 70 nights =$700, so I don’t know where the overpriced program fee I paid was going. In addition, their website claims meals are provided. When I arrived I  found out some meals weren’t included and no drinking water was available to us. That was a separate cost. The budget for us was roughly $3.00 a day minus weekends so $3.00/day x 5days/week x 10 weeks)= $150. Also the guide wouldn’t pay for your meal if you got “western” food. This was not a real rule but one imposed by this guide.

VOLUNTEERING IN CAMBODIA

My volunteer experience in Cambodia was teaching English at a free local school for children that couldn’t afford English classes. The name of the school was Smiling Hearts in Siem Reap. I enjoyed my time with the actual school and children and thought they were doing good work–I ended up creating a fundraiser to donate to them directly.

Frontier

The relationship with Frontier was already frayed when we got there due to the lack of financial support. Frontier’s only support was the volunteers that come through every few months. The school has since cuts ties with Frontier. Most of the Frontier volunteers were actually asked not to come anymore after a few weeks because a group that actually contributed was coming in. However, my partner and I continued because we had a good bond with our students. I would say overall I had a good interaction with the school and local community.

RELATED: Animal Abuse at ElephantsWorld-Don’t Volunteer Here

That said, Frontier’s investment in the project was $0! It was extremely awkward on the first day of meeting the school administrator when she told us this. Many in the group immediately wrote emails to Frontier demanding an explanation. They use ambiguous and completely non transparent business practices. Basically they state that they never promise to spend the money on your project, but they can choose to spend on anything like “administration costs” and lawyer fees. If you actually want your money to support the cause you volunteer with, stay away from Frontier.

EXCURSIONS

According to the Frontier website several activities were included, but the guide denied this. Eventually the group persisted and indeed the guide was forced to give us a refund for certain activities. Other things the guide made up… Can’t jump in waterfall because too dangerous (as 10 year boys were jumping), limiting alcohol… She made up random rules like two drinks per evening, no more than two times a week. This was also protested and guide was told that’s not a rule. Curfews… Couldn’t go out after 6pm without signing out or having a buddy. I’m 30 years old, and was treated like a child. Not to mention this guide could not speak any local language, had no experience leading group travel and had only lightly traveled that region before so her usefulness was thus minimal.

I can’t remember all the travel fees but it’s safe to say they weren’t in the $3,000 range, probably like $500. So you’re getting possibly the value of $,1500 but getting charged over $4,000, with none of that money going to support your project. That is straight awful. A couple folks dropped out (one for medical issue, another due to complete disappoint with Frontier), most on the trip agreed it was a terrible value and would never use Frontier again but nothing we can do about it. Several sued or tried but it’s prohibitively expensive trying to go against on your own (remember all those lawyer fees??) so I don’t think anything came about. That being said I did get to meet some cool people and see some cool places. My advice… SEA is pretty well traveled so it’s simple to go it alone as you’ll meet plenty of people at hostels. Or travel with a reputable and reliable company (definitely not Frontier) for a short time until comfortable to go alone or meet some friends and travel. Or find a local NGO to work with and know your cause is actually getting your money. There was a girl at the school that just did this and volunteered for free, even got free room to stay for teaching meanwhile we shuffled thousands of dollars to a corrupt company instead of a well deserving school for impoverished children.

FIJI (January to March 2018)

So another 10 weeks here, $4,400 paid plus an additional $1,700 for courses. The situation here was different than SEA, which was more travel based. While Fiji was a more permanent camp, not really any travel included. The living conditions were pretty bad here. It was quite remote and self sustained living a lot ,which personally I do enjoy. However, if you’re paying a lot of money and get a dump you’d be upset, rightfully so, this is kinda like that. Obviously I didn’t expect a luxury hotel, but the water would constantly break and the camp was falling apart. Barely a workable shower when I got there. The solar panel was broken so nearly zero electricity. We had one light in the camp that worked. Everything else was personally brought by volunteers /staff such as mini solar lights and panels for charging phones /cameras etc. Obviously no WiFi (again knew that and didn’t really care) though can occasionally get signal on local sim card.

Frontier

RELATED: 9 Things I Wish I Knew About Volunteering/Interning with IVHQ

The kitchen and all equipment was in pretty rough shape. The living conditions in general were disagreeable. Beds were a one inch foam mattress, my back was agony the whole time and extremely difficult to get anything resembling good rest on. The food was cooked by staff and volunteers on camp, typically. The food that came out was surprisingly good most of the time but that’s because I suppose we had some good cooks. Meals were typically rice, canned beans and vegetables. Once a week we’d get fresh fruit, vegetables, bread, eggs but that would always run out quick before next supply.

FIJI DIVING

As far as the diving goes Fiji has superb diving BUT getting certified was a nightmare. Ideally open water and advanced can be finished in a week. Sure there were lots of additional challenges when living on a remote island so they even say maybe two or three weeks. It took me eight weeks! You’re basically paying for the diving here since as we discussed you’re not getting much value from the lodging or meals. So to be low balled on diving was a major issue. Essentially I got 11 dives outside the training dives, which could be seen as the most expensive dives in the world compared to how much the project cost.

Frontier

There were many issues, some directly Frontier’s fault, some indirectly, only one reason was neither (evacuated for hurricane, which at this point shouldn’t be surprising to hear that we were forced out of camp and off the island to the mainland at our own expense and actually charged by Frontier for using their mainland lodging! That is some reprehensible behavior!). FYI the other reasons were Frontier failing to pay for their dive insurance, constant boat and air compressor failures, dive instructor getting sick and requiring surgery on the mainland (I say this is indirectly Frontier’s responsibility because they should have had a backup plan rather than delaying training for another week). All that said the staff in general here were better, more experienced, and they were quite a few of them. Also the people I met here were mostly cool. Again I enjoyed Fiji and locals and most of the other volunteers but again it is not even close to being worth going with Frontier. Fiji is very easy to travel solo or find an NGO that won’t rip you off.

CENTRAL AMERICA (January to March 2019)

This was more travel based like SEA trail, but again was a disaster. It was so bad it was fraudulently canceled by Frontier after we refused to pay extra for transportation that was stated to be provided and then calling out all their lies on the matter.  They refused to provide any refund at all. If you thought the other trips above were bad, this time I had enough.

I arrived in Mexico on day one, our guide (again someone with limited knowledge /experience but could at least speak Spanish), states Frontier won’t let us go through Nicaragua due to potential conflict. Okay we were never given any indication of this issue even though it was clearly known (they pulled this same stunt the previous year) and states in their terms and conditions that they are required to notify us of any major changes and we can choose to agree with those changes or receive refund. This never happened. The guide said Frontier will provide transport from Honduras to Costa Rica to avoid Nicaragua (via flight). Volunteers say okay, not ideal but we were already there and couldn’t do anything about it.

A week before this flight this guide says actually what he meant that first day was that we have to pay the flights completely out of pocket–about $400 at this point. Volunteers pushed back and told him that’s not what you said. Frontier and guide both lied about the origins of this “no going through Nicaragua rule” as a “force major clause, claimed they told us before which is most certainly false. We were told an email was sent to us informing us of this, but what wasn’t the case. They said, “that email was sent the week we were moving servers and it doesn’t show up now.” Well that’s not how email works and that they have the right to cancel without refunds because of this imminent danger situation that they basically invented.

RELATED: How TreePeople Helps Keeps LA Green

It’s almost hard to argue the stupidity that comes out of the Frontier office as the danger has been known about for over a year, they are required to notify us and give us options, well yeah none of that happened. They canceled around the four week mark effectively scamming us out of over six weeks of the trip. Also this guide frequently lied to us, failed miserably to communicate what we were saying since they wouldn’t answer our direct emails, and kept saying “oh well I’m not English native speaker so maybe you didn’t understand me” which he used as a cover for the lies. He also had no experience leading group travel and was quite terrible at it in all regards. He also made frequent creepy and unwanted advances towards one of the other volunteers to the point she wouldn’t feel safe near him or if alone with him. He also made frequent “jokes” in very poor taste (jokes about things like teen prostitution, indicating he might have taken part on other trips he’s done).

It was embarrassing, creepy and offensive, even to me, and I’m not one to get offended easily. I was looking up legal documents and talking to lawyers while on this trip to find out if they are acting illegally. Could you imagine doing that when you’re supposed to be traveling and exploring the world? In the end, the fight of one versus an international corporation based in another country was too much for me but I really hope they are exposed and taken down, it won’t be soon enough. In the meantime I hope to warn as many people as possible of this company.

All in all, I cannot overstate how bad Frontier is, and I don’t think I’m exaggerating at all. I have dealt with them over the course of two years, actively spending about 24 weeks with Frontier. Please learn from me and never book with Frontier. They are dishonest and misleading. Be careful because they spend a lot of money on advertising and if you want to take the chance like I did then good luck, but you’ll likely regret it.

9 Things I Wish I Knew Before Volunteering/Interning with IVHQ

Before volunteering with IVHQ please read my experience working with them in Cambodia. Here are nine things I wish I knew before volunteering/interning with IVHQ.

By: Hannah Reid

In 2014, I decided I wanted to spend my summer doing an internship in Cambodia with IVHQ. Given my background in law and experience in human rights outreach campaigns, I was looking for an internship that would give me the kind of work experience that I mistakenly thought I needed. My peers were all taking positions at top law firms in our home city, Auckland, New Zealand, for the summer, but I wanted something different. I wanted to help people.

IVHQ

Hannah Reid

I came across IVHQ online. It seemed like a reputable organisation and it was based in New Zealand, so I assumed it was legitimate. The IVHQ website offers a ‘Working with NGOs’ program in Cambodia. The description of the program included the following details:

A. IVHQ’s partner organization in Cambodia cooperates with a network of over 40 local NGOs with volunteer placements available in the following fields: community development, human rights, health and HIV/AIDS awareness, gender issues, environmental issues, and education.
B. These NGOs require volunteer support, primarily in fundraising and proposal writing, organizational development, administration and research.
C. Volunteers work between 3 and 8 hours per day.
D. If a volunteer’s program duration is less than 2 months, the main tasks will involve applying English skills to assist at the NGO.”

This sounded like a program I was interested in. By this point, I thought I was pretty clued up and knew to stay away from orphanages and childcare volunteering placements. Even though IVHQ also placed volunteers in orphanages, I told myself I was going on a different program so I was not contributing to the harmful and exploitative business of orphanages, which is so prevalent in Cambodia.

RELATED: An honest look at IVHQ in Kenya and why volunteers should avoid them

IVHQ

Hannah Reid

My first impressions were: This is great! There is a minimum duration for the NGO program, it is considered an internship, there will be a variety of NGOs I could be sent to, I cannot find a bad word said about IVHQ online, and the program fee is so cheap that it could only be to cover our necessary costs!

I phoned IVHQ and asked to speak with the coordinator of the Cambodia programs. I asked for some names of the 40 local NGOs, so that I could check them out online and get a sense of the type of work I could be doing. She couldn’t give me any. Why? I decided to risk it and book the trip. I’m sure it will be fine.

RELATED: Why I don’t Recommend Volunteering with Frontier in Fiji

A few days before I was due to arrive in Cambodia, I was told that I would be placed at a women’s rights NGO in Siem Reap called Rachna Satrei. I looked up the NGO and the website says that the organisation:

“strives to reduce all forms of violence and discrimination towards women, children, and the disabled by improving their social and economic situation through education, advocacy, and community development projects, while promoting their rights in the wider community. Rachna Satrei also strives to ensure that disadvantaged groups in Cambodia are aware of their rights and have the opportunity and freedom to participate equally in all aspects of society.”

This sounded like just the place for me! Their goals seem very broad, but they’re probably just ambitious.

RELATED: Beware of Frontier

I was convinced I had done my due diligence. I was convinced I was going to Cambodia to use my skills to help others. I was convinced I was doing the right thing, an admirable thing. Here are 9 things I wish somebody had told me before getting on the plane to Cambodia.

IVHQ

Photo by: Hannah Reid

ONE: IVHQ is an umbrella organisation disconnected from what happens on the ground

There were a number of things that concerned me about the Phnom Penh “orientation” days that every IVHQ volunteer must participate in. The first thing that struck me was the instant switch of control and administration once volunteers arrive in Cambodia. The in-country partner, Cambodia Volunteer Foundation (“CVF”), was suddenly in control of everything.

There were between 50 and 100 volunteers starting on the same day as me. Due to this huge number, we couldn’t all fit in the CVF housing in Phnom Penh. About 15 of us were put into a hostel called something like Green Mango. I immediately noticed extremely young looking Cambodian women walking in and out of a door behind the reception, upstairs. Walking to our room, several other room doors were open and there were just mattresses on the floors. The rooms could be rented for just one hour at a time. This was where we spent 2 nights. Is it just me, or does this place seem a bit dodgy?

IVHQ

Hannah Reid

During the orientation, we were taught about Khmer culture. We were told to “have an open mind” because things “never go according to plan in Cambodia”. We were then made to sign a volunteer rules document, which featured statements such as “I will have an open mind and not have high expectations” and “I will not complain about anything” which, with my legal background, I was reluctant to sign my name to. Why are they getting us to sign things like this?

Before arriving in Cambodia, volunteers can tell IVHQ their preferences for the city in Cambodia they wish to be placed in. We were also asked for details of our travel history and experience. Dozens of volunteers were disappointed and extremely stressed upon hearing their placement details at the end of the orientation. I was placed in Siem Reap, alongside other volunteers who had plenty of travel experience. Some volunteers, mostly aged 18, were travelling abroad for the first time and were placed in the provinces without any other volunteers. Several of them were stressed and disappointed. Why are volunteers not allowed to know in advance where in the country they will be situated for their weeks or months abroad?

IVHQ‘

Photo by: Hannah Reid

I was also shocked to hear the CVF worker asking volunteers for criminal background checks before we were dismissed from the orientation. By this point, some volunteers in the teaching and “childcare” programs had already visited their placements. I would have expected criminal background checks to be required before even confirming a volunteer’s ability to undertake this kind of volunteer work. Dozens of the volunteers were visiting the placements without CVF having seen their criminal background checks. I thought IVHQ required background checks from prospective volunteers before confirming their placements, this seems odd and unsafe.

TWO: Not all NGOs are what they seem

After arriving in Siem Reap, I found out that my placement, Rachna Satrei, was next door to the volunteer house. How convenient. There were three other volunteers in Siem Reap doing the NGO program. Two of them were also placed at Rachna Satrei, and one was placed at a “community development” NGO outside of Siem Reap. I found it interesting that IVHQ claimed to have a network of 40 local NGOs, yet three out of four NGO volunteers were placed in one NGO, which happened to be next-door to the CVF volunteer house.

For the first two days, the other volunteers went off to their teaching and “childcare” placements. We were told Rachna Satrei had nothing for us to do. The volunteer placed at the community development NGO sat at the NGO building for a few hours, not doing anything, and the NGO staff then told her to “go visit an orphanage or something”.

We eventually were called over to Rachna Satrei to meet the director, Maly. We told her a bit about ourselves and our backgrounds. She told us that our daily task would be to teach English to some kids at a school her friend owned. Informing her that teaching English to kids was not what we signed up for (or were qualified to do) she told us that for one hour each day, we would teach English to her three staff members. That meant giving a private English lesson each day. I told her about New Hope Cambodia, which would provide free English lessons every day, taught by qualified local teachers, but she was not interested. This was not what I signed up for. I am not a qualified English teacher.

IVHQ

Photo by: Hannah Reid

I had heard about the NGO “business” in Cambodia. Each NGO really is a “business”. I could not help but wonder why our NGO director wanted us to find her donations from abroad, yet she had a two-storey house next door to our volunteer house, a high quality smartphone and drove a big black SUV. On the fourth day, Maly invited us to attend an “NGO conference” with her, which featured hundreds of very well-dressed NGO directors, alongside government officials, showing up in their large cars to listen to a panel talk and enjoy the several generous buffet meals throughout the day.

I have been to Cambodia three times and I have never seen such a collection of wealth in one room before. I have no doubt that many NGOs in Cambodia do good work, but many are as corrupt as the Cambodian government and view Cambodia’s development needs as a business opportunity.

THREE: There is a concerning lack of transparency

I found it difficult to find any information online about the breakdown of IVHQ fees. Exactly how much of our program fees was being spent on our food and accommodation? Where was the rest of the money going? How come there were several spare rooms in the volunteer house, yet all of the volunteers had to share bedrooms? Why did we have to put all used toilet paper in bins in our bathrooms which were only collected once a week, when the program fee was far more expensive than nearby guesthouses with far better hygiene standards?

IVHQ

Photo by: Hannah Reid

Something strange happened on the third day in Siem Reap. The CVF director arrived at the volunteer house with two very young Cambodian girls. He sat them at our table, panicked, and started giving the girls our food. We asked the CVF director who the girls were and he replied that they had been trafficked and that he had just rescued them from the side of the road. What?!

The CVF director said that he had to take the CVF van and drive the girls back to Phnom Penh. When we asked another CVF worker what was going on, he said he had no idea and he didn’t know what ‘trafficking’ was. How can you not know what human trafficking is?

Another CVF worker said the girls had come to visit Angkor Wat and just needed a lift home. Why are we getting conflicting stories?

Were these girls victims of human trafficking? If so, there were plenty of safe houses in the Siem Reap area with the protection and services that these girls needed. Bringing them to the volunteer house seemed unsafe for both the girls and for us. Were these girls just needing a lift home from Angkor Wat? If so, why were they eating our food and why would the CVF director lie to us? The lack of information was alarming and frustrating.

FOUR: IVHQ “placements” are not audited by IVHQ

Due to the lack of work I was given by the NGO, I had plenty of time to sit in the volunteer house and talk to the other volunteers about their placements. The more I learned, the more uneasy I felt.

The IVHQ website has a list of guidelines for selecting responsible childcare providers to partner with. One of those guidelines is that the placement requires background checks from volunteers and visitors. This is extremely important in Cambodia, where sexual abuse frequently occurs in childcare facilities open to foreign visitors.

One fellow volunteer was placed at Hannah’s Hope Orphanage. She told me that there was a Hungarian man volunteering at Hannah’s Hope who had simply “got to Siem Reap, got in a tuk tuk and said ‘take me to an orphanage’”. To the volunteer’s knowledge, he never provided a background check and had been there for weeks. How come these IVHQ placements take volunteers off the streets?

I looked up another IVHQ “childcare” placement (which are really orphanages filled mostly with children who have one or more living parent, but IVHQ calls them “childcare” placements to avoid associations with these dodgy orphanages), called the Home of Joy Orphanage. The orphanage website had a section called “Visit the Orphanage” with visiting hours and requested items for visitors to bring as gifts. There was no screening process for volunteers or visitors and no mention of background checks. Another IVHQ placement called KSEDO also invited tourists to visit their orphanage. Something doesn’t feel right here. These children are not tourist attractions, they’re vulnerable and at-risk children.

IVHQ

Photo by: Hannah Reid

The IVHQ website states that responsible childcare providers should “prevent child labour of any kind” and should not require the children to perform of “participate in public performance of any kind”.

Unbelievably, we had only been in Siem Reap for two days and were invited by an IVHQ volunteer to come and watch a performance put on by the children at their orphanage placement. It was an “orphanage-made exhibition and charity concert” featuring the children singing and dancing for the public. The orphanage used the public performance to plead for donations. These children are not circus performers, they’re vulnerable and at-risk children.

The poster on the orphanage website which advertised the charity concert was taken down after I complained to IVHQ.

I was extremely concerned that the individual IVHQ placements in Cambodia did not have any child protection policies. The placements clearly took on volunteers in addition to the volunteers placed there by CVF/IVHQ.

The volunteers told me their placements with children were completely unsupervised. The volunteers who signed up to the “teaching” program were left standing in front of classrooms of children when they did not speak any Khmer and had absolutely no teaching experience. Volunteers in the “childcare” program were left alone with children, sometimes disabled children, for hours at a time.

IVHQ

Photo by: Hannah Reid

When I eventually complained to IVHQ about this issue, IVHQ employee Ben Brown assured me that volunteer English teachers should always be assisting a local teacher. This is clearly not the case with what actually happens in volunteer placements in Cambodia.

Despite signing a CVF child protection policy during orientation, there were numerous instances of volunteers violating the photography rules. The IVHQ Code of Conduct clearly stated that “photography and videography of children is only permitted with permission from the placement staff and photos/videos should not be taken in any way intended to belittle or degrade any placement participant”.

Within days of being in Siem Reap, my Facebook newsfeed was inundated with photos uploaded by other IVHQ volunteers of “orphans” including one photo of a toddler being spoon fed with her top falling off. Photos had captions like “time to go back and play with the monkeys” and “hanging out with this little monkey at the orphanage #ivhq”. I should not have to explain how problematic this is. I highly doubt that each of these images were checked by the placement staff before being uploaded to Facebook.

If these volunteers were given permission to publicise these photos, IVHQ should stringently review its photography of children policy.

I have received information from IVHQ volunteers in other countries that IVHQ’s “audit” process consists of an IVHQ employee visiting the country, visiting one volunteer house, visiting a handful of placements and then drinking with the volunteers, all while making promotional videos for IVHQ’s social media accounts.

FIVE: You do not have the necessary qualifications or experience

A few years of university and a dash of enthusiasm does not qualify you to work with disadvantaged or vulnerable Cambodians. I wish somebody had been this blunt to me. If you think about vulnerable children, victims of domestic violence, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable individuals in your economically-developed home country, chances are that you would need qualifications, experience and specific training before accessing them or working to help them. There are minimum standards which our economically-developed countries have to protect vulnerable people and ensure that they get the standards of support and care that they need.

Volunteering or interning abroad circumvents these standards. If New Zealanders are entitled to have properly qualified teachers and social workers to assist them, so are Cambodians. If New Zealand children are given a good quality education by qualified teachers, Cambodian children should be given the same.

IVHQ

Photo by: Hannah Reid

While I was somewhat aware of these arguments, I had not applied them to my own situation. It was not until I got to Cambodia and was given my “placement” that I realised the shortcomings of what I had to offer. The most blatant issue was that I could not speak Khmer. Great romanticisms and ideals of giving talks in the community about gender equality and human trafficking were immediately slashed when I came face to face with the most blaringly obvious obstacle of language barriers.

Similarly, I found myself concerned for the other IVHQ volunteers in the “childcare” and “teaching” placements. I found out that the volunteers were being left along with the children, with no Khmer teaching staff or supervising staff. This is unsafe for the children and the volunteers. If there were an emergency, the language barrier would be a serious issue.

Vulnerable people are not a pet project for your summer. They are not an activity to add to your holiday to make you feel better about yourself. They are not something for you to practice on. They are not any less deserving of quality care and support than the vulnerable people in your home country.

SIX: You are taking jobs and resources away from Cambodians who need them more than you do

I slowly began to realise how problematic it is that these volunteers were taking potential jobs off locals. Instead of supporting local workers in whatever way they could, they were essentially free babysitters taking the place of qualified locals who could be paid to teach the children properly. The relatively exorbitant program fees we were paying to volunteer/intern in Cambodia could have paid the salary for several qualified Cambodian teachers or social workers.

IVHQ

Photo by: Hannah Reid

SEVEN: There are ulterior motives around every corner

Another IVHQ guideline is that the childcare provider should always maintain and support the child’s right to choose their religion. 95% of Cambodians are Buddhist and Buddhism is firmly entrenched in their communities and culture.

It concerned me that most of the placements volunteers were assigned to were Christian orphanages, funded by Christian churches overseas. I googled the websites of some of the placements volunteers told me they were assigned and their mission statements specified their mission to raise children by the word of God in a Christian environment.

These websites were for Missionaries of Charity in Siem Reap and Child Rescue Centre in Kompgn Chhnang province. I recently tried to find the websites, but both have now disappeared. I should note that orphanages in Cambodia are constantly opening, shutting down or changing name. Some of the orphanages and their websites have changed since I was volunteering in Cambodia with IVHQ in December 2014.

IVHQ

Photo by: Hannah Reid

These “childcare” placements are converting children to a religion different to their own, and different to the religion of their families and communities.

A couple of the volunteers distributed necklaces with wooden crosses to the children at one placement. This kind of environment fundamentally impairs the freedom of the children to associate with their religion, or any religion that is not Christianity.

Why are these children, who still have families, being separated from their families, communities, culture and religion? Is it so that orphanage directors, tour-guides and large voluntourism companies can profit from this separation? Is it so that churches can convert children to a new religion?

EIGHT: Expressions of concern to IVHQ about the well-being of vulnerable children will be stifled in the interests of profits

After just one week, I had all the information I needed to make the decision to leave Cambodia. My eight-week NGO internship was cut to just one week. I was convinced that IVHQ either had no idea what actually happened in their placements in Cambodia, or had some idea but did nothing to fix the problems.

IVHQ

Photo by: Hannah Reid

I sent a letter to IVHQ outlining my concerns with the organisation’s lack of transparency, the lack of auditing of individual placements and some of the broader problems surrounding sending unqualified young people to work with vulnerable and at-risk people. I spoke with IVHQ’s Ben Brown over the phone, who initially seemed surprised and concerned about my experience and suggested I may get a full refund from IVHQ. A few days later, I received an email from him simply offering a waiver of the registration fee the next time I decided to book a trip with IVHQ. How generous.

On 5 March 2015, the director of Our Home Orphanage in Phnom Penh, named Vibol, was arrested on 9 charges of sexually abusing the children in his care. The abuse allegedly took place in 2013 and 2014. Vibol was convicted for abusing 11 children in his care at Our Home. When I heard this news, I instantly recognised Our Home as being an IVHQ placement.

IVHQ sent volunteers to Our Home throughout 2013 and 2014. A video on the official IVHQ YouTube channel featured Our Home as a potential placement for prospective volunteers. I contacted the volunteer who made the video for IVHQ, who informed me that he had been suspicious of the Our Home orphanage and believed the director, Vibol, was eliciting money from volunteers to turn the orphanage into an apartment complex. Despite Vibol’s arrest and the shut-down of Our Home in March 2015, the IVHQ video about Our Home remained on YouTube until IVHQ removed it sometime in late 2016.

This begs the question: If volunteers were sent to Our Home over the time period of the abuse and volunteers were suspicious of the placement, how reliable and comprehensive are the auditing of placements in Cambodia by IVHQ?

I have since received messages from volunteers all over the world who had problems with their placements either in Cambodia or other countries. It is common to hear about volunteers cutting their trips short and having serious concerns about their placements.

I have become increasingly concerned with the way IVHQ responds to the feedback given by volunteers. IVHQ eventually stopped responding to my emails and never gave me any concrete assurance or evidence that anything was done about my complaints regarding placements in Cambodia.

I occasionally tried posting on the IVHQ Volunteers group and the IVHQ Cambodia Volunteers group on Facebook. My posts were general, warning prospective volunteers to ask for details about their placements in-advance to booking a trip with IVHQ and asking if any former volunteers had concerns about their placements. My posts in both Facebook groups were deleted and I was blocked from both groups.

 

Photo by: Hannah Reid

I have noticed that any post critical of IVHQ experiences on the IVHQ Facebook page or IVHQ Facebook groups are deleted within a few hours or days. It is common for negative or critical posts, or posts describing a volunteer’s concerns, to be removed and the volunteer to be blocked from posting anything or even accessing the Facebook group.

NINE: Volunteering/interning abroad as a “voluntourist” does no favours for your CV

Since my experience with IVHQ, I have done a lot of reflecting and research. The kind of reflecting and research I should have done before I got on the plane to go to Cambodia.

When I educated myself on the issues surrounding voluntourism, the perpetuation of the cycle of poverty, the problematic suggestion that vulnerable people and communities are there as tourist attractions or to make ourselves feel better, the often colonial undertones to many voluntourism programs and the substantial profits that are being made on all levels based on sustaining poverty levels and exploiting the otherwise good intentions of young traveller, I changed my CV. I removed all mentions of volunteering or interning in Cambodia, both from my experiences in 2013 and 2014. The tide is turning and new waves of activism are seeing more people informed of the harms of voluntourism.

Australia’s Modern Slavery Act is addressing the problem head on. The United Nations is paying more attention to issues surrounding responsible tourism. Bloggers and social media activists are drawing attention to the larger problems surrounding voluntourism.

I now work as a lawyer, prosecuting serious crime in Auckland, New Zealand. I got the job with a CV free from any mentions of volunteering abroad. I suggest to university students everywhere that before volunteering or interning abroad, you reflect on your reasons for doing so, you research the organisations involved at every level, you ask yourself whether you would be qualified to undertake the position in your home country, you consider the optics of being in these cultures and communities as a volunteer, you educate yourself about cycles of poverty and the meaning of sustainable development, and you read the ten lessons listed in this blog post.

If you would like to contact me with any questions or requests for further information, please email me at reid.hannah@gmail.com

Beware of Volunteering Solutions India Program-Awful Experience

The Volunteering Solutions program in Delhi, India is highly unethical and I strongly advise against  working with the organization.

By Heather Newgen

I considered myself to be an experienced volunteer. I had one successful international volunteering trip under my belt, so why wouldn’t I know what I was doing? I was a “pro” now, so I didn’t really need to do much research on organizations since they were all the same and have good intentions.

It honestly never occurred to me that anyone would be unethical when interacting with volunteers, or create scams to sucker us into a program that was unprofessional. I once naively thought this, which is utterly embarrassing. I learned I was completely wrong when I signed up with Volunteering Solutions in 2009, and it was a hard lesson, but one worth knowing.

I actually had an uneasy feeling about them from the start. My gut tried to warn me, but I pushed the red flags aside telling myself I was overreacting. Unlike the previous year when I went to Morocco with Cross Cultural Solutions who prepped us well, Volunteering Solutions was difficult to get in touch with. I had a million questions, but no one would email me back.

Finally, around 1:00 a.m. one night, I received a phone call from out of nowhere. It was someone at Volunteering Solutions, and they said they’d talk to me about concerns I had. I thought it was odd, but I was happy to talk to someone from the organization. I reluctantly paid the program fee, but I wasn’t overly excited like I thought I would be. I again dismissed any weird feelings and left for New Delhi.

Someone from the organization picked me up, although really late after I arrived, and took me to the volunteer house, which was the cockroach infested, dirty basement of the country director’s beautiful and luxurious home. There was about 20 girls sweating to death in a small space. People were sleeping on the floors trying to cool down and many were breaking out into heat rashes because there was no ventilation or windows to open.

I know some people right now are probably thinking I’m a spoiled Westerner who thought I was going to stay at a Four Seasons type of resort, but that truly isn’t the case. I’d sleep in a tent on the ground if I thought my money was going towards a good cause.

I was horrified by the accommodations, but tried to not pass judgment just yet, however, several other girls expressed their concerns when I arrived. American dollars/Euros go a long way in India, and clearly, the money didn’t go towards our housing, so people were questioning where the program fee was going.

I barely slept that night because it was so suffocating, but I woke up the next morning looking forward to the next few weeks. For breakfast, we went into the country director’s house and sat down at the table. We were given a piece of white toast, with a little butter and some yogurt.

Again, I’m not trying to come across as a high maintenance person, but now I was starting to wonder where our money was going. It’s not so much what food we were given or what the volunteering housing looked like, I was more confused as to what we paid for.

I was still hopeful that the money was given to the school in the slums we’d be going to, but I soon discovered that wasn’t the case. I moved out of the basement after the first night, as did a few other girls. It was too uncomfortable, miserable and filthy. We checked into a hotel down the street, which we were happier at.

I was also eating at the hotel instead of the volunteer house because the food was better and more nutritious. Needless to say I didn’t get a refund for the accommodations or meals from Volunteering Solutions, but it was my decision to leave, so I didn’t ask for my money back and I wasn’t expecting to get it back.

The first week of the program was orientation, so every day we walked to the volunteer house, which we realized quickly was a waste of time. I wished we were volunteering instead of learning about Indian bread. It was frustrating.

While I wasn’t enjoying Volunteering Solutions, I did love meeting the other volunteers and getting to the know Delhi, the culture and local people. Some of the girls who left the housing with me were so distraught that they changed their flights and went home early. They were over the entire situation and had enough of the program.

I didn’t blame them one bit, but I was determined to volunteer. I made it this far into the trip and I was going to work with street kids in the slums no matter what.

The first day of volunteering, we went to one of New Delhi’s roughest neighborhoods. In an area full of rubble and debris was an alley where kids gathered on a cement floor to interact with us.

The country director drove us in his car and dropped us off. There was no introduction to the children or the adults in charge, there was no guidance on what we were supposed to do, and there was no schedule. I guess we could stay there as long as we wanted and then take an auto-rickshaw back. The situation was totally uncomfortable and I felt like we weren’t wanted there.

The project description on VS’ website stated volunteers would help prepare meals, create a fun environment for the kids through new activities and games, and teach English, which I had never done before, nor was I prepared to do. It was never explained what we would actually be doing, and yes, I absolutely should have been more clear and asked questions. I take responsibility for that. I really just didn’t know better, which is mortifying looking back.

So I went with colored chalk, pens, toys and games for the kids, but I was yelled at when I arrived saying I must teach. Teach what? There were no supplies, no lesson plan, and no instructions. There was just an older woman sitting in the middle of the different aged kids reciting the A,B,C’s over and over to them.

Heather Newgen at school in New Delhi slums

I was unskilled, untrained and had no business being there. I was embarrassed for the program and myself. They didn’t have the kid’s interest at heart. They just wanted to send people there to make it seem like volunteers were needed, but I don’t think we were.

I didn’t know what to do, so I took out the chalk I brought, put some of the older children in a group, and taught a few math problems. My being there did not make a difference and I certainly didn’t have the impact I thought I would.

I didn’t want to go back. I was ashamed. In addition, I didn’t feel safe going to the slums alone. After we were taken once, we were expected to go on our own. Not sure how anyone was supposed to remember how to get there without a map or directions…
To make matters worse, we later found out the NGO of the school hadn’t received any of the money he was promised from the program manager. A volunteer with VS, who is now a life-long friend, told her family about our experience. They lived nearby and her mom went to the school with us the next day to find out what was going on.

It was then we knew we were being lied to. Volunteering Solutions was a total scam—at least in India. I can’t speak for the other countries they are in. I confronted the country director and instead of addressing my concerns and trying to be helpful, he and his wife started screaming at me. I asked repeatedly where my money was going and wanted to see a breakdown of how they spent volunteer’s program fee. Reasonable things I thought, but apparently not.

They kept side stepping the question by turning things around on me. I asked why our money wasn’t partly going to the NGO as he had said and I was met with more hostility.
I didn’t back down and continued to ask questions, but they refused to do anything but yell. His wife kept saying, “I can’t believe you would ask us these types of questions in our own home,” and acted as if I was trying to get inappropriate information out of them. Crazy doesn’t even begin to describe the situation.

Another volunteer witnessed the contentious argument and was outraged by their behavior. It was unbelievable. I’m not sure if the country director is still there today, but this happened in 2009 and I know just a couple of years ago he was still working for Volunteering Solutions, which is shocking.

I went back to volunteer a couple of times, but felt it was pointless. So I checked out of the hotel, stayed with new friends I made and vowed to spread the word about Volunteering Solutions.

I don’t ever want another person to go through the nightmare that I did. When I got home I started doing research and found a slew of negative reviews all mirroring my similar experience. I also started a group on Facebook called ‘Beware of Volunteering Solutions” where others told me they had written bad reviews of the organization and were threatened to be sued by the program if they weren’t taken down.

I was taken aback that they would go that far. I’m sorry that I didn’t do my homework ahead of time, and it’s my fault that I was so ignorant about voluntourism, but here’s what I have learned:

–Listen to your instincts. You get bad vibes for a reason.

–Do your research. I can’t stress this enough. Do not sign up with a program before you’re 100% sure they’re professional and legit. Don’t just read the reviews on the organization’s website. Who knows if they’re actually real or not?

–Don’t work with kids if you’re unskilled or untrained, especially if you’re just volunteering short-term.

–Know exactly what your volunteer assignment is going to be ahead of time. Also, find out if you’re expected to go to your project alone.

–There are positive experiences to be had volunteering abroad and domestically. It’s unfortunate that there are corrupt organizations out there, but it’s your responsibility as a volunteer to educate yourself and be aware of the issues with volunteering so you can avoid them. I strongly support voluntourism, however, it needs to be done in an ethical manner.

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