Kassim Qureshi has created a site that caters to every type of person interested in traveling. Between his own memoirs, guest articles, recommendations, tips and just some fun miscellaneous stuff, LuxuryBackpacking will definitely tickle your travel bone. It’s sort of like your “funny bone” but better because it’s about travel.

© Gretchen for TravelBlogs, 2010. | LuxuryBackpacking: Backpacking & Independent Travel | One comment |
Post categories: Blogs
Post tags: Asia, independent travel, intellectual travel, photography, tips and tricks, volunteering, voluntourism

Paris In The Spring

In 2008, Lara Dunston was interviewed about her life as a travel writer and her experiences traveling with her husband, Terry Carter, who is also a travel writer, photographer and now – an expert in the art of eggs – culinary-style. (You think I’m kidding…)

Together, they have taken on a new project, Grantourismo!, which has them traveling from their home-base-storage-unit in Dubai to a new destination every two weeks over a twelve month period (February 1, 2010 through February 1, 2011). Not only are they investigating new destinations, Terry has found some new egg recipes and still travels with his trusty cleaver.

Being avid travel writers, you’ve just begun yet another journey around the world. How did you choose which countries to visit considering HomeAway Holiday-Rentals’ numerous available locations?

Lara: We’re two months into a 12-month grand tour of the globe, an experiential-cum-local travel project we’ve called Grantourismo. It’s a ‘contemporary’ grand tour, which means rather than learning to paint or do archery as the original grand tourists did way back we’re doing and learning things with contemporary relevance.

Terence Meets Macarons

As Terry is into cooking, he’s learning how to cook a quintessential dish in each place we visit (in Marrakech a local cook taught him how to make tajine) and I’m learning anything from languages to learning about immigration in Paris from an academic who just finished her thesis on the subject. We’re staying in each destination for two weeks, so we’ve traded hotel rooms for rentals this year and partnered with HomeAway Holiday-Rentals. HomeAway Holiday-Rentals had a long list of destinations they wanted us to cover so our choices were based on a combination of places that are popular where they have a lot of properties, destinations that are not as popular that they want to inspire people to visit, and destinations that show the variety of places they have from sleek apartments in Buenos Aires to rustic trullo in Puglia.

You’ve written about “voluntourism”. What types of volunteer opportunities have you planned for yourselves during this endeavor?

We’re ‘parachuting’ into places and using our skills to quickly learn about the place, meet people, get tips as to what we should do and learn, and then arrange things.

Terence: We haven’t planned anything because for Grantourismo we’re not planning much ahead of time. We’re ‘parachuting’ into places and using our skills to quickly learn about the place, meet people, get tips as to what we should do and learn, and then arrange things. One of our missions is to give something back and promote sustainable travel, so they take in a whole lot of things, not just volunteering. The easiest way for people to give something back is to buy, eat and drink local/regional products, to shop locally in small businesses and direct from producers rather than chains owned by multinationals, and to then spread the word about those products by telling their friends, writing about them on their blogs, Facebook pages etc, so that’s what we’ve been doing. In each place we’ve visited so far, we’ve sought out and have raised awareness about local cultural products, local traditions, green initiatives – everything from an ethical fashion boutique in Paris to some small designers in Ceret using a very traditional Catalan fabric, and we’ve just talked to a sustainable travel agent in Montenegro specializing in local travel who is also a member of the Local Travel Movement.

…finding short-term volunteer experiences has actually been one of our greatest challenges…

Lara: Volunteering is another way to give back and can take many forms but we’re mainly looking for short-term volunteer experiences that we can promote, anything from participating in an environmental clean-up day to volunteering to read books to kids at an orphanage to working for a day in a soup kitchen. But finding short-term volunteer experiences has actually been one of our greatest challenges so far because we’re looking for the things that people on holidays could just do for one or two days, as not every one can commit to a 6-week, 3-month or even one year experience. It’s been a challenge finding experiences we can actually *do* in a day or two but we want to get a taste of these things before we write about them. If anyone has any ideas we’d love to hear about them!

You both are passionate about “local produce, local products” and the globalization of crafts. How does one go about discovering the truth behind the souvenirs they’re buying?

Souq Walk Marrakech Morocco

Lara: The best thing people can do is simply talk to the owners of shops or the people working on stalls at a market. I think it’s fairly easy to tell who is legit and who isn’t, but key questions to ask are “which town/region is this product from”, “who made it”, “what is it made from” etc. From the answers you can easily tell who is a real producer or who knows the producers as they will come out with the answers straight away and probably speak at great length and passionately and knowledgeably about them, whereas someone who is dodgy and selling things made in China in Paris will probably go “um… well…” Although I will never forget having an argument with a woman in Petra, Jordan, who was selling junk made in Korea and swearing that it was locally made. People should also look for information on tags and labels of course.

You have also written of location independence. What single piece of advice do you have for people wanting to do what you’ve done?

Terence: Take a look at this piece we did for Matador but to be honest we didn’t really think of what we’re doing as location-independent work until a few people started using the term when they asked us about what we do and how we manage what we do. In our opinion there isn’t really any other way to be travel writers except to travel and if you treat your work seriously and you’re a professional and it’s your main source of income you cannot do it any other way than to travel and to travel with all your gear. The best investment anyone can make is to buy a good laptop and use technology they trust. We use Macs and they essentially serve as our offices – we can’t live or work without them.

Do you find it easier to write about your days’ activities the same day, or at a later time?

Lara: It’s not always possible to write up what we’ve experienced on the same day, cause we’re simply so busy sometimes with full schedules from early in the morning right through the day until late at night, so we might have a backlog of work, especially on the Grantourismo trip at the end of a two-week stay when the last few days are really frantic. The key is detailed note-taking and memory-shots. As long as I take detailed notes and take photos, any kind of pics to prod that memory, then I’m fine. Without them though, it can be a challenge.

How easy or difficult has it been to find new external hard drives “on the road”? Or do you pack 10 of them ahead?

…for instance, when Lara’s hard drive in her MacBook (not a portable drive) died when we were in Nicosia, so we searched high and low and eventually found a computer shop that had loads of dust-covered boxes of software we’d never heard of and found a no-name drive, opened and covered in dust, but it was cheap and it worked just fine.

Terence: Our bags are heavy enough as they are, mainly due to the technology, laptops, camera equipment, books and research materials, so we buy hard drives as we go. They’re not always easy to find of course. We had a lot of trouble in Cyprus, for instance, when Lara’s hard drive in her MacBook (not a portable drive) died when we were in Nicosia, so we searched high and low and eventually found a computer shop that had loads of dust-covered boxes of software we’d never heard of and found a no-name drive, opened and covered in dust, but it was cheap and it worked just fine.

Lara in Wadi Rum

In your extensive travels, have you found the world becoming a smaller place, with globalization such as it is, or is there still sufficient variety in countries and cultures to warrant a continued sense of wonder and awe?

Lara: I definitely have a sense that the world is becoming smaller because there is greater connectivity and I’m continually seeing connections, especially cultural, social and economic connections between places and people, and I kind of like that in a way, that I meet people who know other people far far away. But then there are many things about the world that are becoming ‘smaller’ in that they’re becoming the same, such as fast food and the stuff sold at markets. You’ll see the same junk in Jerusalem that you’ll see in Paris that you’ll see in Thailand and Beijing. We found that very depressing, especially as so much of it is being sold as being from that destination, and that’s another reason we embarked on this project. When we travel these days we don’t necessarily have to have that sense of wonder and awe all the time as we did when we were younger. We’re happiest when we learn new things and meet new people and really go away feeling more familiar with a place, its people, and its culture.

On a side note – Terence, how DO you explain carrying a cleaver in your luggage to Customs officials?

Terence: As long as the cleaver goes in the bag under the plane, it’s not a problem – you just can’t take sharp objects on board – but I also carry a couple of grinders of my favourite salt and peppers, and a few other kitchen utensils that not all holiday rentals seem to have, so I think they’d get that I was simply into cooking and not a terrorist!

Editor’s notes: All photos courtesy of Lara Dunston and Terence Carter at Grantourismo. Lara also runs the Cool Travel Guide blog.

© Gretchen for TravelBlogs, 2010. | Grantourismo! An Interview with Lara Dunston & Terence Carter | 5 comments |
Post categories: Interviews
Post tags: cultural experiences, educational experiences, location independence, Round the world, travel writing, volunteering, voluntourism, working on the road

Ape meets woman, Photo by Claire Hamilton

A few years ago I joined a travel-related website while researching a trip to Panama. Some of you know will know it as Travellerspoint.com. I have spent quite a bit of my online time over there and one of the common questions posed in the forums deals with volunteerism. “This company charges $X,XXX for a 2 month program. Is that cheap?” or “Is this company on the up & up?” or “Shouldn’t volunteering be free as long as I get there? I’m volunteering, after all.” All good questions. Ones that make me think daily as I remember volunteerism as something you did not pay for, except your transportation to get where you were needed.

I was reminded of this, once again, when my husband and I introduced a close friend to an organization that is a sanctuary for injured and displaced wolves. At the time, the sanctuary offered room and board for a day’s work. BUT, they were considering charging fees “because most other volunteer organizations were doing it and raking in a profit”. Understandable when you are working at a loss. The sanctuary is still on a “room & board for work performed” basis. Combining my personal experience with the ones on Travellerspoint, I could not help but ask the “synonymous?” question.

So, I’m done pontificating and here are your replies:

Dave

(The Longest Way Home)

This is a topic really hits me hard. I’ve worked as both a volunteer and as a staff member in a number of countries.

I’ve seen these two terms merge over the years and truly; I don’t like it. In practice, I have no issue with someone paying to go out and help somewhere. If they are qualified to do so, and if the organization is also as qualified.

There are thousands of organizations that come under the “NGO” banner that are merely set up to make money. This holds true for many non-NGOs too.

I’ve also seen college graduates leave, with great intentions, to help build houses and teach. For the former; manpower in many developing organizations is not an issue. Many are not qualified to teach, and end up doing more harm than good. Though, more often than not they will return feeling on top of the world for helping.

At the heart of this, I do not blame the volunteers. I blame the corrupt NGO’s and Government departments that allow them to run, and to an extent the parents paying for all this.

One such incident occurred in Nepal, where an English girl paid 7,000 USD to volunteer for 6 weeks at a monastery through an NGO. She was clueless before leaving. Once she arrived she discovered the Monastery takes anyone, for free. It was the NGO’s fees that she was paying.

Research your placement, country and job criteria before going. Ask non-profits for their account income & expenditure details. The really good ones will supply them to you for transparency reasons.

Yes, there are good volunteer organizations out there, but the criteria to get in is high. Another option is simply to go to a country you wish to help, knock on doors of agencies and see for yourself before truly volunteering.

Volunteers’ house Photo by Helen Roycroft

Matthew Kepnes

(Nomadic Matt’s Travel Site)

No, you shouldn’t have to pay a fee to volunteer. Sites like i to i are just taking a middleman fee and pocketing most of the money anyway. True volunteer organizations don’t make you pay. You pay for your way there but you trade your time for room and board. There are no hidden fees. I recommend programs like Hands On Disaster Relief. I would never volunteer with an organization that made me pay. I’d rather just donate directly to the community than pay towards one of these programs.

Hannah Barth

(Hannah In Motion)

Most diehard travelers are loathe to be called ‘tourists’. To me, the word ‘tourism’ denotes a disconnection with the world one is traveling in. Voluntourism, then, seems to be a way to feel good and do good, but not necessarily connect with the people or the place you’re traveling to. When you pay a fee to volunteer, you are, in essence, paying for the tourism aspect of your trip. You’re paying an agent to choose how to put you in contact with the local population as you’ve chosen not to do it for yourself.

Volunteering, on the other hand, can be done anywhere; in your hometown, home country, or abroad.

Volunteering, on the other hand, can be done anywhere; in your hometown, home country, or abroad. Because volunteering is less location-specific – down the street from where you live, for instance, where you probably wouldn’t travel on holiday – it’s always seemed like a very different thing than ‘voluntouring’. One may choose to travel and volunteer at the same time, but it’s self-guided. Volunteering while traveling then is more of an activity, like going to a museum or seeing a famous landmark. I, personally, strongly prefer the latter.

Jason Batansky

(Locationless Living)

Tough question. I don’t think volunteerism and voluntourism should hold the same meaning because the experiences differ so much. While generalizations are never ideal, it’s appropriate to make some in comparing the two terms. Voluntourism is a vacation. The participants pay for the short-term (one week to a few months) experience of interacting with people they might not ordinarily meet. Their money used to fund the vacation helps the cause more than their personal efforts. In contrast, volunteers traveling abroad either donate an in demand skill (e.g. doctors) or their abundance of time (e.g. unskilled workers caring for children). They don’t pay for the opportunity to help because the organization they work with actually needs their help and not just their money. I have nothing against voluntourism nor volunteering. Some great opportunities can be found at www.Idealist.org.

Building Toilet and Interact with Local Youth – Volunteer Nepal, Photo courtesy of INFONepal

Daniel Roy

(The Backpack Foodie)

It takes time to train a high-skilled volunteer, so what’s left for most of the kind-hearted tourists out there usually has more in common with a feel-good guided tour than real volunteer work. There’s nothing wrong with lending a hand on a trip, but for longer-lasting volunteer work with a profound effect, consider looking for longer-term placement – such as through Volunteer Services Oversea (UK), or the Peace Corps (US).

If you’re up for the task, get involved in social justice and help at home – there’s plenty of people in need there too!

Nora Dunn

(The Professional Hobo)

Voluntourism (from my understanding) combines a volunteer experience with a tourism one. Tourists will pay for something along the lines of an all-inclusive vacation, which includes sightseeing as well as volunteering for a good cause. It is these sorts of organized volunteer tourism adventures that also cost a pretty penny.

Volunteerism technically simply refers to the act of volunteering, which we can do at home or abroad, with no reference in the definition to travel.

Despite popular opinion, there are still lots of ways to volunteer your services and not have to pay hefty fees for that privilege. In some cases, accommodation can be subsidized or even paid for in return for your volunteer work. However you’ll have to hunt around for these opportunities; the big businesses promoting voluntourism adventures often have better search results rankings.

Steve Shoppman

(The World By Road)

With the many organizations charging fees to volunteer, I believe they are doing the right thing as they are providing a service to tourists looking for a different experience. Anyone who is really making a difference needs to spend considerable time there to even begin to help the people. For those tourists volunteering, they are reaping far more benefits from their time than the people they are helping.

This is not to say this is a bad thing, if more people were paying to volunteer I think they would certainly get more out of their travel experiences as they would be spending quality time directly interacting with the people in the country they are visiting. The organizations that allow this really are providing a service to the tourist rather than the other way around, and the tourist should be happy to pay money for an experience that is most certainly worth more than the lame tours you might pay for on a vacation.

Carl Beien

(Two Stops Past Siberia)

Having been on both sides of the “voluntourism” experience, we can only hope that the practice continues to grow. While pay-to-play “volunteer” positions may seem at first disingenuous, run well, the practice can be highly beneficial for all parties involved.

Anyone having spent time volunteering abroad knows how little impact a short stint can have.

Anyone having spent time volunteering abroad knows how little impact a short stint can have. A few days, weeks, or even months, especially without being fluent in the local language, is not nearly enough time for an individual to accomplish much of a lasting change. It is enough time, however, for a person to develop a lasting connection to a place – more than just, “they were a friendly people with good food”.

Furthermore, tourists looking for a more satisfying experience can bring well-needed dollars to organizations trying to do good work, but strapped for cash. Instead of hopping around a country putting money into often dubious pockets, encouraging behaviors like false hospitality and helping build stereotypes of Westerners as rich party seekers, “voluntourism” allows tourists to get a deeper, more intimate look at a culture, all the while ensuring their foreign dollars go to a good cause.

A volunteer teaching english, Photo by Ester Carrizo

Wade Shepard

(Vagabond Journey)

If a person has to pay money to work, then their work must not be of enough value to stand on its own. Paid volunteering is tourism, you are paying to have an experience: rather than going on a rafting trip or a pub crawl you are shown poor people and provided with the feeling that you helped them. I don’t know what else an unskilled person from a rich country really has to offer anybody besides their money anyway.

If your help was really needed you would be invited to share your skills and knowledge based on their own merit, not the money in your pocket. This is called volunteering.

It is my impression that voluntourism is a very frightening industry that is essentially transforming poverty into a commodity that can be sold to tourists for thousands of dollars. The leeway for scams and con artists is very wide. If you think your money is going to the people you are trying to help, guess again — see past the flowery websites and the pictures of smiling poor children — this is a business, and the poor are the commodities (the meeker the better). Where there is money to be made you will find profiteers making it.

Volunteers that really have something to offer are only worth the value of what they have to teach.

Volunteers that really have something to offer are only worth the value of what they have to teach. Unfortunately, the profiteers have found that the droves of unskilled tourists willing to pay money for the title of “volunteer” are worth far more money that the real volunteers themselves. If someone demands that you pay money to help them, then your help is not what they are after.

Derek Turner

(The World By Sea)

Hmm, let’s see… soapbox or no soapbox? To volunteer is simply to offer a service without a price. A person can do that in their own neighborhood. Voluntourism, however, can be more industry than service. The two are related, but they are certainly not synonymous.

I left my career to sail around and “change” the world, and didn’t know what to expect. I started with a website to raise funds, 100% of which went towards helping meet needs I saw along the way. When I made efforts to contact “volunteer” organizations, ready and willing to help, I realized for the price tag attached the money could go much further if I did it myself.

I guess the bottom line is if “voluntouring” actually makes a difference in the life of someone less fortunate, then I’m for it. If someone is going to spend a fortune on vacation, but decides instead to “rough it” for a week or two, and do some voluntouring to make a difference, then why not? But… I have to admit there is something deep down inside that cringes when a company tries to capitalize on a person really wants to volunteer his or her time or skill to truly help.

© Gretchen for TravelBlogs, 2010. | Volunteerism vs. Voluntourism: Are They Synonymous? | 6 comments |
Post categories: Panel Discussions
Post tags: activism, cultural experiences, volunteerism, voluntourism

© Gretchen Wilson-Kalav for TravelBlogs, 2009. | Travel Guy | 3 comments |
Post categories: Blogs
Post tags: Argentina, Buenos Aires, Ecuador, South America, teaching English, volunteer work, volunteering, voluntourism

In a time when voluntourism – the act of travelling to volunteer, or volunteering to travel – is becoming big business, there is one question I keep coming back to: Does voluntourism help the people who are supposedly being served, or is it primarily for the benefit of the volunteer?

It’s the question I asked Brian Hermon about his volunteer work in Ghana; and it’s the same question I asked Chris Guillebeau, who also volunteered for a time in Africa.

And now Stephen Greenwood. Last year, Stephen spent five months living in Tanzania, shooting footage for a documentary and film about an orphanage in Arusha, a city in northern Tanzania. His blog, Observations, is a treasure chest of insightful snippets, beautiful photos and probing questions. After spending an afternoon browsing through, I asked Stephen to share more about his experiences in Tanzania.

What were you doing in Tanzania?

Half of the time that systematic international aid is distributed, it doesn’t end up in the right places.

I was living in Tanzania for 5 months, doing various documentary video work with Non Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) in the Arusha area.

After graduating from university in June, I received an invitation from a classmate, to go to Tanzania. Our job was to shoot video for a nonprofit that began construction on an orphanage in July. We lived at that site and covered the day-to-day operations for them to use as promotional material, and ended up shooting what we hope to be a feature length documentary on a related subject.

When you first came to Tanzania, what were you hoping to achieve?

As a volunteer, I didn’t really have many expectations or much knowledge about foreign aid work before my arrival, but I was eager to learn about it through experience. I went into it with an open mind, hoping to meet and interact with as many people as we could along the way.

As a photojournalist (and I think this is true for any journalists that travel) – I wanted to meet as many people as possible, and carry their stories with me to share with the rest of the world. I think we were able to do that and I hope that we do get the chance to share some of those stories through the documentary that we are now editing.

You shared the heartbreaking story of Amina and her 3-year old daughter Shamin, both of whom have been infected with the AIDS virus. How have experiences like that affected your world view?

It’s hard, because that was the first time I’d come face to face with this epidemic that we hear about so much in the media. I had a good friend that tried desperately to help Amina by placing her in a facility that would encourage healthy lifestyle choices, and several times she ran away. I think that was the hardest part, because here you had someone who was genuinely trying to put her on the right path to receive treatment that would allow her to live longer, and she was rejecting it for the lifestyle of the streets. However, I believe that Shamin (her daughter) is now in good care at the facility and will continue to receive treatment. 

Shamin is one of the most lively and witty 3-year olds that I’ve ever met, and that’s the hard part – knowing that she’ll inevitably suffer from choices that were out of her control.

Shamin is one of the most lively and witty 3-year olds that I’ve ever met, and that’s the hard part – knowing that she’ll inevitably suffer from choices that were out of her control. There’s absolutely no reasoning that can explain that.

I would say that this experience, combined with others that I had in Tanzania affected my worldview greatly. It provided a context to suggest that no matter how bad you want to help someone, real change can only come to the willing. Half of the time that systematic international aid is distributed, it doesn’t end up in the right places. If government doesn’t change from within -if the people who are running the country care more about their personal gain than the improvement of their country, then how much progress can one expect from foreign intervention?

How much can foreigners realistically achieve as volunteers in Tanzania? 

I think that it really depends on the organization that they are volunteering with, and the length of their stay. Obviously those that can stay for an extended period will get to know the area and be able to understand the needs of the people more, but no one can expect to come and change a village by themselves. This shouldn’t be the focus. Our focus as volunteers should be if anything, to try and make an impact on one life. If everyone made significant change in just one person, it would be greater progress than attempting to help many people in a small way.

I think this is what’s wrong with many foreign aid projects. Often people with great intentions start organizations and have dreams of changing an entire country or region. These goals are unattainable. Instead, people should be searching for things that already work well in foreign communities, and using international resources to amplify those great local ideas.

A while ago, you posted this quote about international aid by Pete Brierly on your blog: “The thing is, helping people has become fashionable – where as it used to be just good old-fashioned people, helping.”

How much truth do you think there is in that statement? Is this shift necessarily a bad thing?

I think that this truth is evident when pride gets in the way of progress. In Arusha, I saw a lot of ‘competition’ between NGO’s. This isn’t true of all organizations in the area, but there are a few that aren’t interested in partnering with the others, because they believe that they know the best way to tackle the problems that Arusha faces. I don’t understand this. If it’s really about helping, there should be endless interaction between these overlapping groups.

The first thing that a new organization should do is contact organizations that are already in the area, to draw upon their knowledge & resources and to ideally form a working partnership. I fear that foreigners trying to ‘do something’ for various kind of attention back at home is becoming more common, and that it becomes a distraction from why they are there in the first place.

Just before the US election, you posted about how Tanzanians were filled with hope at the prospect of Barack Obama becoming president. Now that he’s president, what do you think is the number one thing Barack Obama could do to improve the lives of Tanzanians?

Fair trade.

After reading various opinions on the way forward for international aid, I personally believe that the smartest and most immediate thing that Americans can do is to promote fair trade laws.

American taxpayers are over-subsidizing agricultural products like cotton, which allows farming corporations to sell their cotton to African nations for less than those nations can farm it. Africa has been left out of many international trade decisions in the past few decades, because they don’t have much pull in the economic community. If we insist on educating ourselves more about this, and bring change domestically that the rest of the developed world can follow, then African nations will have a chance at developing their own economies – which is more valuable in the long run then most of the systematic aid that the west distributes.

One of the first books that got me thinking about this was Aid and Other Dirty Business by Giles Bolton – I’d recommend it as a starting point for those that are interested.

© Gretchen Wilson-Kalav for TravelBlogs, 2009. | The Value of Voluntourism: Interview with Stephen Greenwood | 6 comments |
Post categories: Interviews
Post tags: aid, Tanzania, volunteer work, voluntourism

Waiting for the rain. Timbuktu, Mali. Photo by Luis Dafos.

All it took was a nun.

The flight from New York City to Paris and on to Benin was about as uneventful as flights go; maybe half an hour of turbulence and two complimentary glasses of cognac rocked the entire sixteen hours of travel. Until I landed in Benin, the only thing eventful that had happened to me was that, despite my best efforts, I thoroughly and completely lost an armrest war to my left-hand neighbor, who seemed to consider that his window-seat ticket also bought him a controlling share in the adjacent aisle seat.

Given that he was approximately double my size (you will see…this promises to be a recurring theme), I’m surprised I lasted as long as I did—which, to be fair, was only about 27 minutes. I had little choice but to become intimately familiar with the contralateral armrest, and each passing, just-wide-enough-to-make-you-rue-elbows, duty-free-stocked beverage cart propelled by plastic smiles.

All this changed, though, on arrival at Cotonou’s Cadjehoun airport. Miles more developed than Monrovia’s airport, Cadjehoun has regimented lines with regimented passport agents sitting at actual, regimented desks behind actual, regimented plastic, with actual stamps, making actual, official, stamp-like sounds.

It’s a thin veneer.

Evidently passport confiscations are de rigeur here; my kindly, smiling, official-sounding passport agent conveniently “couldn’t find” my passport after she sent me aside to fill out an arrivals form (the first attempt being deemed subpar). She was sure she’d given it back to me. I must have just misplaced it.

My refusal to believe her led to a swift surrounding by three other very kindly and official-sounding passport agents, reminding me that—don’t you know?—they were police officers and would be sure to deal with me as police officers do, merci beaucoup. Thankfully, the bluster didn’t last long, and some well-placed obstreporousness aided the magical reappearance of my passport.

A little shaken, I got my hands on one of a number of freely-roaming luggage carts and settled into the throng of people waiting for suitcases. Apparently, I chose poorly, because, of all the passengers, with all their luggage carts, I was singled out.

“That’s my cart,” someone behind me said.

I saw no reason to believe him, and, admittedly, told him so.

“You use my cart, you pay me,” he protested.

This went on for a few parries, just long enough to settle the matter peaceably, without the exchange of either money or fisticuffs. But, unfortunately, also long enough to infuriate a thrice-as-large-as-me passenger from my flight (who, incidentally, happened to be friends with my armrest mate). He turned around, sheer anger on his face, took my two bags and proceeded to hurl them to the floor with as much force as he could muster (which was a lot).

As if this wasn’t dramatic enough, he then began screaming at me, his words mostly drowned out in the shower of spittle I found myself under. When he started pushing—hard—a small British nun in a grey habit stepped between us. For this, I’ll one day get to thank her.

After my erstwhile attacker had returned to his conversation with my erstwhile armrest antagonist, she turned to me, said, “They do things a little differently here,” and quickly disappeared into the throng.

Evidently.

Leaving Mopti for Timbuktu, Mali. Photo by Luis Dafos.

Why do this? Why dodge the near-blows of irate Beninese men? After all, we all have our share of near-miss travel stories. Is it simply wanderlust? Dopamine imbalance? An irrepressible search for better and better stories?

I think the answers are deeper. I volunteer for a humanitarian medical organization, as a surgeon on-board the world’s largest charity hospital ship and part of a crew of 400 strong that provides medical and surgical care to the populations of some of the poorest nations in the world. We come from all over the world, representing 35 countries, and we all come with that expressed purpose: to bring hope and healing to the world’s forgotten poor.

You think differently, act differently, and hope differently when you’ve experienced the world.

Travel has been in my blood for as long as I can remember, and all travel teaches you to look at the world differently. You order your Starbucks differently when you’ve been to coffee plantations. You watch movies differently when you’ve been to the countries they portray. You hear music differently when it evokes nostalgia for places you’ve been. You think differently, act differently, and hope differently when you’ve experienced the world.

But this sort of travel—this is singular. Entering into the world of another changes you more deeply than I could ever have imagined. I spent five months in 2008 aboard the same ship, in Liberia. I met patients with long-neglected tumors deforming their countenances beyond recognition. I met children with diseases which we in the West give no second thought to—but which, there, became near-certain death sentences. But I also met the smiles and the laughter and the hugs and the tears of people who were just as real, just as broken, and just as hopeful as any you would ever meet. Back then, I wrote this:

Their faces were fantastically deformed by Brobdingnagian tumors, scarred expressionless by burns, and bandaged beyond recognition. They jumped, shuffled, and shook, with their trachs, their crutches, their legs casted into immobility. They danced, amputated. They sang, voiceless. They smiled, scarred.

In the middle of all of us westerners who sheepishly ringed the edges, this was the church of the outcast, the shunned, the spurned, the grotesque. This was the congregation of the sideshow.

And it was beautiful.

So it was, for that beauty, that I found myself in Benin this year, saved only by the grace of a diminutive nun. And my first night back, standing on the top deck of the ship, watching the water and breathing the diesel-laden African air, I’d come home.

© Gretchen Wilson-Kalav for TravelBlogs, 2009. | Why We Travel: Mark Shrime’s Story | 3 comments |
Post categories: Articles
Post tags: Benin, medical volunteering, volunteer work, voluntourism, why we travel

I was conducting a voluntourism workshop not so long ago. Some participants were new to voluntourism and wanted to learn more, some were already semi-veterans of several volunteer tours of duty and wanted to learn how to “do-it-yourself” on a budget. But a couple of participants were rather disgruntled and unhappy former volunteers. They came to complain, though to no one in particular and voice their concerns.

They said they had followed all voluntouring instructions they’d read about to the letter and yet had been totally disappointed with their volunteering experiences. We sat down to chat after the workshop and one thing became immediately apparent. “Nobody told us that before,” they said. “If they had, maybe we would have enjoyed it more,” they said, “and maybe we would have chosen better.”

No, they did not end up with a crooked voluntour operator. Their provider arranged exactly what was promised. So what went wrong? Nothing really. Except for the participants’ initial choice of work.

One aspect of voluntouring that few, if any at all, prospective volunteers consider is thinking long and hard about the type of work they want to, or can, do.

One aspect of voluntouring that few, if any at all, prospective volunteers consider is thinking long and hard about the type of work they want to, or can, do. Let’s face it, working with homeless slum children sounds like fun, but it’s not for everyone. You’d need loads of patience. You’d need to be immune to sometimes very painful sights of human misery. You’d need to be prepared psychologically to deal with the after-effects this type of work will have on you. Because trust me, it will affect you in ways you can’t
even imagine right now.

So, let’s say you want to work with animals. A monkey sanctuary sounds exciting, doesn’t it? Not if you wear eyeglasses. The animals are sweet and cute and all that, but some of them like to snatch things. And that includes glasses. So bring a few extra pairs and don’t complain later on if they go missing. Or switch to contact lenses.

Big cats sound like fun too, right? But to work with them you’d need to be a calm, patient quiet person. There is a difference between an animal sanctuary and a zoo, and oddly enough, many volunteers are surprised when they find that out.

Can you handle backbreaking, physical labor? No? Then maybe volunteering on an organic farm cooperative or signing up for a construction project is not a good idea. And it might be an especially bad idea if you have back or joint problems.

Many prospective volunteers are so focused on finding an opportunity within their budgets (most volunteer placement services are ridiculously expensive) or are so set on going to their dream destinations (it’s Kenya or bust) that they tend to forget about another very important part of the process – selecting the right type of work for THEM.

What might have been just perfect for your cousin Larry or best friend Yvonne might be less than ideal for you. Yvonne might have majored in Early Education and taken classes in Psychology, and cousin Larry might be an unfulfilled biologist. You, on the other hand, may have a totally different set of skills and interests. Yet those skills and interests frequently go ignored when it comes to choosing a volunteer placement.

Unfortunately ignoring your skills and interests, as well as your psychological strengths and weaknesses, can (and will) mean the difference between an enjoyable voluntour and a month of hell.

So, if you are seriously thinking about doing good deeds and volunteering, please equally seriously consider details other than just your budget.

© Gretchen Wilson-Kalav for TravelBlogs, 2009. | Voluntourism: Choosing the Right Placement For You | 8 comments |
Post categories: Articles
Post tags: DIY voluntourism, volunteer work, volunteering, voluntourism

Find a need. Fill a need.

For many of us there comes a point in life, when you take pause, look around and realize we have it pretty good. It’s that moment when you discover that no matter how many points the Dow has dropped, or how high gas prices have become, we still live like kings and queens compared to a lot of people in the world. Then comes the wave of guilt, compassion, inspiration – whatever it is that moves a person to say: “ I want to do something. I, (insert full name here), want to make a difference.”

This is probably the biggest step: realizing that we can, even should, make a difference. But then, after that beautiful, humbling moment of self-realization where we decide YES (I am going to change the world!), comes the more complicated and often de-motivating, “how.” This step, as it turns out, is even more difficult than first.

After that beautiful, humbling moment of self-realization where we decide YES, comes the more complicated and often de-motivating, “how.”

Volunteering is a broad term. It can be as simple or complicated as you like. It can mean anything from picking up trash, to serving bread at a soup kitchen, to serving on the front lines for a country you love. You don’t have go anywhere to do it, but if you’re like me and would rather travel than stay home, the opportunities are endless.

From the first time I flew at the age of 3 and fell in love with my flight attendant, I have loved to travel, to see new places, and meet new people. However, the more I’ve traveled, the more I’ve been haunted by that motivating whisper to make a difference in this world. So one day, standing hip deep in the corporate world of sales and marketing, I decided the time had come. Despite a new promotion and other promising job offers, I quit. I left my job, and at the tender age of 30 years, joined an old college friend on 33’ sailboat adventure around the world.

I had never sailed a day in my life, but I had traveled, and I wanted this trip to be more than just vacation. So, days before I left, a friend and I designed a website. The idea was simple: I would raise money on my website-all of which would go towards needs I saw and projects I volunteered with along the way. Then through the website I would blog about everything. Through video, picture and word, I would raise awareness and hopefully money, and those giving could (literally) watch their dollars work.

It was sort of a pipe dream at the beginning, but contrary to many skeptics, it actually worked. And, a simple idea for grassroots humanitarian work has since moved past the bow of the boat. Money was raised and needs were met. Orphans were given clothing and supplies for school. Prisoners were given books to study and seeds to plant. We even raised enough money to buy one charming, less fortunate man a prosthetic leg and the doctor’s appointments to support it.

“Find a need. Fill a need.” Photo by Derek Turner.

Five tips to help you find volunteer opportunities

Still, how and where do you begin? There are needs everywhere, but it can be hard to know where to start. Fortunately, there is no one right answer, but I’ve learned a few things since I began:

1. Contact Before Contact: If you’ve never been to a place and would like to get involved, the best thing you can do is find someone who’s been. Ask around. Try to find a contact who is already plugged in. If you don’t mind letting someone else call the shots, there are a number of volunteer companies that can organize your entire trip. On occasion they’ll at least provide a name or email. Personally, I started with Facebook. Asking friends or friends of friends for advice, usually (or eventually) I found someone in the country I was headed for. Not only can they help you find a project, they can help find the bus station.

2. Watch and Learn: The more you know about a culture, the more you’ll understand their true needs. If you can, learn about the culture before you visit. Read about their history, their current situation. This will also help you relate to people you may not have much in common with. But even if you enter a country, without a contact or prior information, you’ll learn a lot just by watching.

3. Ask Around: As simple as it is, nothing has paid off for me more than this. It doesn’t take long to spot a malnourished boy or a girl with no shoes, but some problems are hidden. I knew there were children with needs in the Dominican Republic, I didn’t realize children had to meet certain uniform requirements to go to school. I also would have never learned about “Viejito” (the man without a leg), had I not simply asked around a community for people with need. Even the “Tourist Information” may be able to point you in the right direction.

4. Be Flexible (in action and idea): Even if you know the project beforehand, you may be asked to do something that to you seems unimportant. Be prepared to be insignificant. Not all jobs are glamorous and often times you will be behind the scenes where neither you nor your work are obvious… And that’s ok.

5. Be Cautious: Remember that in most places, especially those with heavy need, you will be viewed as wealthy. Compared to them, you are. There is a chance when you start offering help, you will be bombarded with requests. Use discretion. I always try to respectfully verify with a second or third, unrelated source.

You know that bumper sticker you see on the back of VW buses that says “Practice random acts of kindness”? Well I don’t have dreadlocks, and I’ve never lived in a commune, but I think it’s true. I’m convinced that most things in life are self-perpetuating, which is why when someone does something nice (or not nice) to us, we in turn are moved to also do something nice (…or not nice) to someone else. You might change the world. You might find and fill some need so vital it affects an entire culture. Or you might just hammer a nail that holds a humble home for someone who’s less fortunate. You might just buy a guy a sandwich. I’m not saying you quit your job, and live on a boat, not all of us can do that. But everyone can do something.

© Eric Daams for TravelBlogs, 2008. | How You Can Change the World Through Volunteer Work | 8 comments |
Post categories: Articles
Post tags: activisim, change the world, DIY voluntourism, volunteer work, volunteering, voluntourism

Anna Etmanska likes to do things a bit differently. While most of the world is off prefers such tried-and-true destinations as France, Italy or Thailand, Anna opts to spend her days in off-the-beaten track locations – like Bahrain, or far-north Sweden. And while many people are signing up for ready-made volunteer packages sold by voluntourism agencies, Anna likes to get out there and organise her own volunteer work.

In this interview, Anna talks about volunteering, writing, and her inspiration to travel.

When did you make your first big trip?

When I was 8 years old, my mother shipped me off to Sweden to see my dad, who lived there. It was supposed to be a Christmas surprise for him. But unbeknownst to us, he decided to come home for the holidays. So I spent xmas in Sweden in the home of kind strangers. It was fun, except I got chicken pox.

What inspires you to travel?

People. Magnificent vistas, great food, and architectural treasures are all good, but it’s the people I meet along the way that inspire me to learn, explore and travel more.

You’re currently living in Arctic Sweden. Earlier this year you travelled to Bhutan. What attracts you to these off-the-beaten-track destinations?

Everybody and their mother live in London or New York. And travel to Paris and Rome. Been there, done that. Though I must admit, Paris is fun.

You wrote an article in March about do-it-yourself voluntourism – the idea of volunteering without being part of an organised “voluntourism” tour. What are some advantages of organising your own volunteering opportunities?

Other than the obvious financial ones? I can find a myriad better uses for the money that organized volunteer programs charge you to work for free. Like buying books and school supplies for an Indian slum school, for example.

Apart from that, if you’re not happy with your locale, or the people, or the work, or the food, you lose nothing if you pack your bags and move to a beachside resort. Being on your own gives you the real feel for the place, not the sanitized, carefully prepared version that your voluntour packager feeds you (Yes, that’s what they do. I know because I worked for a few volunteering companies myself.)

Of course, there are also disadvantages to doing it yourself, and prospective volunteers need to be really sensible in determining which option suits them best.

It seems like one of the major obstacles to organising your own volunteer work is simply not knowing where to look. How do you find volunteer opportunities?

You’d be surprised how many of your friends, relatives, or co-workers will tell you that they indeed have connections in whatever country you think of heading to next.

I start by asking around at home. You’d be surprised how many of your friends, relatives, or co-workers will tell you that they indeed have connections in whatever country you think of heading to next. But they can’t read your mind and you have to ask them first.

I live in a university town, where there’s a large concentration of foreigners. Almost every week I meet someone whose friends or family run a school in Asia, or an organic farm in South America, or work with women’s issues in Africa. But you won’t know until you ask.

Volunteer in your hometown! Get involved with a local literacy group teaching English to freshly arrived refugees and immigrants and make friends. Before you know it, you’ll have a list of contacts in far off places to indulge your passion for volunteer work abroad.

Search ESL job listings. Many schools will say flat out they are looking for volunteers. And if teaching English is not your thing, keep in mind that teachers are excellent sources of information about their local communities. All you need to do is ask.

There are plenty more ways to find volunteer opportunities abroad, but these 3 should be a good start.

Your blog has helped you get opportunities to write for other publications, including Real Travel Magazine. When you started the blog, did you expect it could open up opportunities like that?

Nope. I was surprised to learn I had more than 11 readers.

And now, as the result of the blog, I have an e-book in the works. About DIY voluntourism, naturally.

As a writer, what appeals to you about travel writing?

The fact that even after the trip is over, you get to relive the experiences and while doing so you frequently discover insights that were not obviously apparent on the road.

Do you have any upcoming trips planned?

I’m going to Seoul in August for a month to study Korean. And later on this year, if everything goes as planned, I’m moving to Korea more or less permanently. With two cats in tow.

Check out Anna’s blog, Budget Trouble.

© Eric Daams for TravelBlogs, 2008. | Travel and Volunteer Differently: Interview with Anna Etmanska | No comment |
Post categories: Interviews
Post tags: DIY voluntourism, Sweden, travel writing, volunteering, voluntourism

How valuable are volunteer experiences? And who do they benefit the most: the volunteer or the community being served?

Brian Hermon has done his fair share of volunteering, from an early two-week experience in Costa Rica to longer-term projects in Tanzania, Vietnam, and now Ghana.

In this interview with TravelBlogs, Brian talks about the impact volunteering has had on his life, the work he is doing in Ghana, and some of the difficulties of life in Africa.

Tell us a bit more about the type of work you’re doing in Ghana.

In Ghana I am working to document the activities of the Ghana Accountability Circle over the past two years as well as to conduct a perception survey on NGO accountability. There is an impression in Ghana that NGOs tend to be more accountable to donors and government than to the communities and people that they purport to represent. The Circle has been addressing this accountability deficit by implementing strategies aimed at making Ghanaian NGOs more participatory and transparent. My responsibility has essentially been to assemble all the work they’ve done over the past few years into a report that can be used as a tool for other NGOs to learn from. I’m in the writing stage now, and after the program launches in May I will be working with the new partners on ways in which they can become more accountable to the people they serve.

How did you get this opportunity?

After finishing my undergraduate degree my intention was to spend a year abroad on a development internship before returning to do my masters. Upon graduation I was selected for an internship through Students Without Borders and I spent about 3 and a half months volunteering for an ecotourism NGO in Vietnam. As the internship was winding down I began littering Canadian sending organizations with my CV and eventually I was admitted into a program to work for a refugee organization in the Congo (DRC). However, the internship fell through as the security situation in the DRC worsened and while waiting for a re-posting I again began applying frantically for other opportunities. Thankfully VSO responded and here I am.

This is your second experience in Africa, after you volunteered for another NGO in Tanzania. How do the two countries compare?

Tanzania and Ghana are remarkably similar in terms of their status as the rocks of their respective regions. Both share borders with countries- Ghana with Cote D’Ivoire and nearby Liberia and Sierra Leone, and Tanzania with Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya- that have been home to some of the most brutal conflicts in the world over the past decade or so. Yet, both Ghana and Tanzania have been able to maintain a sense of stability and peace that is the envy of their neighbors. The other great similarity is in terms of the sociability of the people. Overall the people are very outgoing and friendly. I’ve come to Ghana alone but when I leave my house to go anywhere, especially when I sit down to have a beer somewhere, I’m almost always approached by someone who wants to chat. Ghanaians and Tanzanians are very curious people.

There’s an ongoing debate about whether volunteering experiences are of more benefit to the volunteer than to the actual community. As someone who has spent time volunteering, what is your take on this?

Even people who begin volunteering with such self-serving incentives in mind often find themselves so moved by the work they are doing, so absorbed by a newfound sense of purpose, that the experience becomes more meaningful then they could have imagined.

Yes, I’m sure that many volunteer experiences have simply been for self-serving purposes, however, I do not view the problem as endemic. The truth is that volunteering, especially at a young age, is very often about resume building – and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Young people especially often crave the chance to free themselves from theoretical shackles and get their hands dirty in practical experience. Certainly there are many who seek nothing more from their volunteer experience than a recommendation, and the hope is that most of these people are weeded out by the sending organization. But it is my experience that people who volunteer in developing countries do so out of a genuine commitment to positive change and not for self-interested motivations. Even people who begin volunteering with such self-serving incentives in mind often find themselves so moved by the work they are doing, so absorbed by a newfound sense of purpose, that the experience becomes more meaningful then they could have imagined. Along with the wealth of practical knowledge and skills that volunteers can offer communities it’s often their enthusiasm that benefits local people the most. New volunteers arrive with an energy and passion that is often lacking from long-time development workers who have, perhaps necessarily, become desensitized. I think that more often than not both the volunteer and the people that a project is seeking to help benefit mutually from the spirit of volunteerism.

What kind of impact did your first volunteer experience have on you?

When I was eighteen I volunteered briefly with Habitat for Humanity in Costa Rica and essentially spent two weeks digging pipe trenches, mixing cement and laying bricks. I was probably too young to really appreciate the experience and I hardly remember the details of my time there. I consider Tanzania to be my first real volunteer experience. The other volunteers whom I was working with and I spent our nights underneath the tarp of a massive army tent, sleeping on cots, surrounding by a mosquito net. We were about an hour and a half drive from any running water, electricity or food market; and in the afternoon we’d lay solar bags in the sun to have some semblance of a shower. During the day we walked a half hour to the work site where we helped Matumbo village build their first dispensary. After work we’d often walk to the sub-villages to meet with community leaders and try to motivate them to be more actively engaged in the project. The village was completely isolated in the Tanzanian interior and for many of the villagers we were the first white people they had ever seen in their lives. For the first time in Tanzania I saw problems of food and water scarcity, disease, and children being orphaned by HIV/AIDS in front of my eyes. Beyond the influence that the warmth and hospitality of the people of Matumbo had on me, I think that the biggest impact from Tanzania was a desire to be part of positive change no matter how small the role.

What have been some of the most challenging things about living in Ghana?

I don’t really find anything challenging about living in Ghana…which is essentially what I find challenging.

You mean besides almost being sideswiped by tro tros on my daily cycle to and from work? My answer is contradictory. I don’t really find anything challenging about living in Ghana…which is essentially what I find challenging. In complete contrast to the severe but beautiful isolation of Tanzania, life in Ghana, particularly because I live in Accra, is very connected. Yes, there are small challenges like having no running water and finding ways to eat healthy lest I turn into a carbohydrate. There is an internal challenge over the conflict of giving- the lingering guilt over turning down beggars, but the belief that charity may only fuel a dependency and promote an expectation of giving that is unsustainable. But what I find the most challenging is this fear that I have it too easy here. I realize this seems ridiculous to nitpick about- even more so in the African context as if to fault Ghana for being too developed- but I simply mean that I often miss the rugged and more testing environment that was my introduction to Africa in Tanzania. Now, having said that, I’m sure that I’ll contract malaria and be caught in a flood in the coming weeks!

How much opportunity have you had to travel around Ghana? What have been some of the highlights?

While I was conducting the perception survey I was able to travel throughout the Northern and Ashanti Regions of Ghana. After not leaving Accra during my first month I’ve now spent 7 of the past 9 weekends away spending time in almost all of Ghana’s 10 regions. Highlights so far have included the oldest standing slave trading forts in Africa located in Cape Coast and Elmina. The beautiful West African reggae music performed by the African Academy of Music in Krokrobite was also a highlight, as well the beautifully hidden waterfalls near Ho Hoe- the highest in West Africa. The North of Ghana is interesting because it is largely Muslim compared to the Christian South and the difference in culture is very prominent. After my placement ends in Mid-June my girlfriend and I will be traveling for a month and we plan to spend a few days in Mole National Park in the North of Ghana as well as in a hippopotamus and crocodile sanctuary. Following that we’re going to be traveling further North to Burkina Faso and then back South to Accra via Togo.

Check out Brian’s blog, The North West Territory, to read more about his experiences in Ghana.

© Eric Daams for TravelBlogs, 2008. | Volunteer Work in Ghana: Interview with Brian Hermon | 2 comments |
Post categories: Interviews
Post tags: activism, Africa, Ghana, living abroad, Tanzania, volunteering, voluntourism