Image: learning Services

May 27 2019

When Volunteering Fuels the Wrong Things

"When the NGO came to do the assessment they didn’t ask him about his background or his parents’ capacity to support him, they just looked at his small house and asked him if he wanted a new one for free. His parents are big landowners in town – they could sell just one square of land and they would get $100,000 – but as the NGO offered to build him a house his family said “OK, just let them do it.”

".. as if because he had helped build the house he now had a right to whatever photographs he pleased. For example, he started taking photos of the guy taking a shower, wearing only his underwear! Can you imagine how rude that seems, or what an invasion of privacy it is? "

" When I asked my neighbour “Why did you let those foreigners build your house when you knew you would have to rebuild it?” his answer was “Because they will pay money to do it.” There is very little understanding about the drive that volunteers have “to do good” or their incorrect assumption that if they don’t do it, no-one will."

"Are you a professional in the skill you want to offer? Have you learned how to share that skill effectively yet? If not then please don’t volunteer here! Because the thing is, if you yourself are not good at something and then you try to pass on those skills to others, everyone will just learn to do that thing wrong. "

Full http://learningservice.info/so-you-want ... -part-two/