Volunteering in Africa

Sh1tbag OToole

I don't know if I'm being overly cynical here but when I hear of people going to Africa to volunteer I think of Gap Yahs. Rich kids being transposed onto a relatively safe and Westernised place to do work that doesn't really need to be done so they can have a holiday while pretending they're not on holidays.

Here's what usually happens:
*Building homes that will be scrapped by the locals soon after, so the next batch of volunteers can rebuild them.
*Doing farming work in small doses with handheld tools just for funsies on a tiny patch of ground set aside for the purpose
*"Teaching" disinterested kids stuff they already know
*Massive parties with other volunteers
*Shagging other volunteers - This is the biggie that entices the crowds to go over in the first place
*Paying some Western guy 3,000 quid to go over - This makes it a giveaway that the whole thing is a scam
*While you're out in the backarse of some supposedly impoverished place supposedly trying to help out a lad with a plane shows up out of nowhere and invites everyone to go skydiving, whoop dee f*cking doo!

Are there any Europeans besides qualified medical staff going over to help out with the ould ebola doing meaningful work there that actually helps the locals or is it all for the volunteer's benefit and the benefit of the lad organising the 3,000 euro trips?

uck51js9zml2yt

Friends of mine are out in Africa the last 20 years and have built both a primary and secondary school. Are on the government education committee setting the syllabus for the countries children and providing sustainable training and jobs to their neighbours.

Sir Osis of Liver.

Thought I might volunteer to go out clearing Landmines in one of those war-torn African places.

Shouldn't cost an arm and a leg.

nullzero

Wandering around shanty towns standing out like sore thumbs in some hipster get up that's trying to emulate a live aid Era Bob Geldof. Feigning empathy for people who at home they would typically threaten with a solicitors letter should they come within touching distance of them.
Coming home and being at pains to inform everybody of the perspective your experience over there has given you before you go off to work in Daddys business and make lioke shed loads of cash and sh1t

StupidLikeAFox

Ive no problem with people doing it

I draw the line when you are volunteering for 2 weeks and you are fundraising for the cost of your trip. I would rather fund a charity, not your personal experiences thank you

Tombi!

I would imagine it depends on who you volunteer with.
Without a doubt, I'll say that there are definitely "charities" that are nothing more than businesses exploiting people both native Africans and non-natives going over to help.
I'll also say there are definitely the "doing it for the fame" type of people that go over to come back a few months later to talk about the hardships they faced and probably couldn't give you a memory of a name of one of the native folks over there.

purplecow1977

StupidLikeAFox wrote:

I draw the line when you are volunteering for 2 weeks and you are fundraising for the cost of your trip. I would rather fund a charity, not your personal experiences thank you

I volunteered in Eastern Europe.
We were told to fundraise for the whole amount to raise as much awareness as possible.
I think most of us paid our own way for the trip regardless.


I take great offence from people thinking it's some rich kids heading off.
I don't come from a wealthy family and it was just something I stumbled upon after college.

I have plenty of empathy for the needy far and near but the needy in Eastern Europe were ten times more in need of some attention than needy I saw here. I give what I can to charities at home too.

purplecow1977

What a patronising comment to make to the hundreds of irish people who do fantastic work abroad.

My daddy is a small farmer. No shed loads of cash for me. And what's the problem with relating my experiences on my return? That's usually how awareness is made. I'd bet my friends family and colleagues had never heard of the charity I went with until I got involved in various fundraising initiatives so that in itself helps to raise awareness.

There are tonnes of other tales on social media I'd find issue with before someone's volunteering experiences!!

Nucular Arms

I've never really seen it like that myself in practice though. I considered doing it at one point in college as I had previously volunteered with the hardware side of a non profit who reclaim discarded pc's and re-purpose them for distribution to schools over there.

I considered going over to help build localised network infrastructure for a village that had been a part of the previous hardware deployment program. Something that is kind of trivial over here like setting up a server and installing some off the shell educational software is far more valuable in that kind of context.

I had, in the interim, done a summer internship working in an Irish semi state which I found to be incredibly boring and s**t.

People are (understandably) busy over here and don't reeeally have all that much time for fluting about managing interns so you end up getting sidelined, or at least that was my experience.

I didn't in the end but I still think it would have been a much more interesting summer spent than three months spent trying to read the news and look busy in an office over here.

Now that you mention it though, I kind of remember not getting a great feeling about my potential travel companions for some reason when I was first prepping for it so who knows?!

darkpagandeath

Tombi! wrote: »

I would imagine it depends on who you volunteer with.
Without a doubt, I'll say that there are definitely "charities" that are nothing more than businesses exploiting people both native Africans and non-natives going over to help.
I'll also say there are definitely the "doing it for the fame" type of people that go over to come back a few months later to talk about the hardships they faced and probably couldn't give you a memory of a name of one of the native folks over there.

Yeah some of these places love when the big charities turn up and start buying all the land rovers and staying in the hotels. We have chucked enough Money at Africa at this stage.

The_Valeyard

Done IT, medical and educational work in africa. Paid for own flights, accom and food.. All funding went on supplies. Did a lot of good work. Took own time off work for it. Life experience and valuable lesson on how the other half live. Makes you appreciate what you have and diaguted and ashamed of what we deny others.

StupidLikeAFox

purplecow1977 wrote: »

I volunteered in Eastern Europe.
We were told to fundraise for the whole amount to raise as much awareness as possible.
I think most of us paid our own way for the trip regardless.
.

Hey, I didn't mean to have a go, but I think the bolded but is the crucial part.

I donated to a school friend who went to Africa to volunteer. She raised in the region of 5k, got a two week trip and only had to work something like 4 hrs per day - she also didnt pay a penny towards it herself, all money was handed over to the "charity"/tour company. She went on safaris etc and by all accounts had a great time with a bunch of like minded westerners. I felt like my donation was wasted tbh

Captain Slow IRL

I've seen both sides of it; the genuine do-gooder and the rich wanker that's only going over for a sun holiday.

Talking to the do-gooder, I regret not doing something like it when I was single and had no ties to this country; it's inspiring listening to some of the stories he has. He did it immediately after college, a good few years back; he's back in Ireland full-time now but still does a lot of work for the villages he helped out.

Tombi!

darkpagandeath wrote: »

Yeah some of these places love when the big charities turn up and start buying all the land rovers and staying in the hotels. We have chucked enough Money at Africa at this stage.

I'd say just monitor it better.

darkpagandeath

Tombi! wrote: »

I'd say just monitor it better.

Oh I agree whole heartedly, But some of these places have become dependant and the Charity's are doing more harm than good.

purplecow1977

Isn't 4 hours per day for 2 weeks better than nothing?
I'm sure a lot of the money went towards funding outside of those two weeks.
Some charities take the pee but if people do their research they'll generally get a decent idea of what the charity is like.

Tombi!

darkpagandeath wrote: »

Oh I agree whole heartedly, But some of these places have become dependant and the Charity's are doing more harm than good.

Ah definitely. Businesses are settling in there with good money making . cheap enough to get things done. Then couple it in with the idiots who think "we need to live in a five star hotel to help the people since we've got money" and well, you've got an easy money maker.

It's funny when you think about it. "Oh I want to help the poor Africans" really means "I want to go on a holiday, spend some time rubbing the kids' hair and telling them they're special and then go home and brag about how we helped".

purplecow1977

Tombi! wrote:

It's funny when you think about it. "Oh I want to help the poor Africans" really means "I want to go on a holiday, spend some time rubbing the kids' hair and telling them they're special and then go home and brag about how we helped".

Why the need to be so patronising?
I find it quite offensive.
There may exist one person like the one you've described but I could tell you about 10 people who do such good things for charity.

LizT

I have an awful lot of admiration for the genuine volunteers who go out to help in Africa. I know personally of some people who have genuinely put their own lives at risk to care for the people out there. And not just to have a story to tell when they get home

It's a shame their generosity gets overshadowed by claims of charities doing more harm than good (which I'm sure occurs).

Tombi!

purplecow1977 wrote: »

Why the need to be so patronising?
I find it quite offensive.
There may exist one person like the one you've described but I could tell you about 10 people who do such good things for charity.

Because it's true.
I never stated all or even most of are like that. I didn't actually state that there are good people who do it. Fair enough, you could assume I'm saying that most, or all, people going are just doing it to tell a story.

I don't think that all. I think that some people do it for the benefit to tell a story.

I know that many, many more people help out in many areas that need help badly. They don't do it for the heroism story. They do it for whatever reason.

I didn't mean to come across as patronising at all to all people who help out; I'm sorry if I did.

Mr_Muffin

It makes for some great Facebook pics. Them Africans sure do have nice teeth.

purplecow1977

Apology accepted.
Maybe I'm sure very sensitive because I think of the group I went with and have various experiences related to that
I went two years in a row but they've cancelled the volunteer programme in recent years because numbers were drastically down.
Personally for me, fundraising became too difficult

darkpagandeath

LizT wrote: »

I have an awful lot of admiration for the genuine volunteers who go out to help in Africa. I know personally of some people who have genuinely put their own lives at risk to care for the people out there. And not just to have a story to tell when they get home

It's a shame their generosity gets overshadowed by claims of charities doing more harm than good (which I'm sure occurs).

Charity's cannot fix Africa, The African people are the only ones that can. And keeping areas/people dependant on Aid be it money or help or infrastructure is not helping.

LizT

I know, teach a man to fish and all that...

But what do you suggest? Remove the aid and let them fend for themselves?

purplecow1977

darkpagandeath wrote:

Charity's cannot fix Africa, The African people are the only ones that can. And keeping areas/people dependant on Aid be it money or help or infrastructure is not helping.

I agree in a way but I'd rather try and do a little bit of good than sit back and think "well they can really only help themselves"!!

Tombi!

darkpagandeath wrote: »

Charity's cannot fix Africa, The African people are the only ones that can. And keeping areas/people dependant on Aid be it money or help or infrastructure is not helping.

I think you're going a bit far.
I agree that there are issues in Africa that needs to be fixed internally and no amount of external help can do it.
But to say only Afircans can fix it is a stretch. I'll play Devil's Advocate for a moment.
Let's say we never tried to help any area, at all.

Where'd the world end up?

darkpagandeath

Tombi! wrote: »

I think you're going a bit far.
I agree that there are issues in Africa that needs to be fixed internally and no amount of external help can do it.
But to say only Afircans can fix it is a stretch. I'll play Devil's Advocate for a moment.
Let's say we never tried to help any area, at all.

Where'd the world end up?

We don't really know, If charity's had never gone over in the first place they could have hit rock bottom and then started to rebuild themselves. Just think of how long Charity's have been involved in Africa.

Helping is a noble idea I'm not trying to detract from that.

Tombi!

darkpagandeath wrote: »

We don't really know, If charity's had never gone over in the first place they could have hit rock bottom and then started to rebuild themselves. Just think of how long Charity's have been involved in Africa.

You do realize Africa is an actual giant area, yes? It's like saying "we tried helping Europe but it didn't work".

Not all of Africa is actually a horrible place.

To put it in perspective. India is part of Asia. Japan is part of Asia.

Look at the difference. Now I am not saying that in Africa there's some completely modern, first world country. I'm saying that such a large area has both good and bad.

Most people will only focus on the worst parts.

LETHAL LADY

Inject 'em all with a dose of Ebola, that'll learn 'em.

Seriously though, I have a relative who used to go on these fundraising trips/holidays (not Africa but in the name of a worthy national cause). I donated money towards the first two trips not really thinking about it and feeling better about myself for supporting a "charity". I started to think this is a ****ing con-job when she showed me the pictures of the trips. The cost alone for a person to get to the destination was colossal, as it was all for five-star hotel accommodation and expensive excursions while staying there, as was evident in the snaps. Anyway, when the third year came and she looked for the minimum donation of €50 to fund her trip to another dream destination I had to tell her to **** off.

To be fair to the relative she was genuinely a supporter of the cause and it did involve a lot of fundraising outside shops etc. but even that money was donated towards the overall cost of the trip/holiday. The experience made me the cynical **** I am today when I choose a charity to donate to.

bnt

A couple of years ago, some students I knew went out to KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa to do some project involving water. Thing is, I've lived in that part of the world (in the 1980s), when it was just "Natal", and when I was there it wasn't all that bad. They had infrastructure in and around towns, at least: electricity, roads, good water supplies & sewers etc.

So, unless it's gone badly downhill since I was there, KwaZulu-Natal is hardly a 3rd-world region. 2nd-world, you might say. Unless you go way, way out in to the boondocks, which is true anywhere in the world.

darkpagandeath

Tombi! wrote: »

You do realize Africa is an actual giant area, yes? It's like saying "we tried helping Europe but it didn't work".

Not all of Africa is actually a horrible place.

To put it in perspective. India is part of Asia. Japan is part of Asia.

Look at the difference. Now I am not saying that in Africa there's some completely modern, first world country. I'm saying that such a large area has both good and bad.

Most people will only focus on the worst parts.

Yes some areas are extremely rich and mineral rich. But a reoccurring theme in the whole area is Africans Screwing over other Africans. Take the large family dictators keeping all the money. Or getting in bed with western companies for their own gain. The wars there is a whole list of problems in some areas.

purplecow1977

I wouldn't blame anyone for not wanting to support 5 star hotel stays!!!!

Certainly wasn't the case for me!!

The sunshine was lovely though. But the flies brought a separate issue...

Tombi!

darkpagandeath wrote: »

Yes some areas are extremely rich and mineral rich. But a reoccurring theme in the whole area is Africans Screwing over other Africans. Take the large family dictators keeping all the money. Or getting in bed with western companies for their own gain. The wars there is a whole list of problems in some areas.

Absolutely. But the point is that I'm trying to make (and I think I might misunderstand you) is that if we don't continually try to help then there's little chance of it working.

I'm starting to think your point is: Africans need to actually work with the non-Africans/start doing things internally overall to make Africa better
Is that right?

darkpagandeath

And please I hope people don't think I am having a pop at genuine people just wanting to help. I have huge respect for doctors and medical staff going over and doing what they can for free. Same with volunteers, Just that Charity's are part of the problem as well and we need to think about that.

keith16

purplecow1977 wrote: »

I volunteered in Eastern Europe.

What part of Eastern Europe, out of interest?

darkpagandeath

Tombi! wrote: »

Absolutely. But the point is that I'm trying to make (and I think I might misunderstand you) is that if we don't continually try to help then there's little chance of it working.

I'm starting to think your point is: Africans need to actually work with the non-Africans/start doing things internally overall to make Africa better
Is that right?

We have been continually helping for a very long time it's simply not working. It's like the whole idea of getting rid of the debt. That will not solve the problems Africa faces. As you said it's a huge area I think at some stage they need to realise that areas are addicted to aid.

HugsiePie

I always thought this was such a wonderful beautiful idea until 2 people I know headed out to volunteer in these impoverished places, one in India, the other Zimbabwe; their snapchat stories showed me a completely different side to what I thought was a selfless act. Raising 6k for food basic essentials and building equipment....explain to me then why are they flying firstclass to these places and drinking wine on the plane, touring the country, travelling through the city on the back of motorbikes and deep sea diving, parties at nightclubs, etc; it became evident whilst some work is done (now I know this may doesnt apply to all volunteer abroad programmes) the majority of the time spent abroad is focused around touring and having a holiday essentially. It really upset me when I seen all these photos on a daily basis, but trust me, whilst their snap chats showed this side of the "VSA" experience, their facebook showed pictures of these 2 people playing with the local children...the contrast of the snapchat and fb photos did make me think that the whole thing was bit of a farce, it seemed like they were on a holiday and didnt mind their friends knowing and seeing this, but to the general population and acquaintances they were showing the "Im here for charity" side....no sign of the partying or touring to be seen. I became quite sickened with the thing, I uised to always donate to these sort of things when people asked or I seen buckets in town, but now if i were to do so I feel like I would be funding somebodies trip of a lifetime holiday.

purplecow1977

keith16 wrote:

What part of Eastern Europe, out of interest?

Prefer to PM that but it doesn't give me the option when I click your name

purplecow1977

darkpagandeath wrote:

We have been continually helping for a very long time it's simply not working. It's like the whole idea of getting rid of the debt. That will not solve the problems Africa faces. As you said it's a huge area I think at some stage they need to realise that areas are addicted to aid.

I wouldn't be content to sit back and allow things to get even worse.

purplecow1977

HugsiePie wrote:

I always thought this was such a wonderful beautiful idea until 2 people I know headed out to volunteer in these impoverished places, one in India, the other Zimbabwe; their snapchat stories showed me a completely different side to what I thought was a selfless act. Raising 6k for food basic essentials and building equipment....explain to me then why are they flying firstclass to these places and drinking wine on the plane, touring the country, travelling through the city on the back of motorbikes and deep sea diving, parties at nightclubs, etc; it became evident whilst some work is done (now I know this may doesnt apply to all volunteer abroad programmes) the majority of the time spent abroad is focused around touring and having a holiday essentially. It really upset me when I seen all these photos on a daily basis, but trust me, whilst their snap chats showed this side of the "VSA" experience, their facebook showed pictures of these 2 people playing with the local children...the contrast of the snapchat and fb photos did make me think that the whole thing was bit of a farce, it seemed like they were on a holiday and didnt mind their friends knowing and seeing this, but to the general population and acquaintances they were showing the "Im here for charity" side....no sign of the partying or touring to be seen. I became quite sickened with the thing, I uised to always donate to these sort of things when people asked or I seen buckets in town, but now if i were to do so I feel like I would be funding somebodies trip of a lifetime holiday.

That's shocking. Do you remember what 'charity' that was?!
I'd be disgusted also

darkpagandeath

purplecow1977 wrote: »

I wouldn't be content to sit back and allow things to get even worse.

True, but it's become a chicken and egg kinda thing at this stage. We and the Africans need to come to a realisation that things are not working. I mean Ireland have given money to aid a country with it's own space program. What does that say, It says some countries are quite happy for someone else to pick-up the tab and keep people down.

steddyeddy

I volunteered and lived in Ethiopia, The Congo and Tanzania. Some do care and some just go for the trip. Nothing inherently evil there TBH.

I have some academic ability so I taught English, maths and science, worked in an orphanage and prison. I love every second of it and picked up more languages there than I did of years of secondary school here.

The bad side of it IMHO is volunteer tourism. Some d1cks (and that's what they are) go to an orphanage and do two weeks teaching and playing with the kids and then leave. Orphans are people who really don't need people coming in and out of their lives all the time. It's not nice seeing the aftermath.

The other thing I didn't like is people not briefing themselves on what it involves. One girl went into a class, asked the teacher which kids have AIDS (not bad in itself) and proceeded to hug every child apart from those and actively pushed the sick children away. She was actually slapped by a local woman and although I don't like violence I didn't feel bad for her.

Second last is the building. The Africans (east coast anyway) are born into some of the toughest environments possible. In the school I was in I seen the builders break stones and crush them for concrete (or something like it). Unless you're a builder they do not need you to build.

Finally learn the language. Swahili and Arabic will get you a long way and it shows you actually care.

steddyeddy

HugsiePie wrote: »

I always thought this was such a wonderful beautiful idea until 2 people I know headed out to volunteer in these impoverished places, one in India, the other Zimbabwe; their snapchat stories showed me a completely different side to what I thought was a selfless act. Raising 6k for food basic essentials and building equipment....explain to me then why are they flying firstclass to these places and drinking wine on the plane, touring the country, travelling through the city on the back of motorbikes and deep sea diving, parties at nightclubs, etc; it became evident whilst some work is done (now I know this may doesnt apply to all volunteer abroad programmes) the majority of the time spent abroad is focused around touring and having a holiday essentially. It really upset me when I seen all these photos on a daily basis, but trust me, whilst their snap chats showed this side of the "VSA" experience, their facebook showed pictures of these 2 people playing with the local children...the contrast of the snapchat and fb photos did make me think that the whole thing was bit of a farce, it seemed like they were on a holiday and didnt mind their friends knowing and seeing this, but to the general population and acquaintances they were showing the "Im here for charity" side....no sign of the partying or touring to be seen. I became quite sickened with the thing, I uised to always donate to these sort of things when people asked or I seen buckets in town, but now if i were to do so I feel like I would be funding somebodies trip of a lifetime holiday.

DON'T give to collectors over here. If you want to get involved go to a school or orphanage over there and get to know someone who runs it. Give them the money. Then you know where it's going.

crockholm

Africa....the useless bum brother of humanity....which,regardless of whether we are brave enough to say it or not,we will be paying for it's shennanigans for years to come.For the fans of alliteration,such as "incredible India",I wonder should we settle on "Autistic Africa" ????

steddyeddy

crockholm wrote: »

Africa....the useless bum brother of humanity....which,regardless of whether we are brave enough to say it or not,we will be paying for it's shennanigans for years to come.For the fans of alliteration,such as "incredible India",I wonder should we settle on "Autistic Africa" ????

Actually they're paying for our shennanigans. They're still suffering from the effects of colonialism and the effects that has had on social structure.

Sir Osis of Liver.

A friend of mine started the rave scene in Nairobi.

It all kicked off when he glued a piece of toast to his ceiling during a Larry Gogan podcast.
The rest is history.

crockholm

steddyeddy wrote: »

Actually they're paying for our shennanigans. They're still suffering from the effects of colonialism and the effects that has had on social structure.

And the same could be said for anywhere else the white man went like South America or Asia.Africa just seems to love to panhandle

kowloon

It's important to name and shame the scam charities and the holiday funding schemes. It's the best way of ensuring only genuine projects get funded. Brushing the fact that some charities are scams or vanity projects under the carpet does nothing to help anyone deserving.

steddyeddy

kowloon wrote: »

It's important to name and shame the scam charities and the holiday funding schemes. It's the best way of ensuring only genuine projects get funded. Brushing the fact that some charities are scams or vanity projects under the carpet does nothing to help anyone deserving.

Most of them are ineffective. The most effective charity I know is run by brother Kevin who feeds the homeless here.