November 5, 2019

Ghana: Service Learning or Voluntourism?

A contradiction that has presented itself throughout my Global Studies undergrad was the distinction between service learning and voluntourism. Ethics was always a major point of reference when analyzing the benefits of travelling abroad and offering our volunteer services. Are we taking away jobs? Why aren't we volunteering locally? Are we really providing the help they need? Are we taking advantage solely to use this experience to further our networking, careers and resume lists? These are all arguments that have been brought up by scholars and ones that I had to navigate throughout my Global Studies Experience (GSE) placement in Ghana. 

What Did I Do and Why I Was There? 
Two years ago, while attending university, an opportunity presented itself to travel to Accra, Ghana. The university called this opportunity an International Service Learning (ISL) placement as part of the GSE program. This one paired with the Queen Elizabeth II summer internship program in affiliation with the University of Ghana. This partnership allowed me to travel to Ghana for 3 months and intern at the Child Research and Resource Center (CRRECENT). My internship was primarily a research position in the Juvenile Justice Department with their overall focus being to try and determine the potential factors as to why children turn to delinquency and create programs and awareness to curve the issue. 

What Did They Gain? 
I found the placement pairing worthwhile and beneficial for both parties involved. I was able to provide a new perspective and was able to access resources, such as the University reserves, that they couldn’t. In addition, because I was delegated to researching potential cause and effects of juvenile delinquency, my findings can go on to support their programs or inform further research. I was able to harness skills learned throughout university such as academic writing and researching techniques in order to better inform the assignment at hand. This gave me a sense of usefulness, especially during the final dissemination of my findings where I got to share the results with the organization and various community members that they invited.

What Did I Gain? 
Even though this placement taught me that I don’t want a job focused solely on research, the experience still provided me with a chance to develop my academic skills and conduct critical research in a real-life context. It also gave me the opportunity to increase my social skills, intercultural competence, language skills, appreciation of cultural difference and a more experiential understanding of complex global problems. I was able to witness the inequalities, the structural barriers, and the way another country lives and organizes itself, and I can now apply this new knowledge to the rest of my schooling and life. It allowed me to harness social skills such as collaboration with an organization, speaking with community leaders (principals and teachers) and interacting with children. I gained a stronger sense of self through my ability to establish independence and navigate a new country and culture without my family and typical friends. And finally, I was able to gather experience to put on my resume and I was able to obtain a reference letter for future endeavors.

Service Learning or Voluntourism? 
In my opinion, I think that this experience was both voluntourism and service learning. This is because during the week my priority was going to my placement and getting my work done, however on the weekends I largely removed myself from that mindset and participated in more of the tourism aspects of the experience.  Although I would argue that both the placement and the weekend trips lead to different forms of learning. It also helped that I was immersed in Ghana for 3 months rather than only a week or two. I think the ISL placement can be service learning but is largely dependent on one’s genuine commitment to the experience. If one takes the tasks seriously and treats the placement with as much importance as school or a job, then the experience will be more fulfilling on both parts.

Overall, I think that the GSE program is a great opportunity because it combines both real world experience with the support of academic learning. I think this pairing better prepares a person to get the most out of their experience and it allows them to digest their experience upon return. In doing so, I think it becomes less of a “vacation” or “voluntourism” type trip where as soon as you get back you move on as though it barely happened. Actively having a space with which you reflect on the encounters and situations that arose throughout the placement is important, especially being able to do it with others who gone through a similar experience. In addition, the second part of the GSE program required each student to volunteer locally as well, therefore, reducing the ethical contradiction of why people are willing to travel abroad and volunteer but not dedicate that same time in their own community. Ultimately, the more thought and exposure that is given to the placement, the more likely it is for somebody to have a more meaningful reflection.


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Maira Gall