There is nothing quite like working side-by-side with your family. At home, family dynamics are often hierarchical. Parents steer the ship, provide guidance, mete out discipline, and otherwise oversee their children’s lives. Kids do what kids do: play, create mischief, delight, and challenge authority. Grandparents often oversee the overseers. They float above the daily fray, spoil, charm, and dispense wisdom. These dynamics evolve naturally and they’re different in every family. But sometimes challenging the dynamic is a good thing. It sets each family member apart as an individual.
A few years ago my husband traveled to Tibet with his grandfather. The high elevation was difficult for his grandfather, so they ended up spending a lot of time sitting with people, talking about the history of the Tibetan Plateau. Tibet is a unique place on this planet, the highest region on earth (at 4,900 meters), isolated from the rest of the world. Subsistence agriculture has traditionally been Tibet’s economic engine but tourism is becoming an increasingly important source of economic support. But the region has seen more than its share of unrest. Over the past thirty years, Tibetan separatists have been engaged in a power struggle with China, working to gain Tibet’s independence, and China has waged war in response. Human rights organizations have been working to help Tibet for years, though today Chinese influence in Tibet is commonplace.
In addition to being nominated for 4 regional Emmy awards, our documentary, “A Journey for Good” is also up for some Telly Awards — but we need your vote. Please take 2 seconds to click on the link below and give us a “thumbs up”. The more awards we receive, the more it will help us on the road to develop our series on voluntourism. Thanks!
Welcome to part two of my interview with VolunTourism.org founder, David Clemmons. Clemmons is one of those thinkers who sees the whole field. He balances the traveler’s perspective with business acumen, providing a holistic vision of what we want out of volunteering and tourism, how we can do it responsibly, and how it will evolve over time. In part two, we explore the role of the Internet in the voluntour landscape and learn why Clemmons does what he does. His keen analysis makes the voluntour multiverse a richer and more intellectually interesting place for all of us. Enjoy!
David Clemmons is passionate about VolunTourism. He is the founder of VolunTourism.org, a rich online resource for people on all sides of the voluntourism industry: travelers, voluntour organizations, host communities, educators, and academics. VolunTourism.org is a public service, offering a multiplicity of perspectives in a space that has traditionally lacked comprehensive and thoughtful information. As the industry grows, Voluntourism.org continues to explore the intersection between volunteerism and tourism: successes, failures, and implications. Mr. Clemmons was kind enough to speak with us here at Journeys, to share his unique perspective on this vast and swiftly evolving industry.
This is part one of a two-part interview. Stay tuned for part two tomorrow.
As we’ve explored here before, attracting volunteers to your organization can be a challenge. It seems like new organizations emerge every day, and so many of them have solid, responsible infrastructures that support worthy causes. There are a lot of volunteers out there, and chances are, if your organization is sound, some of them will find you. But how do you cultivate a volunteer base? What is the best way to draw volunteers to your organization, like bee pollinators, ready to spread your message and nurture your cause?
Students are some of our most important volunteers. These are young people, excited to learn and to grow, often having their very first experiences overseas. College is a time of transformation, when children become adults. It’s a time when we learn about ourselves: how we learn, who we want to be, and what matters most. When I think back to what I was like before college, I remember feeling scared, like I didn’t have the stuff to be bold and outgoing. I relied heavily on my parents. I wanted desperately to be independent but didn’t know what that meant, or how to achieve it. College helped me to mature, but travel was what really challenged me to think deeply about life choices and to ask myself a very important question: how was I going to save the world?
Breaking news: Journeys for Good receives four regional Emmy nominations. Our pilot program, “A Journey for Good: Tanzania”, which aired on public television last year, received four regional Emmy nominations — 2 for program producer and 1 for writer, 1 for director of photograhy. It’s a day of celebration here at Journeys for Good! Fingers crossed for a golden statuette at the ceremony in June and onto the series!
Why do we volunteer? We want to help. We want to leave the world in a better place than we found it. We want to matter. Sometimes, we want to heal. I’ve explored the many ways volunteering helps teach a person to be a global citizen, and the many ways it enriches the spirit: helping others, seeing your work improve lives, seeing yourself through the eyes of people from vastly different worlds, feeling the connection we all share. But I haven’t explored how we can use volunteering to find ourselves—to put our pain and suffering in perspective, to get outside our own heads, and to process grief.
0