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The report further demonstrates how voluntourism is flourishing in uncontrolled environments
in Cambodia and South Africa. The lack of state resources shifts more responsibility
to the volunteer organizations when it comes to ensuring that the volunteer project respects
the rights of children. But the fact that volunteering opportunities generate income both for
the volunteering company and for the project at the destination constitutes a threat to children.
In both Cambodia and South Africa, this was particularly true for volunteer placements
at orphanages, where children in some cases were not even orphans, just children with poor
families, and would be better off with their parents or their extended family and community.
Furthermore, sending inexperienced volunteers to look after children with attachment disorders
for a short period of time may not be in the best interests of the child, even if it might
be a “life-changing” experience for the volunteer. This practice is not current in Sweden
or in any other western society precisely because it is morally questionable. Moreover, if
the sending companies conduct their business irresponsibly and do not properly check the
volunteers prior to departure, the children are put at even greater risk. Child labour is also
prevalent in this context as children were often expected to raising money for the orphanages
by performing dances for the tourists, crafting souvenirs and otherwise actively seeking
donations.
While volunteering at orphanages should not be promoted, volunteering programmes with
holistic and long-term objectives together with a strategy for mitigating problems can ensure
that benefits for the children concerned outweigh any negative impacts. However, the safety
and the well-being of the children should never be jeopardised. Hence, the challenge and
the opportunity for voluntourism is to continuously build on best practice so that travellers
can make a sustainable difference while ensuring that the needs of the local community are
met. Both volunteers themselves and the sending organization need to be aware of the risks
and opportunities and have a plan for managing these. The volunteer agency should show
the way by implementing children’s rights and business principles, instituting proper recruitment
procedures and setting strict criteria for choosing and monitoring volunteer projects.
Volunteers must do the research on their own in order to form realistic expectations and ask
the right questions – for example, if a child protection policy is in place and if police records
and references are needed.
It is clear from the findings and recommendations of this report that the tourism industry
operates in very complicated regions that face daunting challenges. To tackle these, holistic
approaches to children’s rights and cooperation between various actors and organizations are
needed in order to ensure and demonstrate that children’s rights are fully respected.
No child’s play | 49