An Introduction: Preface

Preface:

"... I began to question the real value of our work and the true cause... We came here and did good things, not for the ‘right’ reasons, but to make ourselves feel good...."

When I was in eighth-grade, my parents took me and my younger brother to Tijuana as part of a volunteer effort to build houses and distribute shoes to the impoverished. The trip was organized by a well-intentioned Christian Missionary group, but the experience left a sour taste in my mouth about the nature of volunteer trips and the amount of good that could actually be derived from them.

I should probably start by mentioning that my family is not Christian. My dad grew up in Hong Kong and actually went to a Catholic School for a number of years, but came out experience of cynical about organized religion. My Mom was no less skeptical but in general, more ambivalent about Christianity. Still, my parents, wanting to expose me to religion and have me decide for myself, enrolled me in Catholic School from kindergarten and onwards. I took religion classes and participated in the sacraments that I was allowed to, but it never really made sense to me, and I eventually embraced atheism (though that discussion is for another time and place).

Back to the story, my non-Christian family decided to embark on this mission trip to TJ, partly to prove that good deeds need not be motivated by religion, and that (despite opinions to the contrary) good morals do exist in a secular world. This backdrop already paints us as tag-alongs and outsiders, which is true to an extent. But we did our best to fit and stay involved, attending Sunday service and nightly fellowship.

But because I was an outsider looking in, I began to question the real value of our work and the true cause. The goal was to build two houses in 4 days and looking back on it now, nothing went terribly wrong … (Except one incident on the second day when the brakes to the bus gave out, sending it rolling down a hill and into a house. Luckily, no one was injured and the family living in the house we destroyed was the same one we were going to give the newly built house to; so, no big deal right?)

What turned me off was the self-congratulatory attitudes of the volunteers at the conclusion of the trip. I hated the pats on the back, ‘job well-done’s, and general satisfaction with the work that was done because it seemed to me that this was the goal all along. We came here and did good things, not for the ‘right’ reasons, but to make ourselves feel good. I was disgusted that we as a group were celebrating our wonderful contribution while hundreds of families, just like the ones we helped, continued to suffer horrible living conditions.

I couldn’t help but imagine if we had donated the cost of the trip for 30 people ($2k per person in travel expenses, lodging, paid time off), we could have had 10 houses built and actually done more for the local economy by hiring local contractors to do the building. I started to feel that the entire trip was done for selfish reasons and, for fear of being a hypocrite, I refrained from participating in similar trips in the future.

So, you may be wondering …

Why am I going to Malawi this summer on a Volunteer Trip?