"Just one of the faces encountered through voluntourism" Copyright © Ken Budd, All Rights Reserved

UnXpected

David Clemmons, Publisher/Editor of The VolunTourist, responds to some of your questions and emails. (Additional questions and responses are posted on the VolunTourism.org Blog)

Volume 7, Issue 4 Reader Comments & Other Mail

HI,

We are planning to develop Volun Tourism in our country and we are looking for suitable partner from EU country that could come in Croatia and help us. We are developing IPA project in partnership with Montenegro so the cost will be covered.
Could you help us with suggesting partner who has experience with Volun Tourism in EU?

Than(k)s in advance

--
Dana Jurman
Association Mi
Croatia

Dear Dana,

I would recommend connecting with some of the voluntourism providers in the UK. There are a number of entities such as Hands Up Holidays, People and Places, and Madventurer who might be a good fit for your organization. You can also reach out to some of the academics in the UK who cover volunteer tourism research - Angela Benson at Brighton, Anna Mdee at Bradford University, and Steven Jackson at Southampton Solent University, just to name a few.

Hope this helps.

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"Other faces encountered through voluntourism" Copyright © Ken Budd, All Rights Reserved

Hello,

I am writing on behalf of ChangeStream Media, a nonprofit dedicated to producing media with worldwide grassroots organizations and entrepreneurial projects. We've recently put together some packages and projects for voluntourists in Cambodia and Latin America. Our aim is to provide travelers with the necessary tools to connect with the communities they are visiting through media and art. You can find more information about these packages here. 

Would you be interested in sharing these opportunities with your readers? I am happy to provide you with any information, photos or videos you may need.

Thanks so much for your time, and let me know if you have any questions.

Laura Brewer
ChangeStream Media
Social Media Manager

Dear Laura,

Thank you for your email.

Good to hear that there are other folks out there connected to art and media in the voluntourism space.

If you haven't done so already, I suggest that you reach out to the folks at Video Volunteers or Crista Carra Shatz to see what she is doing in relation to art and voluntourism. Sometimes these individuals have insights into your particular type of voluntourism and may be willing to share ideas or even collaborate with you to help in sharing what both parties are involved in.

Hope this helps.

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"Ocean view, indeed!" Copyright © Ken Budd, All Rights Reserved

Hi,

I wonder if you could advise me?

I have investigated WWOOFING (Willing Workers on Organic Farms).
But I have ascertained that, due to the factors below, I cannot join them, and I wonder if you know an alternative:
1. their fees are annual, and I may be in each Wwoofing territory for weeks only, therefore a waste of money.
2. there seems to be no central control station, so it appears it would be tedious dealing with dozens of Wwoofing sub-organisations all over, which talk to one another sometimes, depending.
3. the sub-organisations require temporary immigrant status in some nations, adding to cost and difficulty of meeting their requirements, it seems.
4. Wwoofing appears to be limited geographically, in that only some localities in some nations are covered, leaving huge gaps in the map.

So, although I like the idea of Wwoofing for many reasons, I need to find something else
which:

1. is like CouchSurfing in that you have one profile and send out requests to whoever, wherever in the world; 2. has security/safety in place to help protect members from abuse/ exploitation; 3. has an email forwarder system so one gets notifications to their email address if a message is sent; 4. is centrally managed, to make it easier to engage with; 5. allows for shorter memberships so that people can come/go at will; 6. allows people to contribute to the world in a meaningful way, just as Wwoofing does.

Also, where can I find info on any costs; I want no surprises. To be honest, if I am giving my time and effort combined with my professional skills, I would be loathe to pay as well.

Do you have a solution? What would you suggest? Do you know another organisation?

Regards,

"Voluntouring in Palestine." Copyright © Ken Budd, All Rights Reserved

Alastair

Alastair,

Thanks for this email - a robust one at that.

A couple of items. First, I do not think you are looking for voluntourism, as it sounds like what you are truly seeking is a free (all-expenses-paid-in-the-destination) volunteer experience. Traveling in a given area and exposing yourself to the sites, art, culture, geography, history, and recreation of the space, sounds like something that you would handle separately, on your own.

Second, and this will likely come as no surprise, volunteering is not free. Certainly two and three week stints come with a price to an organization. Will that organization feel as though it is benefiting from what you may offer in that short timeframe, regardless of your skill level, based on the expenditure the organization has to put forth to host you - accommodations, food & beverage, transportation, translation (if necessary)?

In terms of a website or service that provides what you have listed above, this does not yet exist, at least to my knowledge. It may be developed in the future, but at present, WWOOFing is the option of choice. There are other sites which provide volunteer options at farms in the United States (http://www.farmstayus.com), for example, witout a membership fee, but this service does not cross the globe.

There are articles which you can find around the web to introduce you to free options, but what you are seeking is something that would require some real funding for maintenance, updates, etc. Not likely to be free, unless entities which have their information posted would agree to cover all of the costs related to this. In this economy, I would not expect to find such a service.

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Copyright © Ken Budd, All Rights Reserved

Dear David Clemmons,

My name is Liga Žagata and I am a student from Latvia. Right now I am writing my diploma paper about voluntourism. I would like to ask -maybe you know where can I get information about trends in voluntourism industry (statistics etc.)?

Best regards,

Liga

Dear Liga,

Presently, we know very little about the voluntourism industry. Certainly there are some statistics which you can find, mostly from 2008 and 2009, but very little has been produced over the last couple of years.

The voluntourism industry is constantly changing, but because there is little agreement as to what exactly constitutes the voluntourism industry, statistics are in small supply. Quantitative data is difficult to acquire from the industry itself, but, occasionally, you will find an article or two which will speak to one entity's experience of, say, an increase in the number of voluntourists it has hosted year-on-year. But nothing regarding the industry as a whole.

Wish I could be of more help to you.

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