Greetings Katherine. I'll chime in with a couple of observations, since we have had related discussions on these matters at my university for many years. We implement several international "experiential learning" trips each year. The biggest concern? That we are complicit in exploiting the local cultures to serve our students' needs & give them a great experience (akin to the "voluntourism" that Aroni critiques) rather than genuinely serve the local populations with whom we engage. There's no simple answer, but we have learned much over the year and we do have a couple of key mechanisms that we always try go put in place.
First and most important, we have to build relationships with the community. Usually we have a faculty or staff member who already has an established relationship with the community (we have faculty literally from key parts of Africa where we have developed international partnerships) or with an organization working in the community. All of this takes time and lots of planning trips to develop the relationships, identify priorities, and ensure a much more community-driven approach. I've seen a couple of truly amazing student presentations where we've done it quite well and the students were really the helpers, and accomplished some truly concrete, helpful "ends" with some additional outside resources used to complement the leadership and efforts of the local communities. We also do a lot of pre-screening of the students and educational training before the students go out into the field, too, in part to demystify the process, educate people about the "saviour complex," and to learn about the language, culture, and the community's priorities before going to the locales. There's now a lot of excellent training available on all these issues and we've made that a central focus of our pedagogy.
Do we get it right in every case? No, but, indeed, we have learned a lot of the last 15 years from our various trips to African countries, Central American countries, and various Caribbean countries. We have signed letters of agreement, contracts that everyone who goes on these trips sign, and various other protections designed to minimize risks to the communities AND to our students/staff. All that said, there will always be room for improvement.
More generally, if it's an issue of people going on these trips just for their own fun or to exploit others, then Aroni and all of us have every right to critique what's happening. Yet long before I read Aroni's critique, I can tell you that we were well aware of the power dynamics and cultural optics involved - and continue to work hard to create the right types of programs. Many other universities have done the same thing. Yet there are still industries out there too like the voluntourism that Aroni discusses and there's no question that can be a problem.
Hope this is helpful and, perhaps, at least a little reassuring that some of us involved in facets of this issue are working hard to "get it right." With warm regards from Canada, -Joe
Dr. Joseph H. Michalski
King’s University College at Western University
266 Epworth Avenue, DL-201
London, Ontario, Canada N6A 2M3
Tel: (519) 433-3491
Email: [log in to unmask]
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From: tree of knowledge system discussion <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Wilson, Katherine Christine - wilso3kc <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, March 6, 2020 2:19 PM
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Voluntourism and White Savior Complex
Dear ToK Crew,
I am often very shy and intimidated to post on this list serve. It can be challenging for those of us with a more sensitive nervous system to open something up for conversation today given the extreme views, polarizations, intense political climate, reductionistic tendencies, and often shaming and blaming language that is becoming increasingly used on the internet (Gregg, I may have succumbed to some “toxic sensitivity” of the day). However, there is an article that is trending right now on facebook that I am struggling to navigate; my own reception of it is a mix of repulsion, concern, frustration, and deep sadness.
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__wearyourvoicemag.com_news-2Dpolitics_voluntourism-2Dcolonialism-2Dwhite-2Dsavior-2Dcomplex&d=DwIF-w&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=etbNx76eFHueto81mq8_hQ848mc5BrzFmP8Piw15j9k&s=e2C-1nEoesY9ZYRHmdeX9k_8G4v4qTDluRkgkd4PqAw&e=<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__wearyourvoicemag.com_news-2Dpolitics_voluntourism-2Dcolonialism-2Dwhite-2Dsavior-2Dcomplex&d=DwMGaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=VPQ4SciI7VcrC7-WPowgx4XdYc4Tfj5bmosQ0Wn29m8&s=-H-ELcPhX_Vh6zaurhFex6NRXMkaji1-2jI-6lLvZPA&e=>
It is a short read, though not without intense references to some awful human acts.
If you get a chance, I would really love to hear your thoughts from whatever lens or angle you may receive this type of piece.
thanks,
K
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