Voluntourism – Are The Extra Hands Helping? by Amy McLoughlin of Pepy Tours
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description
Voluntourism is a growing travel sector and with it comes the pros and cons of volunteering abroad. For the volunteer, it can be a travel and learning experience, a new way of seeing the world while giving back, but for the local communities it may be disruptive, intrusive to local cultures and traditions or its benefits short lived. How effective and sustainable are voluntourism programs?
Transcript of Voluntourism – Are The Extra Hands Helping? by Amy McLoughlin of Pepy Tours
In 2005 a group of friends cycled
across Cambodia to raise money to
build a school…
HOW DID IT ALL START?
BUILDING SCHOOLS......NOT THE ANSWER
But we realized, we
needed to start
investing time in
people and not
‘things’….
VOLUNTEERING ADVENTURES
We connected hundreds
of eager volunteers with
projects in Cambodia to
provide education to
rural students…
NGO OR TOUR OPERATOR? BOTH!
A LOT HAS CHANGED...
We realized it was we
who must learn before
we can help.
Shift in focus from short
term volunteering to
long term learning.
LEARNING ADVENTURES
Mission: to improve the world
and to convince others of
their power to do the same.
We offer life-changing
learning adventures;
introducing concepts and
people we think are amazing
examples of how we can all
be the change we want to see
in the world.
LONG TERM SOLUTIONS
All PEPY Tours trips
include a compulsory
fundraising element, to
pump money into
community projects
we know are making a
difference.
WHAT WENT WRONG WITH VOLUNTEER TRAVEL?
• Band aid ‘solutions’
• Forgetting that volunteers
are not free
• Focusing on things to solve
problems
• Poor monitoring
• Skilled jobs for the unskilled
• Fostering moral imperialism
LESSON 1
Schools don’t teach kids. People do.
LESSON 2
It’s not how we can save the world in a week. It’s the other 358 days of the year.
“PEPY Tours not only shared the beauty, history, and culture of
Cambodia, but they helped fill a major gap in our understanding of
the impact we make, the need to learn responsible service, and
the importance of education and empowerment. It was a
remarkable journey for me and my students and I couldn’t recommend
anyone a better experience or a better team with which to share the
journey”
- Kendra Campbell, Director of First Year Experience, West Texas AM
University
TESTIMONIALS
Amy McLoughlin
Communications and
Fundraising Manager
• http://learningservice.info/
• http://www.pepytours.com/
• http://pepycambodia.org/
ANY QUESTIONS?
