Support not saviourism: Building partnerships with communities

You may have heard the terms ‘white saviour’ or ‘voluntourism’ used to describe volunteers who travel to ‘help’ those in less developed countries but do so in a way that is self-serving and primarily about the volunteer’s experience. Some volunteer work, though well intentioned, can perpetuate negative stereotypes of saviourism rather than developing a partnership with mutual benefit.

Building the foundations of truly ethical and sustainable work within developing countries takes humility, collaboration and true commitment. That’s what makes Camps unique. We are all about mutual respect, partnership and bringing people together from different parts of the world to work towards a shared vision – to make the world a better place for all who live in it. We don’t always get things right, but we never stray from these important principles.

At the heart of the #CampsEffect is our mission to create experiences that have a positive impact for both our travellers and their host communities. It is through our genuine partnership with communities that our expeditions achieve both these things in equal measure. 

Like all good relationships, ours with the community is an equal partnership

If you’ve looked at our website, been to one of our presentations or met some of our crew, you’ll notice we talk a lot about long-term relationships with the communities in which we work. These are not just words, they reference a founding principal of the company.

To understand the issues that face a community we believe we have to establish a relationship with them; become a part of the community. Our relationship with each community encompasses most of the things that all good relations normally do – compromise, getting to know each other, dialogue, the odd argument and most importantly a sense of equality. We are working with the community, on the basis of an equal relationship.

Permanent camps within communities create unique opportunities for locals and for travellers

Our camps are inside communities. We build them with the community and employ local people within them. From our side, that generates employment and there are dozens of community residents around the world on employment contracts with Camps who work hard and receive a salary.

From their side, it gives them the opportunity, beyond income generation, to present their culture to hundreds of students from around the world. They want to do that. They believe, rightly, that they have something to say, comments to make on the way we are all living and on the possibility of doing things differently.

It’s not about ‘help’, it’s about reciprocal, mutual benefit

We are not turning up and ‘saving’ the local community. We (Camps and our travelling groups) are there working with them, learning and growing.  At the end of it all, they have a new building or tree nursery, for instance, and our groups have grown and learnt – reciprocal and equal.

The whole process starts with a dialogue

In the communities, there is a committee which runs all their communal affairs. We will meet with these committees and there will be a series of discussions to establish two things: if we understand the community’s issues, and whether or not we can contribute.

We have to know that we can engage with local people on real issues, with realistic goals that are sustainable, practical and impactful. Meanwhile they will try to work out whether or not they want to work with us. They have to know that what we are saying is real, and that they actually want groups of volunteers in their community.

It’s a long process, but we’re committed to getting it right from the start

There have been many instances when it has been a “no” to those questions after many meetings and weeks of work, but that’s ok because a relationship that is going to last years has to be correct at the beginning. We want to make sure that there is no sense that we are doing them a favour. They have to know that they have something to offer us in return, which of course, they do.

After all the talking, and signed contracts we get to a point of establishing project goals that we identify together. To begin with, the community may not really understand what it is we can do, but over the years they certainly get it and the leadership role in identifying and establishing the project goals subtly shifts.

It is not a relationship in which we are giving and they are receiving, it is one in which we are working together towards a goal we have identified together. We generate employment, provide funding for materials and the labour of our volunteers. They contribute some labour for free, occasionally some materials and genuine expertise in local building techniques and knowledge of their environment.

We’re always learning

Our in-country teams are incredible at working with the communities and it is our responsibility to make sure that we can honestly say that we are always putting our best efforts into everything we do. All our regions are working in the same way, with adaptations for the different cultures in which we work, and this is what makes Camps so unique.

When you join us on an expedition, you’ll get to meet some of the incredible people – both from our Camps Crew and from the wider local community – who are working together to create something truly special. We can’t wait for you to become part of our story.

To find out more about the work we have achieved in partnership with local communities, have a read of our Project Report.