028 - Voluntourism - UNICEF | Adrian De Giovanni

I recently heard the term Voluntourism. I hadn’t heard of it, so I did some research and I found out that it was something I really needed to know more about. So I have invited Adrian De Giovanni to join us to explain all about it. Adrian is a representative from UNICEF Australia.

Voluntourism is Volunteering Tourism. It's a booming industry that's estimated to have already made around 2.6 Billion dollars. 1.6 million people volunteered last year. Due to the high amount of tourists participating in Voluntourism, there are major issues regarding child safety and job security for locals in developing countries. Adrian explains the dangers for these children and why no one should volunteer in an orphanage. 80% of children in an orphanage are not actually orphans. This is a must listen episode. Unfortunately people are trying to help and donate their time, but voluntourism is not the way to do it. Below are links to organisations that can give you more information on Voluntourism and how to volunteer in a safe way for communities and children.

https://www.unicef.org.au/voluntourism/

https://friends-international.org/

 https://dfat.gov.au/people-to-people/volunteers/Pages/smart-volunteering.aspx

https://www.rethinkorphanages.org/

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