“The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.” 

― Barack Obama

Journal Entry 1 (Molly): 

  I am so excited to go to Cambodia. I mean its gonna kinda suck having to be around poor children everyday but whatever. Its basically a free vacation I can suck it up for probably an hour a day. I’m so excited to do so much soul searching and working on MYSELF. But what I’m really excited about is all the good pics I’m gonna get for instagram while I’m here. I mean from googling Cambodia beaches it seems really nice. Service trips seem so trendy now like if 1.6 million are going annually I wanna be one of them (khan para. 2). My mom kept talking about her service trip and how it changed her life and I’m all for life changing experiences but I am NOT down to get all dirty and tired building schools everyday. Hopefully they let me do something easy like sort pencils and stuff. The company was so down to let me come, there were like NO requirements so I assume its okay if I just hang out and do the easy stuff right?

Journal Entry 2 (Molly):

We’ve been here for a week now. I don’t know how much longer I can do this. Were basically working 12 hour days and were doing EVERYTHING ourselves! Were literally the ones building the schools I thought they would have people for that stuff. Why would the organization let us on the trip if it was this much work AND we have no qualifications? I’m so annoyed I haven’t even gotten any good pictures because they make us work all day! I tried to take a picture with one of the little orphan boys but I got yelled at because someone said it “perpetuate stereotypes” and rob[s] the [kid] of dignity or privacy” whatever that means (Gharib para. 6). I totally went into this thinking it would be something good to put on my resume and a good vacation, its totally not! I just wanna go home! People on the internet paint it to look so easy and so fun and I see people like Kanye West handing out yeezys in Uganda and it seems like helping the third world must be so easy. Well, I guess I was wrong.

Journal Entry 3: (Molly)

Thank god I’m back in Canada. Service trips definitely aren’t for me. If I’ve learned anything from this whole experience, it’s that I’m not benefiting me or those were going to help if I’m not committed and ready to do real work. It was a waste of my money and the company’s time for me to try to think this trip would just be about having fun and focusing on myself. In reality there is a lot of work that needs to be done. There's around 263million children and youth around the world who aren’t in school. Volunteer tourism can actually change that. After this trip I saw a lot of people finding “opportunities for altruism, self-development, giving back to the host community” but not me (McGhee 848). I had no place on this trip.

Journal Entry #1 (Charlotte):

In one month, I will embark on a trip to volunteer with the youth of Cambodia. I am so excited for this new adventure! I knew I didn't want to just travel, I wanted to have a more meaningful and culturally immersive experience as well as give back. I have been out of school for a year now and I feel as though this would be the perfect time to travel. The trip is only about $800, which is dirt cheap compared to some of the other companies I was considering travelling with. The website guarantees safe and adequate living conditions, so I have no reason to believe I won't be well taken care of. As a struggling student, I got used to roughing it, so I'll be fine no matter the situation. There is also no need for me to prepare which is nice because I don't want to do more work than just packing for this vacation.

There was no hassle with booking the trip, no background check or experience needed, which is great for a new traveler like myself. I don't quite know what I will be doing when I arrive but I signed up through a child and youth care program so I'm expecting it will involve children. I don't have tons of experience working with kids but I love being around them. The people of Cambodia need help and so I am beyond excited to go and share my knowledge with these underprivileged kids. Talk soon!

Journal Entry #2 (Charlotte):

This is an entry from the 3rd day of being here in Cambodia. So far, the trip has no been what I expected. The plane here was a little sketchier than I'm used to and the pictures shown by the company on their website seem a little far fetched for what I saw when first walking into the local village. The day we got here, I had to sign a volunteer rules document. It stated the rules and implications of volunteering and mentioned how I was not to complain about anything and not to have high expectations (Reid). I was reluctant to sign my name, but in the end I had no choice. I was then told I was to be working with local teachers to teach English to a class of 30 children. It seemed easy enough, but I had no clue what this would really entail.

The next day when I arrived at the location, I realized they had sent me to an orphanage, not a school. I went inside to a horrific scene. Tens of children running around in chaos with no adults in sight. My presence had clearly not affected the children but maybe that's because they had gotten used to seeing so many new faces. Finally, a lady appeared out of the back and explained to me that I was to do an afternoon of English with the kids. I had nothing planned and no lesson to teach. There hasn't really been any structure to my days and I feel as though I maybe didn't know what I was getting into when signing up for this trip.

Journal Entry #3 (Charlotte):

It has been a month after my volunteer trip to Cambodia. I can say that my experience was nothing like I wanted and expected. Just like any other young naïve volunteer, I thought I was doing something selfless that would benefit me and the community. I was wrong. What these countries need is regulation. Orphanages and child care have become a commodified industry that has no intention of bettering the lives of these children. After returning home I decided to investigate Cambodian orphanage services. What I found was worse than I expected. The orphanage industry is only growing in Cambodia, there is now seven times more children in these institutions than in the 1980s. Something I did not realize and 75 percent of others volunteer don’t realize is that most children in orphanages have at least 1 parent alive and 60 percent did not know that these are profit -making business. The goal of these orphanages is to make the most amount of money, no matter the blatant abuse that goes on (Murdoch and Pehn 2015:29).

One of the most alarming part of he whole experience is that the placement I was assigned requires no background checks from volunteers and visitors. This is extremely important in Cambodia, where sexual abuse frequently occurs in childcare facilities open to foreign visitors (Reid). These Western and local companies are pros at coning tourists into dispensing money and time into their business using vulnerable children at bait. It is my fault for trusting that these companies were legitimate and because I did not do my research. We need more screening and restrictions on not only the Western companies but also the developing countries organizations as well. Cambodia did not need my help with the children. What they need is reforms and regulations on the orphanages.

I did not have the skills to truly help improve the conditions of the community and I understand that now. We need to question the ideology that altruistic travel is actually beneficial to the host community we are visiting. These children are not tourist attractions, they’re vulnerable and at-risk. I hope my experience has opened up others eyes to the potential harm involved with voluntourism.

Journal Entry #1: Before Voluntourism Trip (Europhoric Phase)

Have you ever been so overwhelmed with excitement that you find it hard to contain yourself? That’s how I’ve felt ever since I have gotten the opportunity to volunteer in Cambodia. People have told me this is an “euphoric phase” that individuals such as myself experience. A phase “where we look forward to what’s to come and are ready to learn and adapt to foreign experiences” (World Unite 2018: 1). I honestly don’t think anything can summarize my feelings better. I personally believe that voluntourism is one of the most beneficial things an individual can do. Voluntourism “provides opportunities for altruism, self-development, involves giving back to the host community, participating in community and international development, and improves cultural understanding” (Clair 2017: 1). In relations to working with children in Cambodia, I believe it’ll give me an opportunity to build connections with the kids I teach, and enable them to learn that people are willing to aby to their needs. Nonetheless, I will post updates within the following weeks to come. - Kind regards, Olivia.

Journal Entry #2: Mid-Trip (Alienation and Culture Shock Phase)

This is not what I intended to happen when I planned to teach in Cambodia. At this point, my excitement has completely fled. I am left alone feeling “powerless- unable to cope with the new environment” (World Unite 2018: 1) I am in. When I got to the orphanage I “began to contact problems”- mainly with one of the children I sparked I close bond with. Even though they lacked the ability to comprehend the basic literary skills I was teaching them- they still longed for my presence. At first, I fell into a “phase of alienation as this behavior confused me” (World Unite 2018: 1). How can a child long for someone they don’t understand? Why must they live under such horrific circumstances- malnourished, lacking access to clean water and sanitation? I can’t “use the same valuation standard for the new culture” as I could back home. I feel sick knowing I have to leave. More recently I’ve learned that this is culture shock, which is “stress or discomfort experienced in an unfamiliar cultural environment caused by the absence of familiar meanings and cues” (Claire 2017: 1). I hope this passes soon. I don’t know how much more I can take. - Olivia.

Journal Entry #3: After Voluntourism Trip (Recession Phase)

Home at last and I still feel uneasy. Having to leave the children at the orphanage was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Many longed for us to take them home, especially the one I grew an attachment to, but that idea was too unrealistic. Overall volunteering was a rollercoaster. After being struck by the cultural shock of it all, I slowly started to “develop an understanding and appreciation for the new environment” (World Unite 2018: 1). My teaching adapted “to the different behaviors and ways of thinking of the locals” (World Unite 1: 2018). Instead of solely focusing on the negatives, I familiarized myself with the many activities the children do for fun. I participated in singing traditional songs and dances and began to accept the cultural barrier. Although as I sit and write this, I think my morals are all wrong and I am trying to find a balance in it all. Thus, I’ve come to the conclusion that voluntourism is great in theory but in practice, it falls short of being beneficial. I made a difference in the children's week, but did I really do anything to help them prosper in the long run? If you want to make a change, find something that digs deeper than voluntourism. Thanks for listening, Olivia.