Gap-year students told to forget aid projects

steven_ber

One of Britain’s leading charities has warned students not to take part in gap-year aid projects overseas which cost thousands of pounds and do nothing to help developing countries.

Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) said that gap-year volunteering, highlighted by Princes William and Harry, has spawned a new industry in which students pay thousands of pounds for prepackaged schemes to teach English or help to build wells in developing countries with little evidence that it benefits local communities.

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capt_mahajan

Almost identical story in Times of India Hyderabad today.

Judging by relatives' behaviour in the US, this gap year business is also done coz it looks good on a 'volunteer's' resume'

Valini

Thanks for posting that Steven, I hadn't seen it in the news.

It actually makes me quite sad to see that it is becoming another money making scheme or whatever. I took a GAP year in '97 and came to India for the first time.
I went with Gap Activity Projects, at the time it wasn't expensive, minimum fees and of course my own transport etc.

I came to Himachal Pradesh in a village between Narkanda and Thanedar, at that time, foreigners didn't stop, or at least were never seen. I taught English in a Mission school. The school I was in suffered a huge loss of teachers for various reasons. I ended up taking many classes non stop and building excellent relations with the students, many of whom I am still in contact with now 10 years later. I wouldn't consider that my presence was not useful; on the contrary. Of course I am biased, but based upon the feedback from locals, the teachers, students and parents I think my time there was much appreciated.

Personally, taking a GAP year was the best choice I could have made. It gave me the opportunity to see another world, the wonderful world that is India as all IMers know and love, or are about to discover. I met some wonderful people, saw some amazing things, and truly believe I helped the kids, and gave them a little something, as they in turn, gave so much to me.

I have always considered my year in India on my GAP year to be the most rewarding experience I've had, and still talk glowingly of the experience. I would recommend to any 18yrs old to go see the world, do something useful before getting tied down with debt and stress that comes with adult life.
There are ways to do so without spending thousands of pounds.

I must also add that, yes I did put that on my CV of course, and it really didn't do any harm!! It may raise a few eyebrows, especially in France where sabbaticals are not common, but it really was a point of discussion and showed not only that at age 18 I had (dare I say it ) - guts, to go out into a different culture all alone, but many other qualities certain employers search for. It may not always help a CV but I don't think it will ever hinder one either.

Any other people taken a GAP year? Here did you go? WHat did you do?

dzibead

You got that right. Eons ago, I was an academic adviser in the Dean's Office of a major U.S. university. Sadly, I discovered that almost every "extracurricular activity" that students were involved in was done because they thought it would "look good" on their resume for graduate school/medical school/law school admission. When I would run across a student who actually did something out of genuine interest, I would practically have a heart attack.

incitatus

I read an item in one of the UK broadsheets last year where someone who had spent a couple of thousand pounds volunteering for relief work in Sri Lanka found himself being detailed to clear the rubble of a house destroyed by the tsunami.
He and his fellow volunteers noticed another crew a few hundred yards down the beach clearing another site with a bulldozer.
It turned out that the bulldozer crew was a Government outfit which was due to be clearing the site the volunteers were working on a few days later!
It turned out the agency had no real work for untrained volunteers but wasn't willing to turn away the opportunity of making a quick profit from well meaning idiots.

blackbird

Surely it's a case of some of the schemes being good, others not so good and others crooked... not really all that surprising. I think it's great that VSO has highlighted this because sometimes people who want to "do good" can be very naive and unquestioning.

I suspect that the supply of gap year volunteers may be greater than the actual need in developing countries for unskilled 18 year olds from privileged backgrounds....

A lot of charitable works the world over are more for the benefit of rich people's consciences than meeting an actual need.... however that does not invalidate charitable work altogether.

capt_mahajan

Generally speaking, I would stay away from any organisation which charges you for volunteering.

And volunteers are a mixed bag. I have seen four at close quarters..two we used were only interested in using the facility for free accomodation and food, one was interested in exporting fabric, and one worked harder (and was better) than any of us.

wonderwomanusa

That kind of answers my question about why some young people head for India to do volunteer work that they could just as easily be doing in their own countries!

Of course, I don't have to deal with what looks good on my resume, since I'm the boss of my outfit! So I do my volunteer work at home ... where I have no problems talking with the folks for whose benefit I'm volunteering.

dzibead

I'm in exactly the same position! Saves on air fare, too.

Aishah

This is an interesting article. There are many NGO's formed in India where the express purpose is to make money for the person forming it. A small amount will go to the 'good cause' but a huge amount is going into the pocket of the person who instigated the NGO. I can appreciate the sentiments in this article - unfortunately, it will also prejudice against those genuine NGO's. In many cases, a lot of money is being paid by the young people for accommodation and food, far in excess of what is the normal amount and this is where discrepancies lie.

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brownboy66

Good article Steve. Must be a significant issue if an organisation such as VSO is willing to go public on it.

Having worked in government for a couple of years as a budget manager on bilateral and multilateral aid programmes back home, I can appreciate where VSO is coming from. There are a number of very good NGOs out there, and the fact that people want to volunteer is great. Sometimes it just seems there are more volunteers than projects to go around, or the work isn't particularly well focussed.

federica

The problem is to bring a volunteer and the appropriate NGO together. Shouldn't be a problem for someone looking sincerely for a place to "do something good" and use their skills. Some internet research can be quite successful, but it needs some time. Paying for volunteering is a kind of abuse for me... and people who do it just to upgrade their CV are abusive, too.

I am also (part time) volunteering in Germany, but I'd like to defend people who want to do this abroad. Sometimes it is easier in another country with all the adventure around. Especially when you are in socially demanding projects. Why? No idea, just personal experience. Maybe it is a kind of natural distance.

So I wouldn't mind a volunteer exchange... Indians volunteering in social projects in Europe and vice versa... why not? Brings fresh ideas

sirensongs

I admit, I did not read the article. But, I have always been dead set against pay-to-volunteer projects. There are so, so many worthy projects that do not require you to pay anything except perhaps your own room/board which you would pay anyway while travelling. And I have heard countless stories about paid/"donating" volunteers who saw the whole facade fall apart around them....the project/orphanage/school was all a scam for the organizers.

Volunteering is great...I see no reason to pay for the privilege.

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happysnapper999

VSO are right. I spent several days visiting at an orphanage run by Father James in Kerala. He had three English girls volunteering there through an agency in the UK. The three girls had each paid several thousand pounds to the agency (I forget the name unfortunately) to be able to work there for six months, of which Father James received around £100 each. It made me feel quite sick.

Nick-H

I'd like to defend those who want to volunteer abroad too. There is no reason that the volunteering should not suit the volunteer too, and there is the matter of killing multiple birds with one stone too.

On a related point...

It may look mean (and it feels mean too, sometimes) but the reason that this site is so disinclined to accept posts from charities is that it is so hard to separate the good, the not so good, and the crooked (as Blackbird puts it). It leaves us little alternative but to treat them all as commercial entities.

Sad, but...

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