2014-08-26

Volunteers and tourists: What's the difference?

Written by
Rate this item
(1 Vote)

Given a brief look at the panorama of travellers’ types, two much-discussed categories stand out at first sight. The tanned tourist into selfies, and the pale volunteer, idealistic as much as badly dressed. The former is only partially interested in the local culture, but the latter certainly also struggles to put together two sentences in the local language.

It is common knowledge how both the categories are reserved a place in the international parade of cynical stereotypes on travelling. The tourists are alleged with superficiality and irresponsible exploitation of the local sources. Nonetheless, volunteers are accused of futile idealism, and inane attempts of cleansing their 1st world souls from colonial legacies.  

At the light of these considerations, a fair dilemma might arise. Who is the real traveller? Regardless of the attempts of establishing parameters for responsible travelling, the answer still remains subjective. Nevertheless, a number of analogies and differences can be identified in the two trends, and their analysis can be of much interest.

In common

OUTSIDERS: both the volunteer and the tourist enter the foreign country as outsiders. They both undergo the barriers of ethnicity and language. Whether it is to fix their Jacuzzi or to communicate with orphans, they are equally concerned with the challenges of communicating and interacting.

PURPOSEFULNESS: the tourist and the volunteer were both driven by an interest to the place they visit. Regardless of whether it is to relax or to boost up their CV. They are moved by a certain degree of curiosity, and want to get to know the local culture as much as they can.

Things that differ

TIME: “What you give is what you take”. The return date on the traveller’s ticket says a lot about his intentions. The volunteer offers the foreigner a substantial bit of his own life. A person’s willingness to spend several months in a country shows his disposition towards it. And the gesture is not left unreturned. In fact, any foreigner is inclined to dedicate more time and attention to someone who, in turn, is offering his own.

A tourist departs with a less selfless mentality. In the holiday format, usually shorter, the traveller optimizes his time towards the fulfillment of his desires. The tourist is bound to compress sightseeing, museums, and traditional meals in a short time. He lacks the time to engage in an exchange on the same level.In terms of relationships, if a volunteer shares, a tourist takes.

RESPONSIBILITY: A volunteer departs to undertake an unpaid work experience for the benefit of the community. The purpose of the volunteer’s travel entails a notion from which tourists usually are escaping: responsibility. The volunteer is an employed unrewarded traveller. His role implies responsibility.

The tourist travels for the opposite reason. He seeks for relief from responsibilities, from his daily duties. His purpose is leisure. Although touristic leisure can imply cultural interest, it is a non-committed type of interest, given that it is freed from any type of responsibility.

CULTURE-MERGING: Time and responsibility determine the culture merging of the traveller. A volunteer is in a position of great exposure. He has the same routine as a local. On the human level, the relationships started by the volunteer are deeper and more lasting than those engaged by the tourist. Most importantly, the volunteering experience is highly didactic. Investing more time and more commitment, the volunteer learns more about himself, and about the place he is discovering.

The tourist only engages with the local culture according to the unwritten rules of the local-tourist relationship. The sole contribution brought by a tourist to a community is the money he spends. As he does not place himself on the same level of the local, a communication between even is not possible. There is no exchange in his encounter of the foreign, rather a purchase of what the place and the people have to offer. The tourist cannot share a bit of himself with the environment. Rather than culture merging, tourists practice culture window-shopping.

“Tourists keep memories in their heads. Volunteers keep memories in their hearts.” The two categories are different types of travellers, whose paths often intertwine and whose inclinations switch from one side to the other. As far as the real traveller is concerned, the dilemma remains unsolved, and one cannot but ponder and embrace what suits best one’s own notion of journey.

Read 63217 times

Related items

Cultural Diversity: Presence and Resistance

An article written by Comunidad MILPA, one of our biggest projects, about their last Integral Health Day. Comunidad MILPA is a community center and sustainability project based in the outskirts of Buenos Aires and founded by Valeria, who's also the founder of Voluntario Global. To get to know more about it you can check their instagram account: comunidad_milpa, and also look them up in our webpage.

October 30th: 40 years of the return of the democracy in Argentina

From March 24th 1976, to October 30th 1983, the most sanguinary dictatorship of our history occurred in Argentina. This year, we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the return of the democracy in the middle of an elections year, plus a really complex context. We are sharing an article written by the "ECuNHi" team, a cultural space created by the Mothers and Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo and dedicated to their dissapeared sons and daughters.

Comunicación: ¿es la clave?

Después de una hermosa conversación con un voluntario (que permanecerá anónimo, por supuesto), nuestra coordinadora reflexiona sobre la importancia de la comunicación y los espacios de presencialidad, reflexión, escucha,  y sanación.

Communication: is the key?

After a beautiful conversation with a volunteer (that will of course remain anonymous), our coordinator reflects about the impact of communications in the volunteer experience, and how important it is to create support and healing spaces.

 

Month for Agroecology: towards an economy with social justice.

Past September 30th, Voluntario Global participated with Comunidad MILPA in an activity held there on the context of the Month for Agroecology. Here's the article written by MILPA about it, translated for all of you. You can read the original in Spanish at @comunidad_milpa instagram account.

Volunteering: a learning process. Part II.

Let's deepen on the reflections about volunteering as a learning process from the perspective of Critical Pedagogy with Abi, our coordinator.

Voluntariado: un proceso de aprendizaje

Algunas reflexiones en torno al voluntariado entendido como un proceso de aprendizaje desde la perspectiva de la Pedagogía Crítica de la mano de Abi, nuestra coordinadora.

Volunteering: a learning process (part 1?)

A quick set of questions to deepen on the concept of volunteering delivered by Abi, our volunteers coordinator. Probably the first part on a group of articles reflecting about volunteering as a learning process, so yeah! expect more of these laughing

Login to post comments
Who we are

Who we are

We are a network of organizations created to foster collective action based on the principles of social and cognitive justice. Through thought-provoking spaces for reflection, we challenge the conventional narrative of "giving back" and replace it with a more dynamic approach: that of "answering back". This premise forces us to deepen our questions, confront our assumptions, and recognize the complexities that arise when attempting to help others.

Read more

What we do

What we do

Our mission is to empower and connect local organizations to promote improvement for the whole community and take a unified approach to community development. We also aim to create a network between volunteers and local organizations in order to foster an exchange of culture and ideas which can help both to grow in different ways.

 

Read more

Our Projects

Our Projects

The organizations and communities where we work are the main pillars of Voluntario Global. Together with local organizations, we determine our objectives and the type of volunteer we need. Put simply, Voluntario Global could not exist without the organizations, as we work together for their development and growth.

 

Read more

Meet the Team

Meet the Team

All coordinators play a vital part in the running of Voluntario Global. Our core of coordinators is small and each has a specific role in order to keep the organization moving forward.

Read more

How to Apply

How to Apply

As we want to know our volunteers a little before arriving in the city, we ask them to fill in our Application Form. This only takes 2 minutes and dates can also be approximate, as we may suggest a change. If you have questions, you can always write an email to jfranco@voluntarioglobal.org before completing the form.

 

Read more

Volunteer Ambassadors

Volunteer Ambassadors

See what our volunteers have to say about their experiences in Buenos Aires with Voluntario Global!

Read more