Cultural implications of international volunteer tourism: US students’ experiences in Cameroon

ABSTRACT

A popular trend is for US colleges to organise short-term, self-funded trips for students to volunteer for several weeks in poverty-stricken communities in the global South. To explore the cultural implications of short-term, international volunteer projects, I undertake an ethnographic study of college students of who travel to a small village in Cameroon to improve the quality of drinking water and community health. I examine whether the volunteer tourism can serve as a unique opportunity to see beyond the African stereotypes to recognise the historical and structural context in which Africa continues to suffer. Although a trip such as this can be a disruptive event for students to critically evaluate the global privileges of Westerners, students tend to experience Cameroon through the lens of popular stereotypes about Africa and Western paternalism. The encounters with Africans in the absence of sufficient education about postcolonial Africa can affirm the stereotypes and cultural superiority formed in USA because students negotiate their actual experience in ways to confirm their perception of Africa. Therefore, seminars and workshops about the fundamental aspects about global inequality can help educate volunteers about the postcolonial context of foreign aid of Western countries for the Third World, and White privilege.

摘要

现在美国大学生流行到南半球的贫困社区进行短期的、半自助的志愿旅行。为了研究这种短期国际志愿项目的文化影响, 我对在喀麦隆一个小山村从事改善饮用水与社区保健的大学生进行了一个民族志研究。我研究这种志愿旅游能否成为一种独特的机会, 让这些大学生超越对非洲人的刻板印象认识非洲持续遭受贫穷的历史与体制脉络。尽管让大学生批判地评判西方人的特权对他们来说是件虐心的事, 但是他们也往往透过对非洲人普遍的刻板印象和西方人家长制的眼睛去体验喀麦隆。在大学生没有足够非洲后殖民教育的情况下与非洲人的相处会证实他们在美国形成的刻板印象和文化优越感, 因为他们会协商他们在喀麦隆的实际经历以证实他们对非洲的认知。因此, 有关全球不平等基本事实方面的研讨会与工作坊有助于帮助志愿者认识西方国家对第三世界援助以及白人特权的后殖民背景。

KEYWORDS:

• Volunteer tourism
• technology transfer
• racial hierarchy
• white privilege
• stereotypes
• Cameroon

关键词:

• 志愿旅游
• 技术转移
• 种族阶层
• 白人特权
• 刻板印象
• 喀麦隆

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the School of Media and Communication, Korea University [grant number K1520031].

Notes on contributors

Ji Hoon Park

Ji Hoon Park is a professor of Media and Communication at Korea University. His research interests include cultural studies, documentary film and media representation.