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Orphanage volunteering (also known as voluntourism or orphan tourism) describes an activity in which short-term volunteers engage in day-to-day caregiving activities with vulnerable children and youth living in residential care. Volunteers (most of whom are from high-income countries) work as temporary caregivers for children (most of whom are in low-income or middle-income countries), typically interacting with them for several hours each day during their visit. Each year, thousands of religious institutions, universities, and non-profit organisations sponsor such volunteer trips. Much of…
In this piece for Health Progress, the Journal of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, Shannon Senefeld, Philip Goldman and Anne Smith explain why many aid groups are working to end the use of orphanages for children in favor of family-based care and describe the work of the Changing the Way We Care initiative which seeks to "mobilize other likeminded organizations, raise awareness, promote new policies and encourage well-meaning donors to shift their support away from orphanages and toward families."
"Part of the work includes educating anyone who hopes…
"Orphanage volunteering and the industry that has emerged to support it have contributed to a system in Kenya and other parts of the world that creates a demand for institutions and children," writes Michelle Oliel of Stahili in this opinion piece for CNN. "The perfect 'buyers' are fee-paying voluntourists -- well-intentioned individuals who want to help. Preying on these good intentions, orphanages claim to provide care for 'orphans,' but in reality, these organizations are often sources of profit for sometimes unscrupulous operators who recruit children to orphanages and exploit them for…