in 2 hours

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Bonus Optional Activity: A Closer Look at Volunteer Tourism (Voluntourism)

READING #1: What’s Wrong With Voluntourism? Everything.

This is an editorial, opinion piece about a Nicaraguan woman’s experience as a child who had contact with voluntourists and missionaries, and how this contact shaped her views.

What is her first memory of dealing with a [medical] voluntourist? What makes this memory stand out in her mind?

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What did Prisca feel that voluntourists, who offered much-needed supplies and toys, want in exchange for their generous gifts?

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What reasons did Prisca offer as to why the voluntourists and missionaries visiting were ‘too nice’ to the children in Nicaraguan villages? Be thorough and thoughtful here.

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In Prisca’s opinion, what was the disconnect between voluntourists’ desire to help while in-country and their behavior/choices/voting strategies at home?

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Your opinion: How does thinking about the situation from Prisca’s view impact your view on voluntourism, if at all? Find at least one article/blog/editorial that helps you formulate your perspective, whether or not it aligns with Prisca’s. Be thoughtful and thorough. In what ways do approaches to voluntourism need to be changed/developed to avoid the experience Prisca had? This response should be a minimum of 150 words.

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Reading #1: APA Sources

Mojica Rodriguez, P. (2016). What’s Wrong With Voluntourism? Everything. Vivala (April 18, 2016). Retrieved from: http://www.vivala.com/womens-issues/voluntourism-well-meaning-white-people/3942

READING #2:

Volunteer Tourism: What Are the Benefits for International Development?

This is an editorial, opinion piece from a Jenny Morgan, who has spent her life participating in and leading voluntourism organizations worldwide. She speaks to the benefits of voluntourism.

In addition to the normal tourism supply chain participants (airlines, hotels, etc.), who are the four main ‘actors’ in the voluntourism chain?

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Discuss the growth of voluntourism statistically. Use Morgan’s stats from the article, and find at least one additional article to parenthetically cite (and place in APA sources below). Why do you think this type of tourism is growing so fast?

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According to Morgan, what are some of the direct benefits of voluntourism to rural communities, and who is best to determine what the needs are?

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CRITICISMS: Morgan acknowledges 5 major criticisms. According to Morgan and the studies she cites, as the length of the voluntourist’s trip decreases, the placements are increasingly ________________________________________________. Second, voluntourists are often one-___ customers so the trip becomes more about his or her once-in-a-lifetime experience, not the impact he or she will have on the community. Third, because voluntourism is demand-based, their could be un____________ development or d____________________ within the host communities for host organizations that have fallen out of favor with travelers. High expectations of the voluntourist exist for a particular type of experience, and it may be hard for voluntourists to see any form of impact given the limited __________frame. They may also take the experiences too l____________y or think that social development and fixing social/economic/environmental problems in the host community is s_____________. Finally, some volunteer placements are not well c____________________d or well o_________________d, leaving the voluntourists wondering if the project had any real value to the local community. If the voluntourist sees his or her efforts as f_____________e, capacity for social movement is limited.

Morgan concludes that perhaps the biggest criticism of voluntourism is that many voluntourists lacked necessary ____________________ and training/instruction prior to departure. This backfires when voluntourists become a __________ on local resources.

SOLUTIONS: What are Morgan’s suggestions for improving the effectiveness of voluntourism? What do YOU recommend? Please add one more source (in-text cite and place in APA sources) to back up your explanation.

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THE VERDICT: What changes in view/knowledge/understanding, if any, do you have as a result of taking a closer look at voluntourism? Why?

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Reading #2: APA Sources

Morgan, J. (2009). Volunteer tourism: What are the benefits for international development? Voluntourist Newsletter, 6(2).