Sir, VSO’s warning that gap-year volunteers are “colonialists”, who can do more harm than good (report and comment, Aug 15), is self-serving. Unsurprisingly, Judith Brodie, VSO’s director, states that VSO avoids such pitfalls.
All of us involved in sending volunteers to the developing world, VSO included, need to ensure that there is a net benefit to the host. Teenage “gap” volunteers can be problematic, since they often lack the maturity to adapt and the skills to add value to the projects they are assigned to. I know of a school in Kalimpong, northeast India, that has been traumatised by the behaviour of teenage volunteers sent by a well-known UK organisation.
It is unrealistic to claim that our volunteers are always an unmitigated blessing, but what we can do is to ensure that the host community feels that there is a net benefit.
JIM COLEMAN
Director, Himalayan Education Lifeline Programme
Whitstable, Kent
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Sir, As a recent gap-year volunteer who taught English in Bolivia for four months, I can testify that the accusation of gap-year colonialism is absurd.
I gave conversation classes to small groups of university-aged students. In an effort to bring English to life I founded an English-language newspaper in which they could write articles and read those of their friends. It is still in circulation a year later. This is one example, among many every year, of a lasting contribution made by an “unqualified” gapper whose altruism happily coincided with a desire to broaden his horizons.
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SCOTT LIDDLE
Harrow, Middx
Sir, Last September I set off to work in a Cambodian orphanage with a gap-year company. I returned to the orphanage after Christmas, have now handed my responsibilities to Khmer staff and have become the volunteer co-ordinator. We only take volunteers from gap-year organisations, except under exceptional circumstances. These enthusiastically work for three months to a year.
My gap-year project has literally been life-changing for me; I have turned down a graduate job for a career in development and aid work. Some may be able to pack their bags and set off, but there are many who need to begin, as I did, in a safe and secure way.
LYDIA SPARROW
Ilkley, W Yorks