Volunteers in Afrika

Für alle, die auf der Suche nach Volunteer-Work auf meinem Blog landen: Bitte lest euch diesen Artikel genau durch!

“[...]The study reveals that short-term volunteer projects can do more harm than good. Wealthy tourists prevent local workers from getting much-needed jobs, especially when they pay to volunteer; hard-pressed institutions waste time looking after them and money upgrading facilities; and abused or abandoned children form emotional attachments to the visitors, who increase their trauma by disappearing back home. “The more I delved into it, the more disturbing I found it,” said Amy Norman, one of the researchers.

[...] As the authors of this report point out, the harsh truth is that “voluntourism” is more about the self-fulfilment of westerners than the needs of developing nations.

[...] In Ghana, just as in South Africa and Cambodia, there has been a boom in unregistered orphanages. Last year, police investigated one after the rape of an eight-month-old boy and discovered 27 of the 32 children were not orphans. A government study found up to 90% of the estimated 4,500 children in orphanages had at least one parent and only eight of the 148 orphanages were licensed. Unicef officials said children’s welfare was secondary to profits and it is thought less than one-third of income goes on child care.

(http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/14/orphans-cambodia-aids-holidays-madonna)

~ von jannna am November 17, 2010.