"“Please, please ask questions,” says Sallie Grayson,
programme director at volunteer tour operator People and
Places, a winner at the 2013 World Responsible Tourism
Awards. “There are still way too many unethical or poorly
managed volunteer organisations operating. We believe
volunteering can be a win-win for volunteers and the
community they seek to serve — but people must be put in
the right places. So there needs to be a lot of information
shared by all parties. If you can reserve a place on a volunteer
programme simply by providing contact details and your
credit card number, and if you don’t know where exactly you’ll
be working and what you’ll be doing, ask yourself: should I be
volunteering with that organisation?”
The People and Places website has a section entitled ‘you
need the answers’, highlighting some of the key questions a
potential traveller should ask of their volunteer organisation.
Among these are: ‘I’m only going to be there for a few weeks
— how can my input be of any real use?’; ‘When, how and
where is my money spent?’; and ‘Will you advise me about local
culture and how I should behave?’
read the full article here
1. Community development
in Manú National Park,
Peru: People and Places
Work with communities in this Amazonian
biodiversity hotspot and UNESCO World
Heritage Site. Join GRO W, a sustainable
initiative to boost local incomes, improve
child and adult health and divert activity
away from environmentally damaging
sources of income. Volunteers with
building, horticulture, organic and microculture
skills are particularly welcome.
Contributor: ED
Created: 27/03/2014
