Volunteers told ‘leave knowledge behind’

Posted 30 Mar 2009

Work abroad is best undertaken in an open and receptive manner, according to a responsible travel expert.

Sallie Grayson, co-founder of people and places, insists leaving knowledge "behind" is the best way to work out how developing countries can be helped.

She explains: "It’s about respecting the communities you’re going to, it’s about asking the community what they want for their future."

Doing this will help empower communities to make decisions for themselves, she says.

Ms Grayson adds that volunteers who believe they know what is best risk an attitude that is "rude, arrogant" and untenable.

According to a survey of 2,000 British adults conducted by YouGov and published by i-to-i last year, ethical holidays – which could include TEFL placements – are showing enormous growth.

When comparing vacations taken in the three previous years with intended trips in the next three, this type of travel showed the biggest increase (330 per cent), followed by safari holidays (263 per cent) and environmentally-friendly breaks (212 per cent).

Category: General Travel