Rethinking Voluntourism

My office job doesn’t lend itself well to blogging in a way that some other projects might. I sit in an office all day with a couple of computer programmers and IM my boss in the next office over as I evaluate their current marketing tools—not exactly what you think of when someone tells you they’re flying half-way around the globe to volunteer in Africa.

But maybe it should be.

When I first showed up at Amani last week, I was introduced into an office I would share with two young men, Matthew and Jared, who were having waaaay more fun at work than any computer programmers I’ve ever seen. As it turned out, one of them was on vacation.

Matthew Todd, the husband of Amani Children’s Home executive director Valerie Todd, is a pretty well-known programmer. While at a conference a while back, Matthew put out a call for volunteers. Amani needed a data base but could not afford the expensive man hours needed to design the system, so Matthew used the conference to invite volunteers to come to Amani and work on the project. Several people took him up on the offer, one of whom is Jared. With permission from his employer, he was allowed a short leave of absence to volunteer at Amani. He used his vacation time and took a few weeks off without pay, but was able to keep his insurance and will resume his position upon his return.

I’ve heard of a lot of people coming to Africa for a few weeks to work on small service projects, but this level of voluntourism is all too rare. Digging latrines or building schools is great but, as Matthew put it, “that is all stuff people here can do.” Technological ability, however, is very rare here and in enormous demand.
With so many companies asking people to take voluntary (or not) sabbaticals, I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t a good opportunity for some companies to allow those with specialized skills some time off to do good work.