Volunteer tourism, or voluntourism, is an emerging trend of travel linked to “doing good”. Yet these efforts to help people and the environment have come under heavy criticism – I believe for good reason.

Voluntourists’ ability to change systems, alleviate poverty or provide support for vulnerable children is limited. They simply don’t have the skills. And they can inadvertently perpetuate patronizing and unhelpful ideas about the places they visit.

The trend of voluntourism has come about partly through initiatives by large-scale, well-established organizations such as UNICEF, Save the Children, CARE International and World Vision. They raise money for programmes they have developed for orphans and vulnerable children.

The design of these programmes leads to superficial engagement for volunteers. This makes it hard for them to think about – or do anything about – the structural issues that create humanitarian crises in the first place. If volunteers can understand the people they work with as citizens with rights rather than objects of charity, they can begin to think about the long-term partnership, justice and structural change.

Read the full article by Andrea Freidus about volunteer tourism from Quartz Africa