In three days I depart
for Ghana, bound for a rural village with no running water or internet access,
to work on a construction project for two weeks. I acquired my mosquito net,
anti-malaria meds, and a large packet of pre-departure materials. This is how I
plan to spend my annual “vacation,” and right now I’m questioning my sanity.
The first time I ever
left North America, I ventured to Duran, Ecuador on a high school volunteering
trip. My Catholic school had a partnership there and groups visited annually to
help out in schools and a soup kitchen, and embed themselves in the local
community. In retrospect, we didn’t accomplish much of anything, but the value
lay in exposure to the reality of life and hardship in a developing country. As
a teenager, it opened my eyes to water and electricity shortages, unsanitary
conditions, infant mortality, and other struggles experienced by the warm and
welcoming people we met. Perhaps the experience sparked my interest in travel
to off-the-beaten-track regions, and service abroad.
Over the years my
passion for travel grew, and while working at a college, I spent several years
co-leading service-learning trips to Nicaragua and Mexico. In that academic
environment, surrounded by faculty well-versed in social justice issues, I
questioned the benefit of these endeavors at times, and in many ways changed my
point of view regarding volunteering.
Some circles have
expressed a backlash against “voluntourism,” or “volunteer vacations,” on the
grounds that they promote a “savior complex,” undermine local expertise and
activism, and produce accolades and social media photo-ops without making a
real difference. Some feel that any charity
work must be better than nothing, but
with increasing awareness of privilege and economic disparity, the debate
continues. An excellent documentary available on Hoopla entitled H.O.P.E. Was Here profiles a group of
college students traveling to Peru and insightfully exploring these conflicting
perspectives. In my opinion, ethical volunteering abroad is surely possible.
But if you’re going to do it, do it right! Here are some rules I try to follow:
Learn about a culture
before entering it for the purpose of “helping.” I knew nothing about the
history and politics of Ecuador before I went, very little about the people,
and had zero Spanish language skills. How can one “help” people without
understanding them? I urge anyone to read up before traveling anywhere, whether
for pleasure or volunteering. Reading individuals’ stories including The Country Under My Skin before going to
Nicaragua, Enrique’s Journey before Mexico, I, Rigoberta Menchu before Guatemala, and
Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom prior to South Africa
enhanced my experiences to these countries immeasurably.
Learn at least the basic
greetings in another language before traveling; the library has free resources
that make this easy. In addition to travel books and CDs, why not try our Mango language learning
program by logging in from anywhere using your library card? Norwood’s library
and the Minuteman network have hundreds of travel guides by Lonely Planet,
Fodor’s, Moon, and others, which in addition to travel recommendations include
primers on history and politics, tips on cultural differences, and useful
foreign language words and phrases. I’m currently scouring the Bradt Travel Guide: Ghana, and borrowing
Pimsleur’s Twi language CDs.
Regarding volunteering
in particular, seek out programs that are locally led and administered. Rather
than traveling with preconceived notions of how you may improve another
community, respond to the citizens’ own identified needs. Make sure a project
demonstrates sustainability; don’t start something the community cannot
maintain after you leave. Do not engage in work for which you are not
qualified. I used the book Volunteer Vacations: Short-Term Adventures That Will Benefit You
and Others to select my upcoming Ghana
placement. I chose the program because Ghanaians run the project and have an
infrastructure set up for an ongoing flow of short-term and long-term
volunteers coming and going, working alongside locals. Additionally, I had to
be accepted to the program, submit to a background check, and sign off on a
strict code of conduct agreement very attentive to cultural sensitivity.
The village also has
medical and school projects that require participants to have some credentials
in either field. Lacking these, I will do manual labor instead, mixing cement,
bricklaying, and painting, from 8:30 – 4:00 Monday through Friday. Is it too
late for me to change my mind?! It may seem obvious that volunteers should have
qualifications to do certain types of tasks, yet I’ve heard of undergraduates
on service trips helping to deliver babies, and seen high school students
spending time in orphanages where they make bonds with already-traumatized
children, only to depart after a week or two. I aim to avoid doing anything
that would not fly at home, including things like picking up children and
taking photos with them without an adult’s permission, or posting photos online
that do not portray the subjects with accuracy and dignity.
In four days I will land
in Accra, and transfer to a dormitory with bunk beds, outhouses, and
intermittent electricity. For reading material I will carry The Door of No Return: The History of Cape Coast Castle and the
Atlantic Slave Trade, since I plan to visit
the infamous slave port on a weekend excursion. I’ll also read a fiction
selection, Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi, which
tells the tale of Ghanaian half-sisters, one of whom marries a colonial
Englishman and lives a privileged life, while the other becomes a slave sent to
the U.S. My contribution to the small village as a volunteer will be a drop in
the bucket, but at least I will do no harm, and I will benefit immensely from a
difficult but transformative experience and immersion in another culture.
Although I may question the wisdom of my vacation choice, in the thirty years
since that first trip to Ecuador, I have yet to regret a single volunteer
travel experience.
