learning to serve - nafsa conference june 2011

we have to learn before we can help

Creating Responsible Traveler’s Philanthropy Experiences

★  Who are we?!Ø  3.6 million UVs p.a"

Ø  12,000 travel journals"

Ø  Travel alerts, safety, Travel Smarter"

Ø  iPod / iPhone language guides"

Ø  Travel scholarships"

Ø  Ambassador program "

Ø  Footprints"

Ø  Linked with Social Media"

h"p://www.ccsnys.org/  

How  &  why  it  works  

-  Registered non-profit organisation -  Work with 3rd party charities, grassrootss and NGOs -  Source locally supported projects -  Support United Nations Millennium Development Goals -  Manage and report on charitable projects globally

• $1,106,567

• 432,040 donations

• 66 projects funded

12,821 donations

from people in 18 countries

raised $31,548

for to fund a Water & Sanitation

project

In Timor-Leste run by WaterAid

2,264 donations

from people in 21 countries

raised $6,910

to fund a Teacher Livelihood Program

In Cambodia run by PEPY

To learn more

Twitter: @tunnsey; @worldnomads;

@footprintsntwrk; @travelsafety Email: christina.tunnah@worldnomads.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/footprintsnetwork URL: http://footprints.worldnomads.com/

Youtube: Positive Footprints Channel

WHY are we HERE

Daniela Papi d@pepytours.com

pepytours.com educationabroadnetwork.org

voluntourism101.com

lessonsilearned.org

HOW

matters

Impact on…

Travelers

Non-profit partner, the issue, or the

program

Local community or

ecosystem

Travelers

Non-profit partner, the issue, or the

program

Local community or

ecosystem

You can’t know your actual impact unless you follow up, do research, and stay open to learning the realities of the impact you had.

note

What went wrong on the “voluntourism” trip?

EVERYTHING that could have gone wrong!

EVERYTHING that could have gone wrong!

All of it

Poor implementation

Bad planning

An evil guy

Lies and corruption

List of things that could possibly go wrong

EVERYTHING that could have gone wrong!

All of it

List of things that could possibly go wrong

Poor implementation

Bad planning

An evil guy

Lies and corruption

Poor pre-planning

Poor pre-planning

Poor pre-planning

!

!!!

No transparency

No transparency

$$$

$$$

No transparency

Ineffective project

Ineffective project

Little to no traveler education

Little to no traveler education

The WRONG people were let in

The WRONG people were let in

The WRONG people were let in

So… how can we prevent this?

Lessons Learned at World Nomads

•  Financial transparency not always clear – Communication w/ volunteer – Do they fund project costs via tour fees?

•  Does $ stay local/ in country or get repatriated?

•  Housing, food and safety provisions •  Research thoroughly your partners; a

360

Lessons Learned (cont’d)

•  Consider duration of trio when working with kids

•  Is LOE > than outcomes

•  Honesty and integrity are everything

•  Upside: faster feedback loop

•  Going to the place isn’t only way to leverage travel as a change agent

Where Footprints & Volunteerism Intersect

•  Partnered w/ non-profit partners that run trips (provide funding through Footprints) – Seek transformational personal experiences

& make a difference fit in with the Footprints vision

•  Projects must meet UN’s MDG; operators need to be accountable for outcomes not just tourism experience – Can be a challenge for operators who

dolphin in – Projects & needs are identified by locals

an ILLICH break

Voluntourism: What’s wrong

1)  Band-aid “solutions” 2)  Forgetting volunteers are NOT free 3)  Focusing on “things” to solve

problems 4)  Poor monitoring 5)  Skilled jobs to the unskilled 6)  Forgetting the REST of the trip 7)  Fostering moral imperialism

1) Band-aid “solutions”

Just Say NO to Orphanage Tourism

a. Orphanages are not a tourist attraction.

b. It’s not a zoo. No, you can’t pet or feed them.

c. Ask yourself: Would this be okay if this was happening in my community?

2) Volunteers are not FREE

3) “Things” aren’t the solution

but by investing time in people instead

people have the capacity and connections to reach their own goals

4) Poor monitoring can = poor impact

5) Skilled jobs take skills

7) What about the REST of the

trip?

RESEARCH: Giving your money $ You vote with your money

Do you want more kids on the street?

Poverty voyeurism is voting for poverty.

Avoid the long-neck-

women phenomenon.

RESEARCH: Giving your money

At we have made many mistakes.

Schools don’t teach kids.

Neither do pens, books, or t-shirts.

We learned we needed to invest in people to put those things to use.

RESEARCH: Giving your money

At we have made many mistakes too.

it’s not how we can save the world in a week

It’s what we can do

the other 358

days of the year

PEPY Tours is designed to inspire people to improve the way they

GIVE, TRAVEL & LIVE after they leave us

and, with a two-part fee, the donation requirement from the tour goes straight to our NGO programs

service learning only looks one way

learning service = trips where you are learning to serve AFTER you leave

the current situation

a), b), and c)

A)  Many people are marketing the “developing world” this way

Come help him.

Only you can help him.

A large part of what people “know” about “developing” countries comes from fundraising

campaigns & travel advertising

B) Sometimes we create

aid projects just to let people feel they are helping.

You know, Americans always want to paint things. They want to paint buildings, so we have a building we let them paint. Usually we have to repaint the walls after the Americans leave because they don’t do a very good job.”

-- Remarks from an African leader who felt that letting visiting Americans paint allowed them to feel like they accomplished something even though it was unnecessary (excerpt from Rethinking Short-Term Missions for Long-Term Impact by Mary Faultds)

C) We are selling what people “want”. Or do people want what we are selling?

5 Steps to Creating Successful

Learning Service Trips

1 #

BUILD

RELATIONSHIPS!

Research 2 #

Invest in people

3 #

4 #

Close the feedback loop

Follow-up & ask questions

Travel  with  us  an  make  a  difference!  

Come  support  this  organiza?on!  

Traveling  with  us  means  you  are  

HELPING  THE  WORLD!  

Join  our  SERVICE  trip!  Come  help  them!  

Buy  our  trip  and  help  this  orphanage!                                            .  

5 #

HONEST MARKETING!!!

Other RESOURCES

to consider

www.voluntourism101.com  

www.voluntourism101.com  

Child Safe

Travelers Philanthropy Handbook

Thank you!

Christina Tunnah twitter: @tunnsey email: Christina.Tunnah@worldnomads.com Daniela Papi twitter: @danielapapi email: d@pepytours.com

Photo Credits Photos from Flickr @martyn @nebarnix @lara604 @mithril @alancleaver @simulacraofmi @press the b[o]tton @claudiasnell @hrdrck @kristabrath @tormods @tamer_shabaneh @beth19 @divemasterking2000 @jurvetson @looking4poetry @garryknight @sandvand Photos of PEPY class and school Photographer: Mathieu Young