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A Global Girl Flashback: Experiences as a “Voluntourist”
Today, I was checking out the twitter accounts that I follow, and I saw that Observatório de Favelas had posted a link saying that one of their projects, Imagens do Povo, was on RJ TV yesterday (TV Globo’s local Rio de Janeiro news program). The tweet reminded me that I have never talked about my first experiences with Rio de Janeiro, which was through a voluntourism project where I volunteered with Imagens do Povo. I had an interesting experience and learned a lot of lessons about myself and about volunteering, and so I thought I would share them with you all.
You all should definitely check out the story about Imagens do Povo on RJTV.
Imagens do Povo
My first experience in Rio de Janeiro was the experience that I gained through volunteering with Imagens do Povo. This organization is a department of Observatório de Favelas that works to turn communication into a right accessible to all by teaching people of the favelas photograph. Through photography these communities can become empowered by having the opportunity to actively express their own perspectives and visions through art instead of simply being the victim to mainstream media.
I came to Brazil for the first time and volunteered with Imagens do Povo in June – August of 2007. I was not only enlightened with another vision of Rio de Janeiro that I would have never gained if I had just come to Rio as a tourist, but I also learned a lot about myself and it sparked my interests and got me on the path of my research in human rights, security, citizenship, and urbanism in Brazil.
It is a great project that should be recognized and seen throughout the world. If you are interesting in seeing more, you can check out their website here and the website of Observatório de Favelas here. You can also follow Observatório de Favelas on twitter under the name defavela.
“Voluntourism” – And My Experience Voluntouring with Imagens do Povo:
Voluntourism is a great idea and great way to travel and experience a new place beyond . It is really amazing to me to see that volunteering has grown so much over the last few decades. I believe that a lot of my generation is genuinely interested in learning about what goes on in the world and hopes to make a contribution to making it better.
A exhibition that they did in 2007 while I was volunteering there. Check out a video they made about it by clicking here!
With that said, ‘voluntourism’ is not as easy as it seems. It isn’t just about going to a country and working for a few months and seeing quick results. (That is another quality of our generation, we LOVE quick immediate results, like our quick communication through cell phones, and our fast internet. 
) I think that often times through “volunteering” people unconsciously imagine that they are going to go in and fix things, but honestly volunteering, especially in another country, requires a lot more than just swooping in and all of a sudden things get better.
When I first got to Imagens do Povo, I didn’t really receive a clear role. They told me to participate in the photography classes and meet the people, but I didn’t understand what I would be doing to help. I started to become frustrated by this lack of direction. But then I realized why they acted this way. Here I was, this American college girl, walking into a situation that I knew nothing about thinking that I was just going to dive on into everything and start making huge differences. I didn’t even know a tenth about what was going on in Rio de Janeiro, in the Complexo da Maré (the area of several favelas where I worked), let alone in Nova Holanda, the favela in which Observatórios is located. I didn’t realize that what they were trying to do was wait until I started to understand more about the situation before I could go in and really find a role for myself there. It was a good experience because it challenged me to look beyond my views that were kind of elitist without even knowing that they were.
Looking back on the experience, I see that I wasn’t alone. A lot of other volunteers would complain that their volunteer projects saying that they weren’t taking advantage of them, or the project wasn’t utilizing any of their skills, etc. Now I realize that it wasn’t always the projects fault, but more us volunteers’ fault with our ideals on creating quick results.
I’m not, however, saying that all volunteers are like me. Some have really been able to reach beyond these initial results and find niches and been able to really make a difference. I think that one main difference is the amount of time they have spent, and what kind of previous experiences they have had.
To be quite honest, volunteering for three months wasn’t enough to get a good understanding of project, let alone the city of Rio de Janeiro. Two years of studying, researching, and being off and on in Rio de Janeiro hasn’t even really been enough to understand this city, but at least now I know a little bit. (Sometimes I think to myself after all the books, all the volunteering, all the lectures, all the experiences, can one from the outside really ever understand.)
The experience did change me, however. In three months, what was important for me to take in was the “cultural exchange” to spread the word about the Imagens do Povo project and to share the idea that people all over the world live in different situations, cultures, societies, classes, races but the bottom line is that we are all human beings living our lives. I knew this before as a concept, but it was the first time that I experienced this idea for myself, which was really important.
I think that it is this idea that Imagens do Povo wants to pass on through their photography projects, exhibitions, and school. I think the the opportunity that Imagens do Povo wants to give to their students by putting a camera into their hands and saying, “okay, the media says this, the department of security says that, the government says something different, and sometimes people don’t say anything when something should have been said…Now you have the chance: What do you say about your life?” They want people to know that communication is important in order to gain understanding of each other, and thus it should be a universal right.
