The HuffPost article by Pippa Biddle was a mindful response to the industry of “voluntourism”. I, like the author, have gone on a “mission trip” before. My church flew a group of parishioners down to Haiti to spend a week at an orphanage helping to build church pews/benches, a goat pen, a water well, and shelves for collected donations- stuff like new shoes, dress/church clothes, books and toys. There was a lot of work to be done, but I, like nearly half of our group, was not especially strong, plus was untrained in any needed skill. I related a lot to Biddle when she said that, during her trips, she could do little else other than horse around with kids. It took very little reflection for me to feel that my presence in Haiti was not only unnecessary, but a waste of funds. It was good, holy work being done, but I know now especially that we were hardly the people to be doing it. Service is a good thing, but oftentimes the best way to serve is to help others enough to help themselves.
