Volun-tourism, emotional highs and photo opportunities

“I’m going to Africa to teach English to orphans!”

It’s almost that time of year again—time to start thinking about DukeEngage applications. It’s very exciting. But let’s try to temper that enthusiasm for just a moment while we look at some underlying ethical issues of international engagement programs, including DukeEngage.

I see this a lot—churches, schools, and nonprofits sending people on “mission trips” or “international excursions” to underdeveloped countries. For a small price, volunteers get to come back with new Facebook profile pictures and stories about how they braved a summer of hardship. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t consider the consequences and ethical implications of their trips abroad.

First of all, one of the biggest issues with these endeavors is their time frame. Oftentimes trips only take place for a few weeks—I’ve even seen some that stay for only three days in each destination. Such short trips betray volunteers’ motivations—it’s not about helping people. It’s about getting an exotic vacation.

Such short trips can lack concrete benefits for the receiving community. Even a whole summer can be not enough time to fix a meaningful problem, but it is enough to make it worse. There are dangers in building a school that will never be used, or in constructing homes that alleviate homelessness but fail to address underlying problems of poverty. This is the greatest danger of our beloved Duke Engage—the focus on the volunteers’ experiences rather than the needs of the host community.

Another primary reason why longer trips are necessary is because volunteer groups need to go through an extended period of research and community evaluation to make sure they know exactly what the problem is, find out the best way to act on the problem and get to know the community well enough to establish trust and learn to overcome cultural barriers. When programs arrive in a location and immediately get to work, they might be going in the wrong direction without knowing it.

I'm not here, however, to bash all attempts for global civic engagement. I’m not saying that no one should ever try to make a difference overseas. The desire to help people really does say something amazing about Duke students, whose drive and curiosity compels them to see the world and make it better. If you have a cause that you’re passionate and knowledgeable about, you should absolutely pursue it.

But you have to do it carefully, with considerations of the ethical implications of your actions, or else your efforts might result in some very unfortunate unintended consequences.

Will your actions do more good than harm?

Make an effort to understand the community. It is crucial to recognize your differences and adapt to them. Even the smallest needs of populations require research, discussion and cultural awareness on the part of volunteers. If you don’t develop a conscious awareness of cultural competence, you will not be able to notice the unique needs of the communities you work with, and the measures that need to be taken to effectively serve your host communities. If these needs are not recognized, your program cannot be successful. Don’t go to 'fix' other people's problems, but to work with and for the people around you, doing what they think is necessary in order to facilitate growth and progress toward their goals.

Then look at yourself. Why are you going? Are you applying because it might be your only chance to travel the world? I’m guilty of this one. It’s really cool to get to go to another country and have adventures—but that’s not what the trip is for. If you’re going for any reason other than to actually help people in meaningful ways, you should reconsider going in the first place.

And finally, don’t knock domestic DukeEngage trips. They might not seem as exciting or exotic, but they can be very impactful on the volunteers and the communities. If you don’t feel confident in your ability to navigate an international experience in an ethical way, it’s perfectly fine to start with a domestic trip first. You won’t have to figure out as many cultural differences (although as a Duke student, you are probably very different from the people you engage—you still need to be mindful). The lessons you learn domestically will give you the tools you need to engage with ethical issues on an international trip, if that’s still something you want to do. Or you might find that there are problems here in the United States that you want to tackle after you graduate.

And when you’re actually ready to make a difference, you can volunteer long-term at a nonprofit or sign up for programs like the Peace Corps, where you can receive proper training and make long-term commitments where your efforts might have lasting, concrete impacts on the community.

McKenna Ganz is a Trinity sophomore. Her column runs every other Tuesday.