Poverty Tourism article in the NYT

[ttt]

I thought of you, mx, when I read this article:

travel.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/travel/volunteer-trips-is-your-family-ready.html

I was a little surprised that the article seems to address none of the drawbacks of this kind of "service trip" like whether any of it has a positive impact on the people they're visiting.


Only marginally relevant to the point of the article but:

When they return, many students want to find a way to continue the work they were doing. Livia Bokor donated her bat mitzvah money to the orphanage in Peru ($15,000).

$15,000 in bat mitzvah money!?!?!?!

[Deleted]

Aug 15, 2012 15:06:38 GMT -5 @mx said:

I was so annoyed when I read this. It's a good thing they didn't enable comments

that's exactly what I thought too.. I was disappointed when I went to comment.

[aurora]

OK, I do understand that there are a lot of drawbacks to poverty tourism like the article describes, and I absolutely that the article should have addressed - front and center - the effect on the people who are being gawked at like animals in a zoo. However, I cannot help but reflect on how my own first vacation to a poor nation (Tanzania - we went to see the animals, not on a trip like this) opened my eyes in general. I now spend a lot of time thinking about social aspects of my profession that I never did before (and believe me, my profession is generally pretty blind when it comes to those), and I am much more aware of poverty near to home because I started to look for it. I don't have the arrogance to think that I can (or even should) try to "fix" things for others, especially those who live in a culture I couldn't possibly understand after a 2 week visit, but I am more honest about the impacts of my decisions on others. Sure, I could have gotten there without the visit to Tanzania, but it's hard to separate in my mind because it was really a trigger.

Now that I've started such a novel, and at the risk of opening a can of worms I know nothing about because apparently I haven't followed mx's thoughts on this topic, I am curious whether you think such trips can ever be a good thing, or what better ideas you have for making people more aware of others.

I hope this doesn't come across as snarky - I absolutely want to learn more!

[marie427]

Standing ovation for mx's post.

[Deleted]

I agree with you MX.

We a vacation to a less developed country this summer. My kids were able to see a lot of poverty and I know my money helped the economy and was helping to create a sustainable industry. All of our drivers, guides, hotel owners were locals. We ate some fabulous meals at local restaurants and shopped local venders at the Souk

[pixy0stix]

I've had to bite my tongue a few times lately on fb. One of my "friends" went on a poverty tourism mission not too long ago. She taught photography to local kids, and in return took a billion photographs of the slums.

Really, how is that helping?

[aurora]

Thanks MX - you've clearly thought a ton about this and I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. I especially had not thought much about the orphanage-related trips and implications.

Can I ask what you think about microfinance programs such as kiva.org?

On a "selfish" note, hiring local guides for tours not only benefits the tourism economy but also saves the tourist a lot compared with US-based guides!

[decemberwedding07]

Mx, I love your response so much that I'm bookmarking this for future reference.

[Deleted]

MX I wish you'd send your post to the NYT letters to the editor section

[Deleted]

Aug 16, 2012 14:30:32 GMT -5 @mx said:

Brevity is not my friend septimus

let them cut it for you :-) that's what editors are for.

[Deleted]

MX, great post. There's a good book out there, "The Blue Sweater," by Jacqueline Novogratz that also addresses the challenge of being responsible when giving back to developing/struggling communities.

[statlerwaldorf]

I really enjoyed your post MX.