Healing The World On A Holiday?

“Heal the world, make it a better place…” crooned the legendary King of Pop Michael Jackson. Years after the song was sung, there’s a

new path for those

who wish to heal the world: voluntourism. This new age tourism combines volunteering with traveling and opens immense opportunities to help — be it serving people, or working for the preservation of their culture.

As a voluntourist, while you tour a place, you can offer your time and talents to better the place. The best part of voluntourism is that you needn’t be affluent or have oodles of time to spare. You can invest whatever time you can to educate children, to help build hospitals or schools. The range of opportunities is immense –- from educating women about their rights to environmental conservation. The underlying concept is to give back as much as you can.

As bright as the idea seems, it has received its own share of brick bats too. Its critics perceive it as a guilt trip of the super rich; a means by which people absolve their responsibility of ‘giving back’. A contrary view also persists, that of voluntourism offering travelers a host of memories to take back, a chance to discover themselves and connect with the local communities. Supporters of voluntourism hail it as the easiest way by which individuals can get an insight into the world beyond theirs.

Since it is voluntary, travelers are not paid money for their contribution, some organisations however do offer stipends. With no barriers of age, voluntourism is open for everyone regardless of their area of expertise or nationality. Given the immense opportunities it opens up, voluntourism is developing as a niche tourism sector across countries. 

If voluntourism tugs at the strings of your heart, you have a variety of destinations to choose from – Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe. After all, what better way to heal the world than on a trip?

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