McNair scholar explores how volunteering Volunteers travel with the best of intentions, but that doesn’t prevent the worst of consequences. That’s according to new research by Emily Crain-Castle, an international studies major and a McNair scholar at UWM. She spent the summer conducting research that examines the impact of the volunteer industry on developing nations. While her work is still on-going, she’s uncovered some chilling facts: When young people go abroad to volunteer, they’re often harming more than they’re helping. “My research question was, what factors influence the impact on communities during an international volunteer program? I looked into medical volunteering, missionaries, people that are going on spring break,” she explained. “Volunteer tourism is a multi-billion-dollar industry. People are making tons of money on this, but I’ve found not many individuals in the U.S. are looking at this in academia.” As a McNair scholar, Crain-Castle conducted her research over the summer under the guidance of Paru Shah, an associate professor of political science. UWM’s Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement program prepare undergraduate students for doctoral
studies. McNair participants are either first-generation college students with financial need, or members of a group that is traditionally underrepresented in graduate education, and have shown strong academic potential. Crain-Castle found that every year, thousands of people from developed nations travel to lend their time and talents at places like medical clinics, orphanages, and schools in developing nations – places such as Africa, South America, and southeast Asia. While they often travel with the desire to make a positive impact on the world, she says that their efforts can many times harm the area where they volunteer. Her research over the summer identified four key areas of negative impact: •
International studies major Emily Crain-Castle stands in front of her poster outlining her research at a conference in Austin, Texas. Crain-Castle is a McNair scholar and spent this summer studying the impact of volunteering in developing nations. Photo courtesy of Crain-Castle.
Economy. “For instance, we as westerners bring things like donated shoes or clothing into these countries, but they actually take away from the (local) economy. People won’t buy clothes or shoes locally and support business owners,” Crain-Castle said.
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Or, she said, people volunteering to do work for free may displace local workers who would have been hired to perform the job instead.
“We believe different things and we go about things differently,” Crain-Castle said. “Going with that mindset into a community and not having that education, we could end up doing things the wrong way.”
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Lack of Education. Training for volunteers varies wildly depending on which organization they travel through. Many times, volunteers will lack cultural understanding about the area they’re visiting.
Worse yet, some volunteers aren’t qualified in the areas where they’re trying to serve – as medical practitioners or counselors, for example. Crain-Castle points to the story of Renee Bach, who founded a medical clinic in Uganda and was later accused of performing clinical procedures on children, despite the fact that she is not a doctor.
12 • IN FOCUS • October, 2019
