De hele maand mei wordt er internationaal geblogd over ”weeshuistoerisme” en vrijwilligerswerk in kinderhuizen. Dit wordt georganiseerd vanuit het internationale Better Volunteering Better Care initiatief. De eerste 10 blogs zijn inmiddels geplaatst:
1. What does responsible international volunteering look like?
2. I volunteered in an orphanage and now I campaign against it
3. #StopOrphanTrips: How will volunteer tourism organisations respond?
4. Most children in orphanages aren’t orphans: let’s #stoporphantrips
5. Are good intentions good enough? Protecting children in short-term missions
6. It is good to volunteer, but not in orphanages
7. The dark truth about orphanage volunteering
8. Children as products: the reality of orphanage voluntourism
9. Interview with director of The Voluntourist documentary: Chloe Sanguinetti
10. 10 Reasons why orphanage voluntourism must stop
De blogs en meer informatie zijn ook te vinden op www.bettervolunteeringbettercare.org.
Daarnaast willen we mensen deze maand oproepen om de petitie op Avaaz te tekenen om uitzendende organisaties op te roepen te stoppen met het aanbieden van vrijwilligerswerk in kinderhuizen. Lees meer over het waarom op onze website en richtlijnen of bekijk www.bettervolunteeringbettercare.org. Teken de petitie nu!
Volunteering or visiting orphanages can cause harm to vulnerable children. It is also driving an ”orphanage industry”, where children are being unnecessarily separated from their families.
These concerns have been widely covered in international media, but volunteer placements in orphanages are still being offered by many travel and volunteering organisations.
We are calling on these organisations to act in the best interests of the children and communities they are supposed to serve and STOP ORPHANAGE PLACEMENTS.
#StopOrphanTrips
For more information on the negative impacts of volunteering on children and families, please visit http://bettervolunteeringbettercare.org.
