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| "Karla, volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in Tajikistan" Copyright © Creative Learning, All Rights Reserved |
SO YOU MAY KNOW
"Moving through the World with Grace" as a Voluntourist
From The Publisher
In a former life, I spent nearly a decade waiting tables, primarily in Williamsburg, Virginia, and La Jolla, California. More than ten thousand people crossed my path during that period, in one-to-three-hour intervals. Most were ordinary folks like you and me. Some were dignitaries – princes and princesses, dukes and duchesses. Others were political figures. Still others were sports figures; and, some, Hollywood stars. But one singular event stands out in my memory and that was an encounter with Ms. Oprah Winfrey. I would like to share that experience with you as we kick off what promises to be a lesson-packed 2012 for VolunTourism.
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FEATURE ARTICLE 1
Volunteering The HARD Way
By Tony James Slater
I've done quite a bit of volunteering over the last six years in places as diverse as England, Thailand, Ecuador and Australia. People often tell me that they've always wanted to volunteer, and they ask me for tips on how to go about it. I’d like to say ‘DON’T get emotionally attached to the animals, or to the other volunteers’ - but I’d be wasting my breath. I never managed it myself; the hardest part of every voluntary project I’ve visited is leaving. If anyone has figured out the answer to this one, please let me know! Putting that aside, maybe the easiest way to give you tips on volunteering is to tell you about "volunteering the HARD way."
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FEATURE ARTICLE 2
2012 for Voluntourism: What Can We Expect in the Year Ahead?
By David Clemmons
The travel soothsayers have offered some of their predictions for 2012 - what we can expect, where people might go in terms of "hottest destinations," etc. Voluntourism continues to be woven into these lists; thus far, 2012 looks to be the year of "athletic voluntourism." Travelers will pit themselves against athletic challenges, volunteer their time to accomplish these feats, and raise money for worthy causes. Sounds like a winning combination and a solid pick given the concentration on the London Olympics later this year. Yet, this is only a small part of what we are likely to see from voluntourism in the year ahead.
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UnXpected
Your Letters To VolunTourism.org
Thank you for your letters, questions, and comments to VolunTourism.org. For this issue, we offer answers to queries on meetings & conventions and voluntourism, the growth of voluntourism, statistics on who voluntourists are, and how an eco-lodge can engage voluntourists to assist in providing English language lessons for staff and the surrounding community. Read More>>>
Wisdom & Insight
Voluntourism in the Classroom
Emilie Crossley, ESRC funded PhD student in the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University, UK
During the course of my PhD I have presented my research to many academics, professors, and experts in the field of Tourism Studies, but recently I shared my work with a very different audience for the first time: A Level students! In this column I would like to share my experience of bringing voluntourism research into classrooms, consider how this affected the analysis of my data, and think about the challenge of fostering critical pedagogies in voluntourism. Read More>>>
VT-Lines
Is Voluntourism Changing the Landscape of Global Volunteerism?
With the publication of the United Nations State of the World's Volunteerism Report coming out during this most recent quarter, some may have been surprised to see "voluntourism" included as one of three emerging trends. Although it is too early to tell what the overall, long-term impact of voluntourism will be on volunteerism around the world, one thing is certain: the controversial nature of voluntourism will gain more attention from a broader audience as a result. Read More>>
3-Q's
A Commitment to Voluntourism in the Muslim World from America's Unofficial Ambassadors
The Arab Spring has captured the attention of billions around the world. It has put the Arab and Muslim Worlds, respectively, in the media spotlight on unprecedented levels. For Americans who have been drawn to explore the Muslim culture through this process and who are likewise interested in volunteering in the Muslim World, America's Unofficial Ambassadors (AUA) serves as a vehicle for making this possible. As AUA is planning to send a group of voluntourists to Jordan in 2012, I caught up with their Director, Benjamin Orbach, and author of Live from Jordan: Letters Home from My Journey through the Middle East, for this issue of The VolunTourist Newsletter to answer our 3Qs. Read More>>>
Supply Chain with Nola Lee Kelsey
WFFT Voluntourists Respond to Thailand's Floods by Supporting Displaced Animals
Imagination works in the most peculiar ways. I cannot say why I thought of Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) as being a small facility or being located near the heart of the beach community of Cha-am. Nor do I know why I assumed that they would be more concrete and cages than sprawling naturalistic habitats. I was wrong on all counts.
As most people know by now, in mid October flood waters began making their way towards Bangkok, Thailand decimating everything in their path. Ancient World Heritage Sites or modern housing projects, it made no difference. While most of the world was focused on the human toll, a few small rescue organizations from across Thailand stepped up for the animals. Soon the call went out for "dog-savvy" volunteers. Before I knew it, I was 650 km south of my Chiang Mai home, standing in WFFT's volunteer headquarters, getting an inside look at just how far astray my imagination had led me. So for this reason, I have chosen this issue of The VolunTourist Newsletter to introduce Supply Chain readers to what I previously missed, a true sanctuary for animals. Read More>>>
Study & Research with Dr. Nancy McGehee
From Indianapolis to the Acropolis: A Case Study in Greece Voluntourism with the University of Indianapolis
For this issue of the research forum section of The VolunTourist Newsletter, we are pleased to share some of our own work. In the Spring of 2011, Dr. Nancy Gard McGehee traveled to New Zealand in order to work on a research project with Dr. Anne Zahra of the University of Waikato. Anne has over twenty years experience with an NGO in the Philippines, and wished to combine that with Nancy’s efforts to develop a theoretical framework for volunteer tourism. Together, they explored the relationship between volunteer tourism and community capital in the context of several communities in the Philippines. A brief synopsis of the study is written below which targets the findings related to social capital. The full article is currently under review, so – hopefully – it will be available soon! Read More>>>
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