Responsible volunteering


Sadly, that “should” conceals a multitude of sins. For every wonderful, worthwhile volunteer placement, there are plenty of ineffective or just downright unethical ones. Even “good” placements can become “bad” ones very quickly if the volunteer’s skills aren’t properly matched with local needs.
It’s extremely hard to sift through the options and pick a placement which is both beneficial to the host country – and a good match for the volunteer’s own skills. So how can you choose? Organisations with the highest fees may not necessarily the most responsible – and cost may even have an inverse relationship to the value of the placement. Likewise, clever marketing can entice volunteers, but mask the effectiveness – or otherwise – of the project, so a flashy website or brochure is another unreliable way to assess an organisation.
Our Volunteer travel Holidays
Volunteering with bears in Romania
Volunteer at an inspiring bear sanctuary in Transylvania
Namibia wildlife sanctuary volunteering holiday
Care for rescued animals in Namibia
Orangutan conservation holiday in Borneo
Meet Iban tribes and encounter orangutans in Borneo
Family volunteering with elephants in Sri Lanka
Family volunteering with elephants in Sri Lanka
Borneo wildlife volunteer project
Encounter orangutans and elephants in the Bornean jungle.
Whale & dolphin research in Ligurian Sea, Italy
Whale and dolphin conservation trip
Dolphin conservation holiday in Greece
Holiday on stunning Greek Island with daily dolphin tours
Volunteer with monkeys in South Africa
Help re-habilitate orphaned monkeys in beautiful rural South Africa
Whale conservation holiday in the Azores
Help assist in integral whale and dolphin conservation!
Family volunteering with turtles in Costa Rica
Family turtle conservation volunteering in Costa Rica
Seychelles Island conservation holiday
Volunteer on an exclusive island paradise in the Seychelles!
Turtle conservation in Costa Rica
Join a conservation team protecting sea turtle populations
Marine conservation holiday in Thailand
Join an innovative marine conservation programme on Koh Tao
Marine conservation in Belize
Help us protect coral reefs and marine ecosystems!
Endangered wildlife conservation in South Africa
Award-winning, Fair Trade certified wildlife conservation!
Wildlife conservation in Borneo
Conserve orangutans and elephants in Borneo's rainforests
Orangutan sanctuary volunteering in Borneo
Care for stunning endangered orangutans in beautiful Borneo
Brown bear tracking in Northern Greece
Track wild bears & explore the wilderness with park rangers
Peloponnese turtle conservation holiday, Greece
Sea turtle volunteering on stunning Greek beaches
Family volunteering with bears in Romania
Unique family volunteering holiday at a bear sanctuary
Mountain gorilla project in Uganda
Work towards conservation of the majestic gorilla in Uganda
Malawi volunteering holiday
Volunteer at Africa's top wildlife sanctuary
Family elephant refuge volunteering in Thailand
Family elephant refuge volunteering in Thailand
Borneo orangutan conservation volunteering
Care for rescued orangutans in beautiful Borneo
Orangutan volunteering in Borneo
Volunteer at an award-winning orangutan rehabilitation centre in Malaysian Borneo
Family volunteering in Thailand
Family wildlife sanctuary volunteering in Thailand
Yoga in India and volunteering holiday
Enjoy yoga & volunteer in the exotic India
Family volunteering with monkeys in South Africa
Hands-on family volunteering with monkeys in South Africa
Tanzania volunteering projects
Have fun by helping people help themselves
Teach children in Patagonia, Chile
Teach English in the magnificent scenery of Chile, Patagonia
People & culture
Orphanage volunteering
When it comes to responsible volunteer travel, few issues are as controversial as working with vulnerable children. Responsible Travel launched an orphanage campaign in 2013, resulting in the removal of a number of trips from our site.Some of the key issues:
Teaching abroad
Education is often identified as the number one need in developing countries – and volunteers are stepping up to share their skills, language and knowledge with those who may not be fortunate enough to have access to the same levels of education. However, academic placements that were once reserved for long term, skilled volunteers (think VSO) are now being opened up to pretty much anyone from aged 17 upwards, with or without qualifications, and for as little as a few days – or even hours. In many cases, the only requirement is that you can speak English.There is a common perception that speaking fluent English qualifies you to teach it, but unless you’ve learned about basic classroom management and different teaching techniques (which vary widely depending on culture and age) – not to mention the tricky difference between the present perfect and the past simple – then your contribution will be limited. That’s not to say your native English can’t be of any use; classroom assistants are incredibly valuable in helping with group exercises, correct pronunciation and conversation sessions. But you shouldn’t be preparing lesson plans or leading a class alone unless you are qualified to do so. Less experienced volunteers can also lead after school clubs, help with homework and organise activities such as art and sports sessions, as these are in addition to – not in place of – their school curriculum.
Short term placements can lead to a revolving door of volunteer teachers which is highly disruptive for children’s education. Pupils have to constantly adapt to new teaching styles – whereas in longer placements of a month or more, it is the volunteer who learns to adapt to the class and culture. There is a consistency in the curriculum; topics and activities aren’t repeated; and – crucially – the volunteer has chance to build relationships with the pupils, members of staff, and the wider community. However, teaching assistants can attend for shorter durations.
What you can do:
Day visits to schools
Some operators include the option to visit a local school for a day in their itineraries. Please note that we do not promote day volunteering trips and will only promote a day visit to a school which takes place during term time if there is clear benefit to the children in terms of education and resources, and where disruption to class time is kept to an absolute minimum.
We would expect that visits of this nature should not occur more frequently than once a month, especially for smaller schools with fewer separate classes. Where schools are larger with more classes, we would expect them to be visited on rotation to avoid repeat visits to any one class more than the minimum of once a month.
Tourists must be accompanied at all times by a teacher or representative of the school and we would expect any gifts to be approved by the school and tour company prior to arrival.
Wildlife & environment
Hunting’s darkest side
A horrific abuse of a volunteer’s trust and a particularly nasty hunting practice, 'canned hunting’ is a prevalent problem in South Africa. Organisers breed lions and tigers, then advertise for volunteers in to look after the cubs – bottle feeding them, hugging them, walking them and playing with them as if they were kittens – so they become habituated. The volunteer thinks they are doing a worthy job looking after vulnerable big cats, but once they become too big and risky to play with, those cats are will be sold on to a canned hunting farm, a private reserve where the wealthy can buy a permit to shoot themselves a lion, keep the pelt and take a dead lion selfie as a souvenir. Because the lions have been habituated by unsuspecting volunteers, they don’t have the inherent fear that a wild lion would have of humans, so they’re easy pickings. It’s horrific for the cats – and a gross abuse of the volunteer’s time, money and trust.

There are some reserves where lions are bred to be released into the wild and everything is hunky dory. Crucially, these projects are not very hands on, as habituated lions without a fear of humans would simply be too dangerous to release. Big question marks should always linger over volunteer holidays that offer you the promise of walking, playing with and hugging baby lions – as always, the solution is to ask a lot of questions.
See our wildlife conservation volunteer guide for more information about the issues surrounding handling wildlife and choosing legitimate placements.
The elephant in the room
Following Thailand’s ban on commercial logging, hundreds of elephants – once used to haul logs –effectively became “unemployed”. Sanctuaries have since spring up across the country and many offer volunteer placements for those who wish to help out by preparing food, cleaning enclosures and bathing the elephants in rivers. However, in a bid to entice both volunteers and tourists, many sanctuaries also offer elephant rides and performances – neither of which is ethical, as the elephant must be brutally treated in order to perform. Worse, as captive elephants become an increasingly popular tourist attraction (it is extremely hard to breed them in captivity) young elephants are being taken from the wild – which often involves killing their mothers and other adults in the herd, decimating the remaining wild populations.What you can do
Our elephant volunteer placements do not visit any sanctuaries which permit elephant rides or performances – and we only permit elephant rides in exceptional circumstances, where it supports wider conservation efforts. See our Elephant trekking holidays guide for more information.
A number of us at Responsible Travel have volunteered abroad at some point in our lives, with mixed results. However, this has made us more knowledgeable about the types of experiences out there, the questions to ask the organisation and anything that should set alarm bells ringing.