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‘Voluntourism’: Young professionals travel, teach in remote parts
Amid a growing interest of Indonesian youths in traveling, there is a new trend called “voluntourism”, which sees them travel to remote areas of the country and support local residents
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span>Amid a growing interest of Indonesian youths in traveling, there is a new trend called “voluntourism”, which sees them travel to remote areas of the country and support local residents.
Voluntourism is a portmanteau formed of the words “volunteer” and “tourism”. The voluntourists usually sign up to NGO programs that allow them to teach children in underdeveloped parts of the archipelago.
One of the organizations running such a program is 1000 Guru (1000 Teachers). Established in 2008, 1000 Guru invites Indonesian youth to become aware of the uneven distribution of academic resources to the detriment of less fortunate groups. Its founder, Jemi Ngadiono, said he was inspired to build the volunteer group when he saw children drop out of school while traveling around Indonesia.
“The youths love to travel, and they’re frequent users of social media,” Jemi says. “Combining those two things, we have created this traveling and teaching concept.”
Jemi adds that there are approximately 150,000 volunteers in 41 cities of Indonesia. The volunteers can come from any background; participation is not limited to any specific occupation.
Karina Nadila, who finished third in beauty pageant Putri Indonesia 2017, is one of many volunteers of 1000 Guru. Joining in early 2017, Karina says the programs mostly aim to inspire children in remote places by showing them that there’s a lot more than meets the eye.
Recalling her experiences in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Karina says the province lags far behind others, not just in education but in overall development.
“We prepared fun materials for the class, as the students were mostly of elementary school age,” Karina explains. “The program doesn’t use the standard curriculum, because [the children] lack the ability to absorb [that] knowledge.”
In between teaching, Karina says, she and fellow volunteers would tell the children about their professional work outside of volunteering to motivate them.
“When asked what they wanted to be when they grow up, they mostly gave basic answers, like a teacher or a policeman, they don’t know much about other occupations.” Karina explains.
She adds that the more interesting aspect of the 1000 Guru program is that it takes participants to places off the beaten track and that it gives them insight into sides of Indonesia they may not know.
Another volunteer, Kemal Temenggung, first experienced the program in 2017, and he has participated every year since.
Kemal, who originally only wanted to travel to NTT, says the feeling of giving to others is rewarding.
“Through this program we have the chance to meet people we wouldn’t expect to meet,” Kemal says. “In addition, I’ve also realized how important education is in broadening our minds and shaping our dreams,” he concludes.
Despite the good intentions, 1000 Guru and other groups offering similar programs have also been criticized, with some saying the short-term teaching program disadvantaged the children, as they did not really get anything out of the short-term interaction.
University of Indonesia communications expert Devie Rahmawati says the traveling and teaching concept is not a bad thing per se, but it does tend to be more beneficial for the volunteers, since it can support their branding or improve their résumé.
“It needs firm regulations and support from the government, so that the teaching program is more efficient,” Devie says. “It would be even better if it could have a sustainable impact [on the children].” (dmy)
