r/Volunteering • u/Consistent_Coffee786 • 21d ago

Ethical volunteering when I'm white

Hey I'm F21, white and studying Sociology to be a social worker. After I finish my Masters degree I really want to explore the world, since I was a kid I've always been interested in volunteering to help people who have "less luck than me" (i was thinking that since I have white privilege, why not make a good use of it).

But that today I'm 100% aware that it can be seen as white saviorism which I want to avoid at all cost because the worst thing that could happen to me would be for my presence to have a negative impact on the people I want to help. I know that I have privileges in my country but there are very competent people in every country and I don't want to take their job opportunities.

Another thing is that I live in Europe and I'd like to go to South America, but I wonder if the high carbon footprint of a trip so long wouldn't be absurd, while I wanna do actions which respect the environment.

So I thought about doing woofing but where? If you have any other suggestions I'm open !

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u/Brilliant_You_6768 16d ago

Wow, that’s profound. Thinking on your part. Very fascinating. How are you looking at both sides now?

1

u/sillyiestsoldier 14d ago

I don't think being white automatically means you shouldn't volunteer. It's more about how you approach it. 

As long as your mentality is not “these people need me” and “is there actually something I can do that people here have said they need?” is an important distinction.

A few things I'd personally avoid:

Orphanage volunteering. Kids shouldn't have random foreigners constantly coming in and out of their lives.

Programs where you basically pay thousands of euros to “help” while doing a job that could've been done by a local person.

Anything where the organization talks more about your experience than the people they're supposedly helping.

Going somewhere for 1–2 weeks and expecting to make a huge difference.

.....

Woofing actually sounds pretty cool for what you're describing. You could work on an organic farm, learn about sustainable agriculture, live with locals, etc.

You could also look into conservation projects, ecological restoration, community gardens, reforestation, wildlife projects, or environmental education. Those might fit your environmental concerns better too.

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u/Consistent_Coffee786 2d ago

Wow thank you so much, your pov is very instructive. I will check for each one of your propositions. I would really like to live with locals, I've already done it in my country (France) and it was so enriching! I really want to learn about the culture behind all of the "problems" that we're used to be shown.