To be or not to be engaged?: That is the question.

During the late twentieth century, international volunteering has become one of the fastest growing trends in traveling. The rise of the voluntourism sector has been accompanied by a rise of research on this matter. Yet, compared to volunteers and volunteer tourism organizations (VTOs), host communities receive the least attention in studies on voluntourism. This research has been devoted to bring forward the local, Ghanaian perspective on Western volunteers in community development projects. Results from semi-structured interviews with community members of Tinkong, Ghana, indicate that support from outside, including from Western volunteers, is considered necessary for Ghanaian communities to further develop. At the same time, true contact between volunteers and hosts mostly lacks, which forms a profound barrier to the establishment of cross-cultural interaction. Besides, the way participants speak of Western engagements reveals that their judgement is not just based on the kind of...Show moreDuring the late twentieth century, international volunteering has become one of the fastest growing trends in traveling. The rise of the voluntourism sector has been accompanied by a rise of research on this matter. Yet, compared to volunteers and volunteer tourism organizations (VTOs), host communities receive the least attention in studies on voluntourism. This research has been devoted to bring forward the local, Ghanaian perspective on Western volunteers in community development projects. Results from semi-structured interviews with community members of Tinkong, Ghana, indicate that support from outside, including from Western volunteers, is considered necessary for Ghanaian communities to further develop. At the same time, true contact between volunteers and hosts mostly lacks, which forms a profound barrier to the establishment of cross-cultural interaction. Besides, the way participants speak of Western engagements reveals that their judgement is not just based on the kind of work that Western NGOs or private organizations do, but that it also strongly relates to factors that go beyond the impact of volunteers themselves, such as Ghana’s political situation. More longitudinal research on voluntourism helps in working towards the holistic, multi-disciplinary understanding of the topic that is needed.Show less

Leiden University Student Repository

Documents

In Collections

To be or not to be engaged? That is the question.