Voluntourism Industry Unethical?
Voluntourism has exploded recently as a niche within the international travel industry. It has even been featured in mainstream press like MSNBC – Want to help? Go on a trip. It’s great that so many people today are interested in devoting vacation time to helping out their neighbors in developing countries around the world. However, what’s not so great is the questionable business ethics behind the voluntourism industry, in which 50-90% of volunteer fees paid by “do-gooder” travelers go to the multinational companies that are currently running and perhaps even exploiting the industry.
These multinational companies work with local organizations around the world to match volunteers with locally run volunteer projects. There are a number of these MNC’s, but one of the bigger and more well-known companies is i-to-i. I will focus on i-to-i for the rest of this post.
Can’t afford to volunteer?
A little over 6 years ago I looked into volunteering before a study abroad program I had scheduled in Brazil. I did a search on the internet of volunteer projects throughout Brazil, but was discouraged and surprised to find that I just couldn’t afford any of them. All of the projects I found seemed to be managed by “volunteer sending companies” like i-to-i. And they all cost between $500-$800 per week of service, a price I just couldn’t afford at the time. I was very surprised to see such high costs for volunteering, but I simply accepted them as the norm and moved on, unable to volunteer my time because it was too expensive.
That’s because volunteer fees are extremely inflated!
About 4 years later, I graduated college and started working as a volunteer coordinator in Quito, Ecuador. At my volunteer organization we were often supplied with volunteers from “volunteer sending companies” such as i-to-i. I was surprised to learn that the fees charged by companies like i-to-i, the same fees I couldn’t afford in Brazil, are radically higher than the actual cost of living and volunteering. I found out that in general, only between 10-50% of i-to-i fees actually go to the local institutions. The rest simply goes to pay i-to-i’s expenses, and ultimately back into their pockets.
The following are two organizations that work directly with i-to-i. The way their program works, is they simply match these local organizations with interested volunteers. Therefore a potential volunteer could organize their volunteer service with either i-to-i, or the local organization itself, and the actual work and living conditions would be exactly the same. However, what would NOT be the same is the cost:
CENIT – Centro de la Niña Trabajadora (Quito, Ecuador)
i-to-i (8 weeks volunteer service) – includes volunteer work, program fee, homestay with Ecuadorian family, 3 meals/day, in-country support personnel, for $3270.
Organized directly with CENIT (8 weeks volunteer service) – includes volunteer work, program fee, homestay with Ecuadorian family, 3 meals/day, for $850.
i-to-i charges close to 4x what the local organization does, or $2420 more.
ASVO – Asociación de Voluntarios para el Servicio en las Areas Protegidas (Costa Rica)
i-to-i (4 weeks volunteer service) – includes volunteer work, program fee, accommodations, 3 meals/day, in-country support personnel, for $2245.
Organized directly with ASVO (4 weeks volunteer service) – includes volunteer work, program fee, accommodations, 3 meals/day, for $450.
i-to-i charges close to 5x what the local organization does, or $1795 more.
Unethical?
I am not prepared to accuse companies like i-to-i of being unethical. They do provide an added service of organizing the entire trip as well as providing in-country personnel for general support. These two services, I’m sure, account for a significant portion of the added fees charged.
I do, however, think it’s unfortunate that the vast majority of travelers don’t realize that only 10-50% of the fees they pay actually go to the cost of living and volunteering. That if they don’t mind doing a little work on their own, they can organize the exact same volunteer project for a fraction of the cost. They could then use the money they save to volunteer longer or invest into the local economy by traveling more.
Even if you have the money to blow on the i-to-i service, why not save it to donate directly into the local communities you will be working with!? Imagine if every i-to-i volunteer donated $1000-$2000 to their local volunteer project instead of giving it to i-to-i. The local impact of that money would be monumental!
Follow-up:
Voluntourism Industry Unethical? more thoughts…
Further Reading:
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