VOLUNTOURISM AND CULTURAL EXCHANGE

Cultural exchange through Voluntourism

Whether in an orphanage, a children's center, a refugee camp, a sheltered workshop, an animal protection center, a reforestation project, or an AIDS relief project, the possibilities for volunteering abroad could not be more numerous and diverse. Both non-profit organizations and commercial tour operators attract mainly young people and older individuals interested in the opportunity to travel and learn simultaneously. Through their involvement with a local organization, they aim to explore not just the tourist side of a country but gain a whole new insight into the culture of the host country and find a way to do "good" for the host country and its people. While voluntary services have long been standard practice, particularly in the context of development cooperation, a new travel segment has emerged for the tourism industry - Voluntourism. This involves participating in a charitable organization or a social institution in a developing or emerging country for one or a few weeks, as opposed to several months, as is common with classical development projects.

My Voluntourism project was with a women's initiative in Tangier, the "Union de l'Action Féminine" (UAF), in which you can participate for one or more weeks through the Voluntourism Program of the organization "World Unite!". For my research, I spent one week there as a volunteer and obtained firsthand results through participant observation and informal discussions. I gathered further in-depth information retrospectively through questionnaires sent to former volunteers, the director of "World Unite!", and one of the women in charge of the UAF via e-mail. In this article, I would like to present my case study and analyze it based on theories of cultural transfer and travel.

Description of Field

“Union de l’Action Féminine“ – An introduction

The "Union de l'Action Féminine" (UAF) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization founded in 1987 in Rabat. The Women's Initiative comprises 33 branches, including one in Tangier. Its objectives include improving the legal and social status of women and the fight against all forms of discrimination against women. The UAF meets these objectives through training and start-ups, supporting the socio-economic situation of women, and educating, in the form of awareness courses, on their legal situation. Additionally, the UAF has launched campaigns against violence against women and offers free literacy courses. Moreover, at UAF in Tangier (office is located in the district of Souani), there is a computer room and tailoring room with sewing machines for paid courses. There is also a small library and craft supplies available for the children of these women; they can be used as part of a recreational program, which also includes foreign language teaching. The women in charge of the office in Tangier are Noura, who is responsible for the organizational book-keeping, and Saloua, who oversees the daily operation and also supports an external collaborator in awareness raising courses.

The collaboration with "World Unite" began in 2009. Since then, volunteers come at irregular intervals and also revisit:

"Pour l’UAF, la collaboration avec les volontaires de l’étranger est une nouvelle expérience. On l’a commencé l’année dernière. Le nombre des volontaires varie, ça dépend tout del’organisation "world-unite" qui nous les transmet. De toute façon, on est ouvert pour tout le monde. Ça se peut, qu’on reçoit des volontaires pour une semaine ou pour plusieurs mois. Là, l’UAF est très flexible.“ (Noura)

The Volunteers

The volunteers who choose to work with the UAF have the opportunity to participate in the leisure program, such as teaching foreign languages or playing with the kids in the afternoons. They can also take care of the facilities in the house in the form of repairs.

A knowledge of French is required to work at the organisation.

“Il y en a des volontaires qui enseignent des langues (le français, l’anglais) pour les femmes et les enfants du quartier. Un autre volontaire, qu’on a reçu, était un technicien qui a réparé les ordinateurs de l’association. On avait aussi deux volontaires des Etats-Unis qui on fait un cours de peinture et de photographie pour les enfants, une artiste et une photographe. Et on a reçu deux allemandes qui on organisé et réalisé des activités (des jeux, des chansons, du bricolage) pour les enfants.” (Noura)

Overall, during my stay in Tangier, I encountered two volunteers at the UAF: Martina, in her mid-twenties, is a student of teaching English and French in Germany. She spent two weeks in the organization and provided English lessons for children aged 5 to 17 years during this time. The Swiss Catherine, also in her mid-twenties, was already a professional teacher. She taught French at the UAF; however, this was for a period of 6 months and thus does not actually fall under the heading of Voluntourism. However, since I met and interviewed them during their first four weeks of work, I would also like to use their statements.

Back in Germany, I made contact with two other former volunteers of the UAF: Simone, a forty-year-old teacher of Geography and French, who had also provided two weeks of French lessons, and Otto, in his late twenties, who, during the same period, mainly participated in repairing the computers of the organization.

I myself participated in the autumn of 2010, together with Marie, who also studied teaching in French and social studies, for one week at the UAF in an afternoon program for the children of the district. We collected materials for handicrafts, prepared linguistic games, and, along with Catherine, supported their teaching units.

Analysis of Field

The Encounter

How can the encounter between the volunteers of "World Unite!" and the Moroccan population be described? What characterizes it and perhaps distinguishes it from encounters in other forms of travel?

Firstly, a distinction must be made between the interaction with locals outside the placement and the shared time with Noura and Saloua from UAF, as well as with Fenna, the local coordinator. While the encounter with the general population, for example, during shopping or dining, has something unique and superficial, the relationship with the three presented Moroccan women can mostly be described as intense and personal, lasting for an extended period. Martina writes about her relationship with the responsible women of UAF: "The relationship was very good, almost like friends, and we did things together outside working hours." Katharina also describes her relationship with Noura very positively: "With the secretary of UAF, I had a very friendly relationship. She often invited me, and after a short time, I was taken in like a family member in her house. So, we often did things together in our free time: (...) shopping, visiting the hammam, going to cafes or the cinema together...". For Otto, however, the encounter was complicated because he felt that the behavior of the women towards him seemed "a bit secretive," which he explains through the cultural fact that it is not customary for unmarried men and women to spend time together. The volunteers also maintained a very private relationship with Fenna, as they mostly lived with her. Noura describes the relationship with the visitors to her facility similarly positively from her perspective:

“Jusqu’ à maintenant, j’ai toujours eu une bonne relation avec les volontaires. Je les aime beaucoup. On a de la chance d’avoir eu que de bonnes personnes. Oui, on passe du temps ensemble. Parfois, on sort pour aller boire un café et pour discuter un peu ou on va au hammam ensemble. Et de temps en temps, je les invite dans ma maison.“ (Noura)

In addition, there is contact with the residents of the Souani neighborhood who make use the leisure activities provided by the UAFT. Here, too, a certain regularity and thus a comparatively closer relationship can be observed compared to random encounters on the street. However, only a few children and women come to class every day, so the students change very often. Nevertheless, conversations arise repeatedly. Sabine, for example, remembers talking to the women about religion and the education system, and they invited her to a farewell party at the end of her stay.

Indirectly, one can observe with the volunteers that they chose to work with "World Unite!" to get to know the country from a non-touristic side and that they have an interest in the population and their culture. This attitude also constitutes a good prerequisite for the encounter. In the case of the three female volunteers, they also saw the work as an opportunity to gain more practical experience in language teaching.

What also favors the encounter in this case, in contrast to other forms of tourism, are the required French language skills. Katharina even attended an Arabic course, preparing herself from the beginning for a longer stay. Additionally, the volunteers all bring some form of international experience. For example, Sabine had already been to Morocco three times privately, and for Otto, the placement was part of a long journey that he "has not yet completed to this day."

As mentioned in the theoretical part, the cultural contact also depends on how much the social and economic status of the involved parties differs and whether similar goals are pursued. The social and economic status is challenging to compare since both sides come from very different contexts: the volunteers from "wealthy" Europe and the visited individuals from the emerging country of Morocco. The former spend their leisure time in UAF and are on trips, while the women of the initiative earn their living with this work and are in an everyday situation.

Nevertheless, it can be said, for example, about Noura that her family belongs to the Moroccan middle class and has a secure income. Her husband works as an accountant, and judging by their apartment, which we visited, the four-member family has a relatively high standard of living. Also, her son is enrolled in a private, fee-paying kindergarten. Thus, in terms of social and economic situations, there is more proximity than when encountering someone living at the minimum wage, like many residents of the Souani neighborhood.

In conversation and through the questionnaires, it became clear that the goals of both sides, or rather the perceptions of the goals and motivations of each other, are very similar. Both are interested in cultural exchange. The specific form in which this takes place, or should take place, I will explain in more detail under the section "Knowledge and Cultural Transfer." In this case, Fenna, who introduces the volunteers to Noura and thus establishes a certain basis of trust, acts as the "authoritative figure effective as an integrator" that can favor the encounter.

What other factors influence the encounter in this Voluntourism example? The context of the participants and the stereotypes and prejudices they bring with them are always important. From the volunteers' side, perceptions of Morocco and its population mainly come from friends' and acquaintances' travel reports, travel guides, and the information package from "World Unite!". The specific stereotypes they bring, and to what extent these are discarded or retained, are unfortunately not covered in my interviews. However, I will address this point again under "Overcoming the Neo-colonial Patterns of Distant Tourism?" in relation to the foreign and the familiar. Finally, it remains to analyze the role of front and backstage for those being visited. In contrast to other forms of tourism, the encounter with locals is not limited to service provision. On the contrary, the economic component is practically absent in the relationship with the responsible persons of UAF. Also, since the initial focus of the encounter is on voluntary work and not on the desired tourist staging of an exotic Morocco, it is easier to look behind the scenes. In addition, there is insight into the professional daily life of the women in the UAF in the somewhat poorer Souani district away from the touristy center. Even outside working hours, Noura invites the volunteers to her home, picks up her son from kindergarten with them, or takes them along on her weekly visit to the hammam. However, it remains difficult to distinguish what is "authentic" and what is only "staged" for the volunteers. For example, our meetings with Noura in chic cafes named "Glasgow" and "Madame Porte" were not really part of her daily life, as she mentioned once that she was entering these places for the first time. Although the relationship with the responsible persons of UAF and also with Fenna is described as "friendly" and experienced as very intense, it should be noted that the traveler is still in a different situation than the person being visited. The blogger Nora Dunn questions the role of locals in Voluntourism:

"[Are] they locals or tour guides? After seeing troop after troop of volunteers tramp through each week, ushered from project to project, how would you feel if you were a local? Anybody who works or has worked in the tourism industry knows what it is like to field the same set of questions coming from different people each day/week/month. You make it an amazing experience for them, and they feel very special and connected to you. But to you they’re often just another face … not her tourist hoping to see the ‘real deal’ and trying to help with the best of intentions."

Knowledge and Cultural Transfer

Having described the encounter in my case study in detail and thus the conditions for the knowledge and cultural transfer taking place here, I would now like to delve into what is specifically conveyed between the participants and in what form a cultural exchange occurs.

What do the volunteers learn? They come with the intention of learning about Moroccan culture, away from tourist attractions. This is already achieved by the location of the UAF premises. While both individual travelers and tour groups mainly stay in the museum-like Medina with its Kasbah or in the more modern Ville Nouvelle in colonial style, the route to the volunteers' workplace leads through the Souani district, a bit outside the city center. No tourists are to be found here. Only the residents of the neighborhood shop in the markets and stores, and there are no encounters with the so-called "Faux Guides" (locals who earn money by guiding through the labyrinth-like Medina but do not have official tour guide status). Here, one can observe "real" Moroccan everyday life. However, the question arises again as to the extent to which one sees what one wants to see and how the observed is perceived and filtered. Further qualitative interviews on this topic would be interesting.

But above all, through conversations with the responsible persons of UAF and the residents of the neighborhood, the volunteers have the opportunity to learn a lot about the culture and society of Morocco. And unlike conversations with Moroccans working in the tourism sector who may want to portray their country entirely positively, critical words can be spoken here. For example, through Noura, we gained a completely different perspective on Islam and the role of women. While for us, religiosity, with all that it entails, had something spiritual and peaceful in Tangier, Noura explained to us what the call of the muezzin actually involves and what the strict Islamic way of life means for daily life. Or, while we saw her as an independent, self-confident woman with her own income, she explained to us that women in Moroccan society are still disadvantaged, and their youth is spent preparing them to marry one day. For Katharina, volunteer work has changed her knowledge of Islam, her view of religiosity in general, and even in relation to her home country:

"I have been able to grasp to some extent what the Muslim faith means for the everyday life of people here. Although one cannot generalize from individual cases – as there are differences in the practice of faith for each individual – I think that religion plays a completely different role in a Muslim-dominated country than Christianity does in Europe. (…) It may be (…) that I can now better understand why there can be difficulties in communication and adaptation for Muslims in a Christian-influenced country like, for example, Germany or Switzerland. I have learned that religion has a much greater significance in people's lives than I had previously thought possible. I have realized that spirituality and faith have played a very subordinate role in my personal environment and everyday life in Switzerland. The direct engagement with Islamic culture here in Morocco has prompted me to reflect on and question my own attitude toward my faith and Christianity in general." (Katharina)

The travelers also gain insight into the education system and working methods in Morocco through their volunteer work. The UAF's leisure program fills the gaps in the schedules of children who would otherwise spend their time on the streets. Sabine was surprised by how deficient French instruction is in public Moroccan schools. And Martina did not expect "that everything is so chaotic."

But what can the host community take away from the encounter in this voluntourism example? Noura sees its benefits, among other things, in having contact with foreigners through the voluntourism program of her organization, which she finds very interesting and through which she can improve her French language skills. As for knowledge about Western culture, the Moroccan women would also have the opportunity to learn more through conversations. However, I have found that very few questions were asked in this direction. Katharina also writes that questions about her home country were always very superficial, making the cultural exchange somewhat one-sided. To analyze the reasons for this lack of interest more precisely, I also lack the surveys here.

However, what constitutes the majority of knowledge and cultural transfer for the host community in this case is getting to know the working methods and teaching methods of the volunteers. During Katharina's lessons or even during our afternoon program, either Saloua or Noura were always present and supported us in case of communication problems. They also took notes on how we worked with the children: language games, French songs with dance movements, blackboard writings, books used, craft ideas, organizational procedures, etc. Noura confirms, "We benefit from their professional experiences and working methods." The question arises as to the extent to which the didactic and pedagogical approach of Europeans is accepted and implemented. Because although Noura and Saloua speak fluent French, sometimes better than the volunteers, they do not trust themselves to teach the children. Noura was also always of the opinion that the children prefer the volunteers' lessons because they are not as strict: "Children prefer volunteers. They are nice and patient. We are different: strict and authoritarian." She described this as a state that cannot be changed.

Finally, it should be noted that the students receive foreign language skills and new learning methods from the volunteers. Sabine described the learning successes of the children as follows: "They have increased their active vocabulary and willingness to speak. Learning in a relaxed atmosphere that allows for mistakes. They have discovered a foreign language as a real means of communication. The people I taught have all learned and perceived new teaching and learning methods." Here, it would be necessary to check to what extent and whether progress is really possible within two weeks for the taught children and women.

Overcoming the neo-colonial pattern of commercial tourism?

To conclude the field analysis, I will now delve into voluntourism as a form of post-colonial travel. Can we find the described neo-colonial patterns here, as in conventional long-distance tourism? The information package sent by "World Unite!" to the volunteers begins with the words: "In Morocco, the foreign is very close." So, this is also a quest for the very "other" in contrast to the "own." However, this journey takes place under different conditions. While the volunteers are still in the privileged situation of Europeans, being able to travel easily to the African continent both financially and legally, unlike the Moroccan population, whose departure to Europe is often hindered or even denied, voluntourism does not automatically lead to economic dependence. Furthermore, the voluntourist has the opportunity to get to know a Morocco that does not just showcase its handicrafts, traditional clothing, oriental buildings, religious festivals, and typical cuisine, as in the touristy old town. Instead, they are confronted with a Moroccan everyday life marked by, from the European perspective, "backward" elements such as illiteracy, discrimination against women, and bitter poverty, but also by modern women who work, are single mothers, have studied, cook spaghetti Bolognese, wear jeans and blouses, heels, and no headscarf, and whose children watch Spanish and French cartoons. While in conventional long-distance tourism, Western elements are often ignored or overlooked, voluntourists encounter a variety of lifestyles that may sometimes be somewhat close to their own. Looking at the "backstages" of the locals, the distance here does not automatically become something culturally obsolete, and the heterogeneity of society becomes clearer.

Summary and Critique of “Travel and Help”

In conclusion, it must be noted that for a more detailed analysis of cultural exchange in voluntourism, further surveys and, above all, qualitative interviews would be necessary. Nevertheless, the results provide an approximation of the advantages and disadvantages for intercultural encounters in this new form of travel.

Compared to other forms of tourism, cultural exchange is strongly favored in voluntourism. While tourists in conventional travels mostly interact with locals working in the service sector and stay in areas of the city that have been museumized and staged for tourism, voluntourists get insight into the daily lives of people earning their livelihood in a non-profit organization or social institution and move around in neighborhoods that a regular tourist would probably never enter. Additionally, the brevity and uniqueness of encounters are eliminated. Even if the volunteer is engaged in a project for only one week, the encounter has a certain regularity and intensity. However, this depends heavily on the interest, openness, and tolerance on both sides. Certain conditions must be met for genuine intercultural exchange to take place in voluntourism. All the volunteers I interviewed had training in their respective fields, providing knowledge that was beneficial for both them and the hosts in the organization. Additionally, language skills should always be a prerequisite to undertake volunteer work in this context, as otherwise, dialogue can fail due to communication problems. The question still remains to what extent both sides can benefit from each other in such a short time of one to three weeks. For Katharina, who worked in the UAF for six months, it was evident that she was very well prepared for her stay, both in terms of prior knowledge about Moroccan culture and society and teaching materials and language skills. Knowing from the outset that one will spend only a few days in the organization might lead to less serious preparation. It is also clear that the students benefit more from language instruction the longer the volunteer stays. It should always be kept in mind: what remains when the volunteers are gone? How sustainable is the intervention? Further studies on these aspects would also be interesting.

Lastly, I would like to address the concept of "helping" again, with which voluntourism providers like "World Unite!" advertise. What does helping actually mean, and does it apply in this case? Who is helping whom?

Firstly, the term "helping" assumes that help is needed, and thus, a neediness exists. But who is capable and entitled to diagnose this necessity? This creates a power imbalance between the "superior experts from the West" and the "backward needy from the developing country." Another criticism of the term "helping" is the implied one-sidedness. However, in voluntourism, unlike longer foreign assignments, a very selfish component influences the decision to engage in volunteer work, and this is not considered. Even if the hosts can learn something from volunteers who bring certain qualifications or experiences, the question remains whether these will be implemented and, more importantly, whether they are even useful for the organization operating in a completely different context. But the most significant counterargument to this implied unconditionality and the altruism of the "helpers" is the knowledge and experiences that the volunteers take away from their intervention, often outweighing what remains with the hosts after their departure.

Looking at voluntourism from the perspective of "helping" automatically conjures negative images of young, adventurous tourists from Europe traveling to a developing country to contribute something to the poorest of the poor for a few days, thus appeasing their conscience. However, if we categorize this form of travel under the heading of "cultural exchange" and encounter the people of the host country on an equal footing, aware of what we can learn and experience from them, this newly coined and often criticized term of voluntourism takes on an entirely new connotation.

* All participant names have been changed.