Elisa Sabatini: “Be as specific as you can about what you hope to achieve from the trip, and then find a program that suits your expectations.”
Bio: Elisa Sabatini serves as the Executive Director for Los Niños, Inc. She is responsible for providing strategic direction, supervising staff, creating new programs, and securing all resources for activities in Mexico, the United States and Canada. Program areas include family health, nutrition, micro-finance, sustainable agriculture, community organizing and development education. In 2003, the VolunTours™ “social business” joined the family of Los Niños’ programs.
Elisa formerly served with World SHARE for fourteen years. She served as Mexico Director (1984-87) involving food movement and storage, inventories, community development projects, program proposals, fundraising and evaluation. As Country Director in Guatemala (1987-91), Elisa set up systems, trained staff in accounting software, developed food handling and warehouse manuals, designed program proposals in the areas of maternal child health, agroforestry, infrastructure development and community banks/income generation.
Elisa was named the World SHARE Regional Director for Latin America (1992-98) and coordinated participatory processes to create an autonomous SHARE organization in Guatemala as well as develop self-funding food distribution in Mexico and a rural agricultural loan fund. In Mexico, the Compartamos (SHARE) program is now the largest micro credit initiative in the country. Elisa joined Los Niños in 1998.
1. Can you tell us a little about voluntourism?ES: Voluntourism is a blended experience of volunteering and touring in a location. The volunteering aspect can be anything you do that you don’t get paid for, and the tourism aspect may be educational, cultural, or it can just be fun. The volunteer work is specifically defined by the communities the tourists are visiting, and often times the community members participate with the volunteers on projects.
2. How has the industry of voluntourism developed in the past few years?ES: Voluntourism has existed for millennia. The growth of voluntourism in western culture came from The Peace Corps when it was conceived in the 1960s. Recently, a new trend in voluntourism has been shorter term, project based experiences in the tourism market.
Today, there are many organizations that are setting up opportunities for voluntourism. Airline Ambassadors, Ambassadors for Children, and GeoVisions are examples.
3. What are the current trends in voluntourism?ES: Currently, it is predominately women that are enjoying volunteering. 70% of people that travel as a voluntourist are women.
4. What precautions should someone take to ensure safety when becoming a voluntourist?- Research and investigate the project or the work that you will do during your stay.
- Be clear about the details. Are you sure someone is picking you up at the airport? Is your ground transportation, lodging, and food organized?
- Understand the waivers you are signing. At my organization, we ask our voluntourists for medical waivers, not only to see if there is a pre-existing condition but also to channel the volunteers towards the right medical facility if there is an issue.
- Think about getting traveler’s insurance. If some reason you are booked to go on a trip and it is cancelled then you will be protected.
5. What are the benefits for an individual who pursues voluntourism?ES: The benefits can be enormous. You may come home from a trip feeling proud that you helped build a school or learned new knowledge about a culture. Participating in a voluntourism trip can be beneficial to your learning and can cause a transformational change in your life.
But with that being said, you will only benefit from being a voluntourist if you know your expectations prior to departing for a trip. Some voluntour projects call for working from dawn to dusk, so if that is what you are looking for, then go for it. Other programs are more focused on tourism. You may work really hard for four or five days and then go to the beach and tour the other four days. A third option is to work and volunteer in the morning and do something cultural in the afternoon. Be as specific as you can about what you hope to achieve from the trip, and then find a program that suits your expectations.
6. What are the benefits for a host community associated with the voluntourism?ES: Often time, it is the communities that clearly define the work to be done for a visiting group. For example, some villages are being affected by climate change and have to be moved away from water, so a visiting group will come in and help to completely relocate the village. You know you have benefited the community when you have accomplished the tasks the community sets forth at the beginning of the trip.
7. What are the different motivations behind becoming a voluntourist?ES:There are many motivations behind voluntourism. For instance, some people are motivated by the projects. Knowing that you are going to accomplish something important is a huge motivator. Still others are motivated by the community engagement. This can be anything from playing with kids to having a discussion on the issues of civil war and dealing with its aftermath. Others enjoy voluntourism for the adventure.
8. What do you value most in your work? ES: I most value seeing young people transformed by having done something. We hear that they often have changed their major at the university. They go back with a different notion of a culture. They may vote differently on particular issues. It’s wonderful to see.
On the community side of it, it is amazing to see how the work of a community can be enhanced and catalyzed by volunteers. Visiting groups bring resources that greatly benefit the community and projects are accomplished much quicker. For example, in my work there is a co-op of women who work with bee hives. They started with two hives and now have 250 hives. They sell granola, honey, and soap all made from natural products. Visiting groups come in and assist these women by helping with the upkeep, building hives, or doing a census. The women are so grateful for the help.
9. What do you value outside of your work?ES: Nature. I grew up in the mountains of Colorado and as a young person my main motivations were camping and skiing. I still greatly enjoy those things today.
10. How did your education prepare you for your career?ES: I spent probably a good few years going back and forth between the US and Europe, and I considered it education. I studied medicine and I thought that would be what I ended up doing. Due to chaotic historical events in Spain, where I was living, I changed my course, roamed in Europe a little longer and came back. After my return I found my interests were international issues, public health, nutrition, and agriculture.
Today my work focuses on nutrition and agriculture programs with adult education and transformative leadership education for women.
My advice: you will probably find your way if you listen to your heart above all other things.
11. What advice do you have for young women who are interested in voluntourism but are not sure it is for them?ES: Look inside yourself and identify what it is you hope to learn about yourself or another culture. But also just do it. Give it a try. Get your toes in the water.
12. Is voluntourism best suited for the individual, or is it an opportunity for families and friends to experience together? ES: For both! For individuals that participate, sometimes they meet groups in the process and make great friends. Another great trend we are seeing is grandparents taking grandkids on trips. Voluntourism is suited for individuals and groups alike.
13. If our readers have questions, can they contact you? ES: Sure! Email would be the best way to reach me. elisa@viainternational.org