THE STAR: Each winter, friends of mine fly to Central America as part of a church group and spend two weeks digging wells and repairing schools in impoverished rural villages….
Canadians “believe that having good intentions will lead to a good outcome, and that is not always the case,” says Nutt, co-founder of War Child Canada, an international agency that assists war-affected children and women.
In particular, Nutt is highly critical of the booming industry of volunteer tourism, dubbed “voluntours.” These programs, run largely by for-profit entities, charge from $2,000 to $12,000 for a two- or four-week “volunteer” experience somewhere in the world. What’s wrong with them?…
Speaking recently to more than 400 people at the Toronto Reference Library, Nutt said this “make-work philanthropy” actually puts local carpenters and tradespeople out of jobs and robs local high school kids of the chance to be involved in rebuilding their own schools…. (more)
