Views on Overseas Community Involvement Programmes (OCIP)

Blogging about OCIPs hasn't been something that has crossed my mind, since I have views on the matter that could be deemed controversial and off-putting to many. I was lucky to have consulted a friend on the matter to have found my views are not as "radical" as once I thought it was. I was personally convinced to blog about my views on the matter as I feel that my points are strong enough to create a discussion on the matter.

By now, one should get the feeling that I am not supportive of OCIPs. However, my objective of this post is not to demonize or vilify OCIPs, but rather to provide an alternative view to how we should view OCIPs, and whether they are truly serving their purpose. However, my views in this post will be blunt and rarely sugercoated, as per all my other posts. I hence welcome disagreement and am willing to engage readers in a civil discussion. I also put out this disclaimer that I have never been, nor applied to be part of an OCIP, nor do I have any intention to do so in the foreseeable future.

I am of view that OCIP are certainly unfair to both the participants and the beneficiary. For the participants, their hard work stretches months before their trip. This goes beyond just planning for the trip, but involves numerous phases such as publicity, fundraising, liaising with external parties, and their own personal schedules to juggle. Their hard planning leading up to the trip cumulates in a 1-2 weeks trip to their beneficiary. During the trip, they are often unable to fulfill their mission as they are met with language barriers and children that may just want to play. This is not to forget the money spent for air tickets, time and effort invested in the trip. The input simply is too much compared to the output. And is it worth it?

On the beneficiary point of view, the beneficiary does not benefit much. For the children, they really do not benefit much from one week of "lessons". What they may gain is friendships with the participants, but do these friendships even stretch beyond the trip? How many participants will return the next year, the following, and so on? This may even be hurting the children more, giving them the false impression of new friends, but these "friends" will go back to their regular lives, never to meet them again. For the school, refurbishment works and monetary donations do help, albeit to what extent? Participants can touch up the paint, build fences, cover up potholes. But there are deeper problems that cannot be solved with just one week of labour. You can donate money, but you cannot solve poverty and corruption in just a week. You can donate stationery, but you cannot solve the poor quality of education in just a week. You can be their friend, but you cannot solve their family and societal problems in just a week.

OCIPs, to some extent, only stand to benefit the participants more than the beneficiaries. I know some participants personally, and I do question their motivations for going for OCIPs. Do they really care for the children, or are they just doing this for more CIP hours? I'm certainly not generalizing all OCIP participants, some of these participants I know are the most genuine and well-meaning people I have encountered. However, now that I've established that OCIPs do very little to help the beneficiary, only the participants benefit. Be it a mental growth opportunity, having an experience of living in sub-par conditions and appreicating what they have, or just checking off another item in their bucket list. Note that here, only the participants benefit as they grow to become better people. 

The meaning of CIP, however, is to help others. I am certainly happy for my peers who have grown through OCIP, but if the beneficiary does not really benefit, is the outcome of the OCIP really achieved?

I definitely acknowledge and welcome the fact that most participants of OCIP are good natured and wish to do good for the community. So why not start locally? Doing local CIP has multiple benefits.
  1. Money is not wasted on airfare and can be put to better use.
  2. More time can be committed to CIP projects as projects can be carried out on a frequent timeframe (weekly, fortnightly, monthly).
  3. You can actually see improvement in the beneficiaries over time. If you don't, you can immediately make changes and try again the next time.
  4. The kids and elderly you meet can actually be your friend, since you see them so often
  5. Their issues are more local, we can solve them with the help of the beneficiary, NGOs, and our local community.
I am a firm believer that before we go overseas and help others, maybe we should start by helping our own. Given that there is now an aging population, there is a greater need for volunteers on the ground to engage seniors. So to my peers who actively involve themselves with OCIPs, why not try local CIPs for a change? You'll be surprised at how much change you can bring to someone less than an hour from your home, rather than a few hours plane ride away.

In conclusion, OCIPs are certainly not a bad thing. In fact, they stem from good-hearted individuals who want to help others. However, OCIPs have really not served their purpose and are benefitting participants much more than beneficiaries, which isn't the point of (O)CIPs. Doing local CIPs can help achieve more for the beneficiaries over time, while the participants are able to grow as good people too.

To end off, I would like to invite the reader to read what a fellow blogger has to say about "Voluntourism". Please view the article at http://tiyanaj.com/social-change/voluntourism-more-harm-than-good/.  

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