This document discusses issues with voluntourism and the "white savior complex". It defines voluntourism as a form of tourism where travelers do voluntary work, often for charities. However, this can cause problems such as jobs going to unskilled short-term volunteers instead of locals and money being spent on travel instead of donations. The "white savior complex" refers to white people who volunteer to help non-white people in a way that is perceived as self-serving rather than for the benefit of those being helped. Examples are given of problematic voluntourism projects and organizations. The document encourages considering who benefits most from such projects - often the volunteer gains more than the community being served.

1. To Hell with
Mission Trips
Earlham College
Pablo Rios-Cruz,Alexis Warren,
Canela González

2. Objectives
- Define volunteering
- Personal experiences
- Voluntourism
- The White Savior Complex
- Examples
- Activity
- Things to Consider
- Questions

3. To Hell with
Good Intentions
Ivan Illich
- A Croatian-Austrian philosopher
- Critic of the institutions of modern
Western culture
3

4. Define Volunteering
Volunteering is described
as an unpaid activity
where someone gives
their time to help a
not-for-profit
organization or an
individual who they are
not related to.

5. Personal Experience
Questions to consider:
1. How did you feel before going to the country? After?
2. What did you gain from the experience?
3. What did the locals gain from the experience?

6. Voluntourism
/ˌvälənˈto͝ orizəm/
noun
A form of tourism in which
travelers participate in voluntary
work, typically for a charity

7. Issues with voluntourism:
Jobs that could have gone to locals are given to tourists for the short term
Money that could have been donated is instead spent on flying out to do
a few days or weeks worth of work
Tourists are often unskilled, unprepared
Projects tend to be superficial and unsustainable
- i.e. building a school does not improve the institution of education

8. $2,000,000,000The amount of money spent by 1.6 million volunteer tourists in 2014

9. First World vs. Third World
First World
AKA:
The Global North, The
West, developed
countries
Third World
AKA:
The Global South,
developing countries,
“shithole countries”
This dichotomy creates a hierarchy, placing certain countries as the end
goal/golden standard
This ignores the importance of cultural, linguistic, and/or historical difference

11. “The White
Savior Complex
Refers to white people who
volunteer their time to help
non-white people and is
perceived as self-serving

12. History and Evolution of the Phrase:
Roots in colonization:
The White Man’s Burden
The need to ‘civilize’ the ‘savage’ and ‘barbaric’ ‘Other’
In practice, this meant stripping people of their rights and
resources
The need to develop
Further deprivation of rights and resources

13. Shift to White Woman’s Burden
Assumption of many young white women from the
Global North that they possess the knowledge and
obligation to ‘save’ those in the Global South

17. What’s the problem?
In an attempt to civilize, uplift, aid, and save the helpless and oppressed
‘Other,’ the volunteer themself becomes secured as the source of these gifts
Terms such as: “mini-mission,” “charity,” “community service,” and
“servant-leadership” perpetuate an image of a feminized, childlike global
South passively waiting for (white, Western) assistance

18. Despite decades of independence, this narrative results in a ‘colonization of
the mind,’ wherein whiteness is associated with progress, power, and higher
status
White, upper-class volunteers are securing their innocence, but in the same
moment they are reasserting Western dominance
There is limited evidence of any long-term benefits of volunteer work in the
global South, however there is quite a lot of emphasis on the transformative
experiences of the volunteers

20. Real World Examples
Renee Bach
● Mission trip led to starting
NGO in Uganda
● Practiced medicine with no
education or background
● Over the course of 5 years
took in 940 children, 105 died

21. Goshen College StudyAbroad
● Called a study-service term
(SST)
● Emphasize that their destinations
are all in ‘third world’ countries
● Buzzfeed style quiz to help
students decide destination

22. Mother Teresa
● Many of those that she served were
converted to Christianity
● Image of the white woman in the
colonies saving brown peoples from
their own temptations and failures
● Criticized for taking advantage of the
poor as a way to spread Roman
Catholic beliefs
“There is something beautiful in
seeing the poor accept their lot, to
suffer it like Christ’s passion.”

23. ProjectsAbroad

24. Activity
Time
Man-power (often unskilled labor)
Resources/money
Friendship
Knowledge/skills
False hope
Experience (hands-on)
“Fulfillment”
Connection to academics
Travel/vacation
Cultural competency/perspective
References/resume boost
Social capital/prestige
Knowledge/skills
Academic credit
Marketing
Self gratification
Opportunity
Service site/a need to be filled
Access/privacy
Housing and food
Time and resources
Trust/patience
Experience/knowledge/expertise
Income
Friendship
Time spent training
Stories/mental energy
Resources
A thriving business/economy
Convenience
Perspective
Money
Friendship
The volunteer
gains the most
The host gives
the most

25. Things to Consider
Are you personally making an impact at your service site?
- Are you influencing your site positively or negatively?
Make sure you know the history of the community and site you serve
- Despite good intentions, is this space meant for you?
Going forward, be intentional in your work and aware of your impact
Have this discussion with your own Bonner Program!

26. ‘The white woman's burden’ – the racialized, gendered politics of
volunteer tourism
- Ranjan Bandyopadhyay & Vrushali Patil
As 'Voluntourism' Explodes In Popularity, Who's It Helping Most?
- Carrie Kahn (NPR)
American With No Medical Training Ran Center For Malnourished
Ugandan Kids. 105 Died
- Nurith Aizenman, Malaka Gharib (NPR)
Sources:

27. Study-Service Term
- Goshen College (https://www.goshen.edu/sst/)
Barbie Savior
- https://www.instagram.com/barbiesavior/
Projects Abroad
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUZyMejyTz8

28. THANK YOU!
Any questions?
If you have any additional questions or comments, please feel free
to contact us at cpgonza15@earlham.edu