LoadingReadyRun: Voluntourism
- Thread starter Graham_LRR
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Actually, since the setup was also a joke, I think TV Tropes classifies it as an example of Chekov's Gag.Lancer873 said:
I did some volunteer stuff in south asia... this description is pretty apt. The local bricklayers were kind to let us try to lay brick along side them. We were predictably slow. The majority of the volunteers stuck with the straight up manual labor such as sifting sand, carrying rock, etc. Most volunteers were about as efficient as the 12 year old kids that were helping out. Not bad considering how much hard labor a 12 year old village kid can actually do. 
By taking care of unskilled work we freed up the locals to do skilled labor and finish work. We were also putting a lot of funding into the project to purchase the entirety of the building materials, so I would say that our visit was a positive for everyone. The money spent to house, feed, and transport each volunteer-tourist could have paid for a lot more material and local labor in support of the local economy.
Still... pretty apt.
By taking care of unskilled work we freed up the locals to do skilled labor and finish work. We were also putting a lot of funding into the project to purchase the entirety of the building materials, so I would say that our visit was a positive for everyone. The money spent to house, feed, and transport each volunteer-tourist could have paid for a lot more material and local labor in support of the local economy.Still... pretty apt.
And that is why I get my volunteer hours the easy and fun way. You know that guy at concerts in the NGO t-shirt who asks you to sign for a petition neither he nor you know anything about: hi, I'm that guy, I get to attend this concert for free, feel good about myself, get a free t-shirt, and all I have to do is pester mildly sympathetic people and occasionally get berated by a drunk republican, crazed pothead, or very stubborn Irishman.
Eh, I bet Africans just don't want all those American Canadian immigrants stealing their well-digging jobs.
And motto'd. Time to get the meme train rolling. I've already been spreading "Sounds like my first time" as much as possible. It's catching on. I think, meme for meme, LRR has produced almost as many as Reddit, though, among a smaller community. Hmmm...If only we could measure this.
Fun fact: Graham actually is an elephant.
Funny episode. Matt looked odd without his glasses though. I'm curious if it was any harder for him to do the episode without them. Doesn't seem like it would be since he didn't have to do anything but sit there and be funny.
Funny episode. Matt looked odd without his glasses though. I'm curious if it was any harder for him to do the episode without them. Doesn't seem like it would be since he didn't have to do anything but sit there and be funny.
As someone who HAS been to Africa as a volunteer mission worker, I was a music teacher in Mali *look it up*, I feel that this video is SPOT ON as to the nature of volunteerism in first world countries, ESPECIALLY American culture.
FYI: It cost me several THOUSAND dollars just for the travel and even for the relatively short time I lived there we had rather miserable living conditions compared to the comforts of home. Not only that, the politics of the modern world are still prevalent and cause constant stress and trouble even to those of us with the simplest and purest of intentions. When passing through customs, we had our donated instruments (and even some of our personal belongings) confiscated for 2 days until we BRIBED airport officials to let us have them back. And don't think this was just bad luck, it is a very common practice. Americans are very easy to spot amongst Africans (shocking, I know) and that makes them targets because in those countries American = Wealthy and can be easily shaken down for money. By and large, to African culture we aren't really that helpful, we're just an income. Fat money cows to be milked dry. The only people we make a difference to are the individuals we interact with one-on-one. Really, my students were the only people who actually looked out for my well-being on a regular basis. Practically everywhere beyond the limits of our school was dangerous territory for a lone white bread American.
FYI: It cost me several THOUSAND dollars just for the travel and even for the relatively short time I lived there we had rather miserable living conditions compared to the comforts of home. Not only that, the politics of the modern world are still prevalent and cause constant stress and trouble even to those of us with the simplest and purest of intentions. When passing through customs, we had our donated instruments (and even some of our personal belongings) confiscated for 2 days until we BRIBED airport officials to let us have them back. And don't think this was just bad luck, it is a very common practice. Americans are very easy to spot amongst Africans (shocking, I know) and that makes them targets because in those countries American = Wealthy and can be easily shaken down for money. By and large, to African culture we aren't really that helpful, we're just an income. Fat money cows to be milked dry. The only people we make a difference to are the individuals we interact with one-on-one. Really, my students were the only people who actually looked out for my well-being on a regular basis. Practically everywhere beyond the limits of our school was dangerous territory for a lone white bread American.
