I Was a Humanitarian... and I Regret It
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- Опубликовано: 10 июн 2024
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WEBSITES MENTIONED
Kiva: www.kiva.org/
Me To We: metowe.com/
Created by @Hyram
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Sources:
Kiva Effectiveness:
1. www.kiva.org/about/how
2. slate.com/human-interest/2007...
3. www.poverty-action.org/study/...
Toxic Charity:
1. www.amazon.com/Toxic-Charity-...
2. www.thetravelingteam.org/artic...
White Saviorism:
1. / nowhitesaviors
2. • Who Wants To Be A Volu...
Me To We:
1. travel.metowe.com/en-CA/
2. shop.metowe.com/?_ga=2.266773...
I’ve always hated how they advertise pictures of children without their consent
That's actually a very good point.
Same.
this is very selfish and abusive practice.
If they are a child without biological parents, they definitely can not be pictured in websites or public photos
i was thinking the fucking same
I heard a story about a guy in Africa. He had a pop up shop selling clothes. When humanitarians regularly came they gave away clothes for free. The guy lost customers. He pointed at the humanitarians "why would anybody buy clothes from me, when they can get it free over there?"
Ah shit
Yep, happens with company's like toms shoes. They give them away for free but the people selling shoes who are local lose their business. So technically it helps the people get free shoes but also hurts the locals trying to make money for themselves.
@@bellavostrejs9798 was just about to comment this. Voluntourism and "charitable companies" like TOMS don't help the communities they give to. They don't even give tax money bc none of their shoes are made in Africa. They give no economic development to the African countries they give shoes to.
A huge deal with that is rice. Countries think they're helping by donating rice but um
@@peachesandpoets can you elaborate how is it problematic for rice? because I thought it is more needed than shoes and always be needed..
Why aren't high schoolers encouraged to be humanitarians IN THEIR OWN TOWNS.
Umm because America is perfect in our minds.
Because it is about having an adventure.
@@jazura2 yeah its all about adventure and hwlp
One of the best things entities can do for themselves is growing stronger and wiser...
@@jazura2 do you not think its money , i mean these people in other countries have survived for thousands of years yet now they need others help to survive ?, but the numbers have increased so much since about 1960 when charities became big , show pics of the poor there and gather money to send some people over to help them , african cities are as modern and built up as american cities , they have billionaires and millionaires and they always will if they dont spend it in their communities or people through jjobs etc , charities pay staff big salaries and get people to donate money for years , i found out that hattie mcdaniel gave a lot to building wells in africa frm the money she got from gonewith the wind and they are still building wells in africa 60 years later lol,
I am from Siberia, when I was 15 and English student, American missionaries came to our school, it was so cringy. I know they were nice and wanted to help, but it was exactly how Hyram describes it-humiliating to us. The way they patronized us and tried to teach us English using the Bible-it was pure humiliation. And then I moved to the US and saw so much poverty, drug abuse, neglect, IN THE US. I will never understand the desire of Americans to take care of the entire world-guys you have so many problems in your own country, help your own. It is not as glamorous, but there are more than enough problems in the US itself.
Truth.
Yep. I'd even say that Siberia has much LESS problems than the US. Yes, sometimes there is little money, but there are very few obese people in Siberia. Gorgeous women. Nice, natural people, living in clean nature. Healthy food. Also, Russian people are very intelligent and well-educated, with a lot of cultural knowledge.
a big part of it is ego, I see a lot of movie stars doing that. it's like they place themselves about everybody else. or some of it is guilt. you have too much money and feel guilty about it.
@@Kamadev888 thank you, there are problems in Siberia too, but it is much safer to live there. I would say US is going down big time-there are so many homeless people, too much drugs, it is not safe. We lived in New York for 10 years, and then in Hawaii for 10 years, in a good neighborhoods-my car was broken into a few times, I was robbed, our house was broken into. Kids start doing drugs in Middle School in Hawaii. There are so many homeless people in Hawaii, half of the kids in our school were from the homeless shelter, they did not even have shoes. My kids would come barefoot from school, because kids would still their shoes and school supplies. One time we came to the beach, and while were were swimming, our flip flops were stolen by the homeless people. We moved back to Siberia when our kids started Middle School, to avoid drugs and to be safe. We now live in Russia.
That’s true. There are lots of drug problems in the United States.
As I read somewhere:
If you aren't considered skilled to do the job in your own country, you aren't skilled to do it in another country either.
I used to work in the charity world for like 5 years. The amount of people that I met that fell into this over that time is hilarious. So true
this is hilarious! so true
That's debatable. I've known some English speakers that weren't good for anything in their homeland, then they travelled to a different country as English teachers, married a local and just stayed there. They were doing well, or at least better than they would in their homeland.
@@aikou2886 I agree with your point, but I think that phrase applies to westerners going to “less developed” countries and trying to help out. If they are useless here, what good will they do somewhere “less developed”?
@@JorgePerez-zh8io they just said teaching English.
this reminds me of the jim carrey quote along the lines of “imagine being homeless and someone sticks a camera in your face and forces you to accept a meal from them...” it’s so humiliating and self-centered
Absolutely
This comment to all the RUclipsrs who ‘help homeless people’ for clout and show no respect towards them.
"Forces you to accept a meal from them"???? I doubt you have to force them.... what
LL they would come off as bitchy and ungrateful if they didn’t accept the meal, and they’re being recorded, having their privacy exposed; it just takes away from the generosity and humility of the deed if you record it. they’re not being forced to accept it but if they didn’t it would make them look bad to a bunch of people who see the recording.
that’s so damn selfish
In a way, it's kind of arrogant to assume that teenagers from the West would know better how to build a house than adults from the local community in Fiji, Tonga, or wherever.
yeah especially when people from those populations are much better with their hands than the average bum ass westerner lol
"kind of" arrogant? lol It's downright idiotic, and yes, very arrogant, no respect at all.
@@themudpit621 it's not THAT terrible. It's an easy assumption to make considering the quality of life over there vs over here. It's just ignorance, not a lack of respect.
Bro..... I just got a job at a roofing company in Florida.....the level of difference in Florida roofs vs Michigan (or something idk) is crazy
Well not really because they are being directed by civil engineers backed by hundreds of year of industrial revolution and science in their heritage. I'm not saying there's no inherent arrogance involved, but when a Western teenager goes over to these communities, it's not because the community is doing well. Maybe their government is the problem or there's so few resources or education that they're not able to deal with their own issues. But don't go so far up the humanitarian arsehole that you actually start thinking Western teenagers shouldn't go and help because that would be so totally, like, selfish. Teach a man to fish... at least
"Clean your room before trying to change the world."
Your room can be your own family, or home community.
Very wise words.
It made me think of when I have helped family or friends with something like "cleaning their room". I never just went and did as I thought best. It's their home, not mine. They knew what needed to be done, how it needed to be done, where things should be put. Certain tasks were best left to them; my "assistance" would just complicate things.
By following their directions I could actually be of help. To do otherwise would have been disrespectful, even if I thought I could help more "my way". It would have created a mess they would then have to clean up once I left. Much like what happens when "humanitarian" works are carried out in thoughtless, inconsiderate ways.
@@starbug3408 I like your detailed example. This is where humility and gratitude, and just basic respect comes in. You may have ideas but you don't get to ram your ideas down the throats of others.
Wise words this is one of Jordan Peterson’s books
Jordan Peterson 👏
@@Laura-Yu ǝʌo⅂V3𝔏𝔬𝔳𝔢▙▄ █ 🅶 █▬█ ▜𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮▛𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮Oͦmͫक्रिस्टल
Oh, this reminds me of those people who take selfies of themselves giving homeless people useless things like airpods or merch to seem saintly.
ALIcIA fAE ikr? If someone truly wants to help, they Don’t take slefies while doing it. And some people only go there to then show how good people they are and stuff, sick!
Mr Beast
I hate that. I've helped out people because it was the right thing to do and it was completely anonymous. If you're looking for praise or attention you're doing the wrong thing.
@@eruusky kind of. But at least he planted lots of trees.
@@faye7199 Yeah, that was undoubtedly good. I took issue with his video where he gave away $1million to one man but had the man spend a lot of the money on useless things for a video. Very irresponsible and unethical
This is called poverty porn, where the west has romanticised trying to help out where they are not needed.
Worst thing is: its not rare that the west is the reason that country needs help in the first place...
Jakov Misailovic Exactly ! Especially because countries like France pillage Africa. 85-90% of their revenue is from Africa, and then they send people to help out, but their country is the reason they’re poor in the first place lmao
If they are not needed then the foreign country should say "No, we don't need or want you to come here". Simple.
They go bc they are told BY THE FOREIGN PLACE that there is a specific need they can fix or build if they come.
Angélique That’s not true. As much as the West (and essentially any significant country that isn’t in Africa) has harmed the continent, their modern wealth is dependent on their own economies and modern trade practices. In fact, colonialism was a bit of an money sink, costing more then it payed off. It was all about prestige, rather then sound social or economic theory
@@CocoAvalon thank god someone gets it.
"The thing is: Do you want to save them because they need to be saved, or you want to save them because you want to be THE ONE who saved them?"
- a white diabolic cat
Who is this white diabolic cat and where can i find him?
@@nabilsalih2898 Madoka, an innocent, magical girl anime (lies), not sure of the english title, is really good in my opinion
@@nabilsalih2898 and the cat is a kind of alien/supernatural creature? (I watched it a while ago) named Kyubey
@@almosthuman2398 madoka magica/puella magi madoka magica
@@almosthuman2398 Gosh,I love that anime, thanks for bringing it back into my memory.
I'm with an asian ngo and we were told by the leader: never feel superior for helping someone but be grateful as there is someone out there willing to accept your help.
Are you masochists?
Never help people when they think you are a chump for helping them
@@vaxrvaxr what does that have anything to do with their comment?
@@vaxrvaxrmore likely sadists😂 most liberals and Marxists want to ultimately control other people's lives. They pretend to be bleeding heart liberal do-gooders, but underneath they are narcissists
There is a proverb that says : “ don’t give me a fish but teach me how to fish “ and this is exaclty how those humanitarian trips should work
I deleted the phrase :”we have an arabic proverb “ because people had a fight on the proverb’s nationality in the replies
My dad tells me that everyday so this comment seriously resonated with me. It’s more along the lines of “give a man a fish and it’ll feed him for one day. Teach a man how to fish and it’ll feed him for life”
Happy Florida Girl ❤️❤️❤️❤️ exactly
Didn't he meantion exactly this saying in the video?
13:20
Can you write in arabic :)
American humanitarians should go build tiny homes for the American homeless population and protest the governor's who try to stop them.
👊🏽👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
So basically no diffrence between what he criticized and what you just said 🤦♂️
The same dependency, except this time its in your own country
@@Centrioless No... I lived on the streets in NY for about a year and a half. I was lucky enough to have a church group help me get an apartment bc they saw me sleeping on the train. With the right help and checking in on, that could be a great head start for people who want to change their lives, but maybe don't have anyone to help or anyone who cares. I understand that some may not use the opportunity properly, which is why I do believe their should be someone checking in on them, making sure they keep their space clean, help them get a job, teach them life skills, ect. I received this help 3 years ago bc I don't have any family here, and it has completely changed my life...
@@Theedebtcollector Agreed. And I'm really happy you made it through!
❤️ 100%. 🙌🏻
As a Nigerian I'm very uncomfortable and disgusted by the fact that people in this comment section have this warped idea of "Africa", like we're all suffering children waiting for benevolent white help. There are as much suffering children in your nations as there are in Nigeria. Help yourselves.
It's a picture that is told for decades. Thinking how much i have heard 'hungry children in Africa' to make someone feel bad for throwing food away or sth similar or 'be happy about going to school/having a roof over your head, children/people in Africa have not'.
As an Asian American, I watched Wode Maya and my outlook on African countries have changed dramatically.
Exactly so true ☝️
Very well said.
Thank you for giving us a slap at our face. We really need it...I wonder why to this day the US isn't getting properly fixed once and for all...
"we've come to rescue you, please do not resist"
Go save the drug addicts in your country or the homeless
THIS is an influencer.
Yes!
I have a child with cancer and I don't have a job. Can I find someone to support me?
I love Hyram ☺️💜💜
@@user-wh6rq9nv1l if you live in Canada, there’s resources.
@@user-wh6rq9nv1l how can I help?
This is often called “voluntourism” and people giving themselves an excuse to travel because they are “doing good” is gross when these same people have never tried to help their own community. You don’t have to go on an expensive trip to be humanitarian
I think a large point he has is, is sending 30 inexpirienced people for a minimum cost of 60,000$ to those countries. I think it's better to send 1-5 people who are experts and know what they're doing, and who can act as a kind of supervisors,educators,and idea givers,and let the locals do the work themselves.
@@ivonastrukar4715 they make a business with this. Volunteering is actually expensive.
@Kate they basically said people who use "helping others" only as an excuse to go abroad and have no actual interest in helping anyone are being kinda gross. how did you manage to take that as a personal attack if it doesn't even apply to you
Kate the way you took that as a personal attack says something about you. the comment nor the video wasn’t saying people who went on these trips had bad intent or even bad actions, they’re just explaining how it can be toxic. he made a lot of valid point you should really think about if you’re going to continue doing humanitarian trips.
@Kate Congrats, you got butthurt over a comment that doesn't apply to you. What does that say about you I wonder?
I know a whole lot of "humanitarians" that only do it for the certificates, they later put it in their CV's and it creates better college/ masters and job opportunities , even had one of the most selfish girls i know become a member of some human rights club when i asked her why she openly confirmed what i had expected, the certificates, she said everyone does it, and it's free alcohol, food and parties. Wow ...
There will always be people who exploit a situation for personal gain.
@@ASMRyouVEGANyet True
weird a selfish woman, probably a leftist. Fucking huge surprise.
@@silkyjay869 to be honest jobs these day look like you have to be some kind of superhuman with "incredible" accomplishments just to get started. So she exploited it; kinda makes sense
Why is it that a problem? As long as they're actually helping I don't see why it should matter the reason why they do it. In fact I think it's a more sustainable system if the people who are helping get something in return out of it because that can only lead to even more people trying to help.
A house built by 17 year olds? Mate, don't worry, nobody in Tonga is thinking they need to rely on you lol. They were just waiting for you to go so they could fix the house!!
Haha I was thinking the same thing there’s heaps of Pacific Islander builders in my country and they almost always are better workers then locals
Lol what's wrong with that they should be 30? If they was commanded by an experienced builder, there is no need for a lot of intelligence
@@nadMoZzzg Because 17 year old kids are maybe not as experienced in this
Why can't they just chase them.
@@nadMoZzzg you're just making a case for you only need one experienced builder and not a bunch of voluntourists.
"Give a Man a Fish, and You Feed Him for a Day. Teach a Man To Fish, and You Feed Him for a Lifetime"
Kiaan Castillo love this saying!
Omg, i love this
That is so accurate, I love that quote
BIG FISH. I PERFORMED THIS MUSICAL FOR HIGHSCHOOL
🤣 its what the news anchor wanted to say and got it wrong
"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime".
except ppl are having their fish stolen from them
Give a man Top Ramen, and he'll eat in 3 minutes.
@@soy_red my country is facing this problem
@@eggiemybaby I'm sorry to hear this. Which country are you from?
@@soy_red Philippines. Our fishermen are being robbed here specially on the east coast and our President is letting it.
As a man that lost EVERYTHING to a hurricane. Help was help no matter who or where it came from. There were young and old helping to rebuild the community from everywhere. We had nothing, but them coming in to help was all that mattered. If they had came and not lifted a finger it still showed compassion and reassured me and my family we were not alone or forgotten in our moment of hopelessness. We as humanity must learn we are not a title i am you and you are me. In this world we never know when we may need someone's compassion.
Well there's that and there's going to a random country in Africa (because yk, in addition to Africa being one big country it's also only slums apparently) and do base level things that have zero effect on people nor help them in any way. This type of humanitarian work is just to feel good and tell people you did it.
@@zen0vi agreed its completely wrong to go there under false pretenses. The people of the land are majority "of the land". Saying, most love their simple lives and arent looking to be lavishly living but, comfortable in their own standards. There are very well established countries on the continent of Africa also, not all slums, but just as humanitarians come to fulfill their false sense of humanitarianism which is sickening, many come to take resources and land etc..as well for the betterment of their life and agenda. Even the wild are a target for poachers. It has been that way and will be that way until they change it. The fake humanitarian may fool RUclips, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat but, they will have their karma in the end. Here in America we have our own share of homelessness, and slums, and disaster as well but to close to home ig and looks like us (not good for likes). The choices we make today will be tomorrow's answer. It's sad to manipulate the less fortunate for personal gain or title but, that's the sad generational story of many peoples lives the poor empty souls.
Love this
This ‘teens building houses to help’ initiative is also done in my country. And honestly, most teens have shoddy craftsmanship, were not taught about construction before starting, and seemed to mostly be there to feel better about their own lives.
“If you want to solve a problem, you need to learn what the problem is.” This!! Great video all around.
I am a young man, I am 25 years old, and I love a girl and I want to marry her, but my financial circumstances do not allow me to complete this marriage, because I do not have a job that secures the marriage obligations for me. Can you help me?🥺
This should be a TED talk
I agree
Yes omgg pls
Nah, it's not good enough. There are better versions of this kind of info, more informed, more engaging out there.
@@pandapower5902
Awesome. Can you pls give some recommendations?
@@pandapower5902 can you suggest how it can be better because this is pretty informational as is
Someone give this guy the chance to hold a TED talk
this is a highkey imp issue
I agree. It'd be an awesome important TED talk.
Yes this is a highkey devil issue
YES PLEASE
This guy is named hyram and he has a youtube channel that talks about skin care
He really does need to
“Give people fish, you feed them for a day. Teach people to fish, you feed them for a lifetime.”
There is expression saying something like: "The altruism is not altruistic because you firstly do it to feel good by yourself." You got to the point.
Sure that is altruism. It is a more EFFECTIVE altruism. The problem is that what they are doing is not helpful. Doing something helpful because it makes YOU feel better about yourself is exactly the type of attitude we want to engender in people.
Doing something not so helpful because you've been given the illusion that it is helpful and it makes you feel better about yourself is the problem...
@@beezusHrist Well, then you should define what is actually helpful and what is not. The problem is that if the help is not systemic, but follows the "drop in the ocean" mentality of the missionary settlements, they are never really helpful. And systemic help usually is not perceived as actual help, and does not make anyone feel good. But in fact a researcher on vaccines or remedies of wide-spread deseases (e.g. like malaria), or a honest politician trying to find a difficult balance and a good compromise between conflictin interests, eventually being considered "weak" because he was not a partisan of one or the other faction, may do much more good than 1000 missions of "saint people" who actually help a bunchful of random villagers for a couple of weeks, without even understanding the real nature of the problems those villagers are facing, and the deep historical reasons of their problems (hence, as soon as they go, everything goes back to normal, because nothing was solved). It doesn't matter how you feel or you are perceived: being helpful implies learning what you are doing and working on a systemic scale, or it's just tourism.
@@lorenzoamato953 transfer of wealth from one country to another. Direct cash payments from individuals within richer countries to a family in another country.
@@beezusHrist If it is not well organized it's still a drop in the ocean. What I see is poor(er) countries being poor because the rich countries decided so. We are already producing enough food for all people in the world: if we just wanted, starvation and even poverty could be defeated tomorrow. But then becoming rich(er) as a country and the élites of the rich countries would be harder. So nobody wants to accept the simple fact that rich people want poor people to stay poor, so they can get richer. That is also why I tend not to believe in private support. I mean: it's nice, it does good for someone, but in the large scale it is irrelevant, and tends to give some kind of high moral ground to the status quo.
@@lorenzoamato953 which is why we should create such a society that encourages these types of wealth transfers on a large scale from individuals within a country. When it becomes a normal part of society it isn't such a drop in the bucket anymore.
The poorer countries aren't poor because richer countries decided so, the poorer countries are poor due to a head start of the richer countries as well as the level of human and material capital available in their specific region. Some regions have the human capital, but don't have the material capital in order to industrialize and develop like richer countries, and some countries even choose not to go that route due to the negative impact it has had on the environment.
It’s so annoying how little “humanitarians” actually care about providing long lasting solutions for communities.
well most of them are companies that have volunteering as a business model. Thus it is not about doing something sustainable but to provide an experience to customers (the volunteers).... it is an exploitations of misery but also of the good intention of the volunteers (or the serve to nurture the white syndrom ...for some)
You have to remember that a lot of these individuals going on trips are college aged or even in high school, and are under the influence of what larger organizations or corporations have told them. Most people going on these trips genuinely want to make in a difference in the world, although their work it is incredibly misguided. The humanitarian organizations (most of the time) should be the ones under scrutiny.
They just came and give these people sponsored freebies with huge corporate logo slapped all over it. It's not humanitarian aid, it's advertisement.
@@mauddescamps7572 that is a fascinating point. Exploitation for business profit.
Why did I think humanitarians was people who ate humans 😭
I've always found those pics of people posing with some random African kids so tasteless. Like imagine someone stumbling into the place where you live and taking pictures with kids and then posting them.
NoneWhatsoever ikr it’s both humiliating and fake
Absolutely people, and children, are not props
Thank u! People always shit on others that call this out saying "well theyre helping, what r u doing?". Its tactless and disgusting.
And when you tell them it's wrong they have all the excuses in the world eg:
"They're beautiful kids with beautiful smiles and I fell in love with them"
"But I'm just raising 'awareness' and want to get more people to help"
No Brandon you just want those Instagram likes. They avoid blacks in the west but they love us Africans?
666 likes😱
Thank you for this. I went to Guatemala with Habitat for Humanity for 10 days each summer, 2014-2019, and hope to resume, post-COVID. I am glad to say that they are very up-front about letting the volunteers know that the local masons and laborers are in charge of the construction of the houses and latrines, and we are laborers and, through our trip fees, donors. The local HFH organization and the home buyers have identified their own needs without our input, but are grateful for the "hand up" that we contribute. Your video makes some very powerful, important points that I was first introduced to by a HFH leader in one of our nightly reflection sessions. I am glad I chose Habitat for the reasons you describe.
The Soft bigotry of low expectations aimed at communities we deem as underdeveloped. This is part of being young, earnest and uniformed. Reminds of myself at his age. Then you get older and understand the real world.
In all of my years studying public health, I’ve only had one professor speak of this issue. When she went abroad she was sent by the WHO to build schools but the locals refused to let them build; she was being sent to figure out why. All of the white participants (sorry but it’s true according to her story; not mine) we’re frustrated after five days of being there. She however, was the only one who didn’t sit on meetings, but instead played with the children in the street. The towns leader spoke to her and asked why she wasn’t sitting in and she shared that she wasn’t interested in forcing something onto his people that he felt wasn’t best for them - and it took off from there! She built enough trust to understand that people didn’t need another school; instead they needed a water pipe running through the ground to provide fresh running water to the people. Without one, children would be expected to spend the day with their mothers going to get water rather than go to school and get an education that they were desperate to receive! All this to say; thank you for shedding some light on this topic! It’s a harsh reality and as you mentioned, there’s a difference between good intention and doing good for those we are our investing our time, money, and effort into helping. Had we all taken a little time like my professor, we could be a step closer in the right direction - consider yourself with another follower! And for Dr. Sami, UCI and I will never forget you.
half way through reading this i realized that you were talking about Dr. Sami from UCI! I’m currently a 4th yr and she was probably the only professor I had that talked about this topic! small world
I swear this was on Quora🤔
I was there for this lecture as well!!
thank you for sharing this!
Were*
I just hate that kids are taught that African is poor all over. There are rich and poor places. And there is a lot of money but politicians embezzle it and barely try to use it for the good of their country or state. That's why y'all see bad places. I'll be honest, I'm Nigerian and there are a lot of underdeveloped places in my country but there are AMAZING places to live and not everyone suffers in poverty. Tell me if I'm wrong.
I am Nigerian and you are not wrong
Sorry what is your reference for “all kids are taught Africa is poor.” In school I learned about culture and there are some impoverished countries. My daughter is not taught this in school, she is also taught about culture all over the world, as well as religion and geography as well as arts.
@@Saoirse3797 Did I say "all kids"? I said "kids". Most kids
kids are not taught that in schools they mostly see it in those ads on TV and stuff
I agree its so sad. It's definitely not mentioned enough! It's portrayed that way alot in the media. You see adverts all the time in the UK about how people are starving, there's droughts etc. They aren't specific about which parts of Africa they're talking about either, and its all very generalised
It’s like a feel-good summer camp / theme park experience. The part where missionaries are not allowed to let locals help in building is very weird, to say the least. It’s an unspoken sign that “this is really for us, not you.” Very eye opening.
this is awkward to re-watch after viewing his skincare promotion ad of "Selfless" featuring children of Africa....How did that get the green light from hyram...
Hmm that is strange. Now that u mentioned it .... 😔
was looking for this comment 😳 he changed his mind once he saw a monetary gain ?? idk :/
@@iburntmytoe3470 This is why I have limited trust of anyone making their hustle as a youtuber, IG etc. No matter what "good work" they are out to do. This is how they make their living. In some fashion the mission will take a back seat to generating income.
maybe it's an old ad and he hasn't removed it yet?
Wait I don’t get it can anyone please explain
I am Haitian living in Haiti. So I have seen my fair share of Humanitarians. There are some doing a great job but the whole system is terribly flawed and keeps the people they're helping in poverty. They think they are helping but they aren't honestly, not to bash anyone. Investments, jobs, education, teaching people trades etc, those are the roads to development. A plate of rice does save the day but doesn't do much afterwards.
In 2010 after the earthquake, billions were said to be poured unto Haiti. But to be honest, Haitians did not see that money. Yes we actually received food and tents and care packages, but you know what? If another earthquake was to happen today, we'd lose the same number of people and be back to square one.
We're a young population, most of us are active and healthy, so ready to work hard. We're intelligent, we pick on things very fast and we know how to make it with little ressources.
Any Haitian who went to school speaks 3-4 languages.
What we need is opportunities, not handouts. Unfortunately, our corrupt governments are always supported by the international community. They enjoy being the poor country who get donations because it allows them to enrich themselves and their families.
I look forward to when Haiti will break free from that vicious circle.
Great video!
I COMPLETELY agree. You explained it so well!
I am Haitian too, but I live in Spain because I am adopted. I agree with you, they want to help but the problem is that some of them don’t ask what we exactly need. They Don’t help in the long run.
Thank you for your well explained point. I'm a Haitian American and my parents were both born in Haiti. Due to these parts if my identity I am able to see things from both perspectives. I am a bit biased on this point due to the history of Haiti. I believe that these nonprofits/NGOs are nothing but self serving organizations with no true intent to help the people. It saddens me because as you stated Haiti is filled with bright, educated, hardworking people. However systemic racist oppression by the international community and a corrupt government have crippled the country. It is really a tragedy. When I see nonprofits claiming to be helping Haiti it really angers me. As mentioned in the video the people resent this claim that they cannot do for themselves. The truth is they can. It is the rich and the powerful who push this narrative so they can continue to take advantage of the people and their resources.
Thank you for your message...I remember all the donations that were gathered and wondered why this in Haiti didn’t seem to be improving but I was too young to understand what is happening within your government. Bon courage 💜
Josephine Bournes this is the case in many other similar countries you explained it well. Lack of proper leadership, infrastructure, caste, old religion and traditions that are in place that continue to keep citizens from thriving. Its sooo deep routed even in this modern age. It will not be solved with a plate of rice, clothes, makeshift houses. You are right. People dont want charity long term. They want to thrive function, have a purpose, be empowered, have opportunities. This is right
Can we just acknowledge the fact that many high schoolers do these trips just so it looks good on their extracurriculars for their common app😐
Imagine contributing to neo-colonialism just for your own personal gain... if you wanna polish your app, just do volunteering at a nursing home or something that is not required by your high school but actually done for the sake of volunteering
Jenna Maria Right! It’s honestly pathetic when I hear people read their essays. I’ve heard essays from people that do photography and go on trips to take pictures in order to make a sappy essay that’ll get them into a university. I’ve also heard essays of students going on trips for a week in order to teach kids “English”. I know that these students don’t have any bad intentions when going to these trips but if they’re going to go, they should at least go out of the kindness out their heart. But knowing these students, they’re willing to do anything so it “looks good” on their applications.
And the crazy thing is, admission officers don’t like hearing these stories about them traveling to third world countries, because it usually just brings out boring and overplayed stories
Genesis Escalante Exactly! It’s so harmful :(
Genesis Escalante Yeah, it shows how messed up the US college application system is. For someone who is not an extrovert and is not really interested in volunteering, it is practically impossible to get into a "good" college.
"The law of unintended consequences" also known as "the road to hell is paved with good intentions."
This is so eye opening! I went on a trip to a Romanian orphanage 3 years ago and it was amazing but I often wondered how the kids would feel when we left after 2 weeks of letting them get attached to us. I wondered if we were just another voluntourism group swinging in to “save” these kids. Some stuff definitely didn’t feel really right. Thanks for putting a name to this!
Just wondering if your group required background checks for attendees?
some serious orphanages require longer stay for that exact reason. on the other side, those kids need as much love as we can give them, no matter for how long.
Are you that vain to think that those kids thought you were such an amazing person, they would just completely attach themselves to you?
At first, this guy was showing me how to get good skin, now he’s teaching me life lessons
True influences
How does he find the time?
Genuinely!
@Edelweiss Weaver prophet no
These "humanitarian hypocrites" are the same kind of people who will travel 10,000 miles to "help" someone in need but won't walk 100 feet to help their neighbor.
Yeah, these trips also act like there's no issues in America or Europe, mutual aid groups or traditional volunteer opportunities could certainly need the help
Those people are Narcissists who are all about virtue signalling, facade and a social profile.
Name one.
@@caroliner2029 Yup, nailed it. They do it for purely selfish reasons. If they were forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement, preventing them from bragging about it, they would lose interest pretty fast. Such people are only interested in helping themselves. Besides, most of them have found something new to virtue signal about these days (Veganism and Environmentalism), which requires far less effort on their part. All they have to do is talk about it all the time, and look down on anyone who 'isn't doing their part' (kind of like the Hyrbid drivers in that South Park episode).
Not paying full wages or support the person you know is in need. But go to a charity event & donate
Those who are actually doing the most good in the world generally don’t virtue signal about it on social media.
Yes you will probably have no clue what they've done
Be nice if they did.
I think its true!
I never thought humanitarian stuff that way, so it's quite eye opening and I'm thankful for that!
One thing: I don't really think it's 'White' saviourism issue, as I'm from Asia, Hong Kong to be specific, and we have these things too: send a bunch of kids to poor regions to make their lives better, or something similar is the main idea. So 'white' for you, 'Asian' for myself, 'Christian' for some, 'Buddhist' for another, there's all kinds of saviourisms in this sense. At least that's what I think. I remember specifically how another class in secondary three 'helped' the locals in Vietnam build a well. My first thought then was: wait, I didn't know city kids as myself knew how to build wells. I didn't. They didn't either. With your explanation it makes a lot of sense now.
Also another thing: I went to one of the poorest regions in Cambodia on a humanitarian (sort of) trip once, and some of the people there were in need of immediate help, and could not feed the mouths they had. I believe in some ways we can provide access to some food and water, but for sure the few dollars we raised amongst ourselves to buy rice for them is not the solution.
White saviourism is a reference to the colonial period, specifically right before and during the Triangular Trade between the Americas, Africa, and Europe (notably, Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, etc.). It refers to the missionaries (Jesuits, Ursulines, etc.) who would come to the ‘New World’ and come and try to convert the indigenous people there. This also happened in Africa (if you want a really interesting account, I recommend looking into the Kingdom of the Kongo). This resulted in some really terrible policies that only furthered the entrenchment of white supremacy in the Western world (a really good example are the church run residential schools in Canada). White saviourism harkens back to the specific mentality that white Christians need to go into these impoverished areas and ‘civilize’ the people there. It’s just that this time, white people aren’t doing this with religion only (though that is absolutely a core aspect of a lot of missionary/humanitarian work), they’re using infrastructure. Claude Ake has some really interesting stuff written about development politics in Africa, the role of the state and how it intersects with humanitarian work.
I also want to be clear that I’m not trying to delegitimize your experiences, or push them to the side. I don’t know a lot about Asian politics or history. I do know, however, that Western hegemony is a real thing and that many/most of the perpetrators of this saviourism in Sub-Saharan Africa are white, and that it is connected to the legacy of white supremacy and colonialism.
As for solutions (because I don’t think it’s correct for those who have benefited from colonization to leave those harmed by it to fend for themselves - isolationism is not the answer) - we need to look to what local people’s want. This of course creates other issues related to the politics of indigeneity and autochtony in Africa, but it’s certainly better than making a spectacle of African poverty. But that’s a very long conversation and this is a RUclips comment sooooo…. You’ll have to read some of the stuff by Matthew Mitchel if you want more information about autochtony and indigeneity in Africa, because it’s actually really interesting.
I agree very much with this comment. There's a lot of writing in the West about this kind of saviorism because it was a dominant mindset at one time in Europe and lead to major abuses such as Canada's residential schools, but it comes from a mindset that is deep in human nature and which anyone can be guilty of. It may be white saviorism when white people do it, but saviorism in general is a problematic attitude, specifically the kind of saviorism that assumes the people you're trying to help are unable when in fact they aren't, and the "white" part doesn't make any difference.
@@communistsharks6889 He's telling you that this kind of behaviour is present in every culture, not only "white Europeans". You're only focusing on Whites and Christians because that's your point of view as someone who probably lives in the West, but that's also a way to undermine the experience of people in other parts of the world.
It's shocking, but white Europeans aren't the Devil incarnate, they just did what everyone does. Human nature.
“We are not solving problems, we are creating an experience for ourselves” couldn’t have put it better!!
No one is commenting under this comment so i will
@@refi257 so will I ❤️
Agreed ;-;
:)))
Some are going for the experience and there’s some that gave their life but these aren’t quick fix problems
I remember a woman telling me excitedly about the mission trip her church was organizing to go to some remote, underserved place to paint a playground. Seriously. Thousands of dollars, tons of air pollution in plane travel to paint a playground. My God. Send them the money and let them pay locals to paint the whole town, and have plenty left over. So white saviorish, just mind-blowing.
Cathy N I don’t think it is “white saviourish”, I think the woman really wanted to help and found a way to help. yes, maybe it wasn’t the best idea, but I believe her heart was in the right place. what if she liked the experience and started researching more about and then started doing more helpful things in the future? she’s not gonna do that if people discourage her. that’s my opinion, at least
@@nicoleisvlogging But that's just it. You can't play around with people's lives just because "your heart is in a good place".
Audrey Koskei what I meant is that you cannot judges people’s intentions as “white saviourism” when they really wanted to help, that’s all
@@nicoleisvlogging Honey, I think you can. People can have the purest intentions and still be engaging in White Saviorism. It defines the action, not the person who performs it.
Cathy N well, I respect your opinion and was just sharing my thoughts :) I think it’s great to discuss this and I’m always willing to learn more! one of the reasons I watched the video in the first place
Am from Uganda and I have seen such humanitarian groups but I have never felt more left out in my own country or helpless and less involved with such groups than my own people......I feel more at peace with out them than with them around
My "humanitarian" actions take place only in my close environment (neighbour, work etc). I have neighbours who often came to me for various requests. I m that kind of "repair guy". I help them with whatever i could. But what i found is that many people take my helping attitude as a given and abuse it. I don't want so sound like a victim lol, but if i helped some people with something, with every problem they they have come to me. I just can't have time for everyone.
VOLUNTEER LOCALLY!! Chances are there are tons of homeless shelters, animal shelters, boys and girls clubs in your own neighbourhood and city. There are children starving and not being able to go to school in your own backyard. Of course we should be helping third world countries recover from the imperialism we forced upon them, but your money and labour can be used so much more effectively at home.
Find ways to help projects.
By "we forced upon them", who is "we"
@@xestien white people
@@kasia3582 ok, I was just confused. "We" would usually make me think that that statement was directed to everyone. Thanks for the explanation.
I would like to add to volunteer in the foster care system. Foster care tends to be ignored which is very hurtful(I left foster care at 18) and sad because those kids are in your communities and schools.
American humanitarians should help America there r plenty of places that need them and it would hurt less people
Especially current situation with food banks across the country
There are so many Native tribes that need help, but many of these “humanitarian” and “religious” groups willingly turn a blind eye and seek to travel abroad with the guise of providing “selfless help”. Ugh.
Yep
@@kumstuke yep
@@MrzPicklez right
Your honesty is amazing. Seriously, you are one in a million, most people I know who claim to be engaging in "saving the world" either do nothing at all (only retorics, vanity and anger towards those seen as 'enemies of the cause') or go full toxic charity just as you describe.
Hmmm before saying that I would advise you to take a look at Hyram's recent compaign (particularly ads) for his skin care brand. He's doing exactly what he was critizing in thid video. I dont get why nobody else is calling him out for it.
Reminds me of the 'awareness' videos I see on RUclips quite a bit.
An example being mental health.
It causes far more harm than good. A fucking help line isn't going to save someone's life, but I know they sleep well at night copy/pasting a phone number and feeling like an empathetic human being.
People really think they're making a difference doing the easiest things at times, such as getting in a keyboard fight on Twitter. Sure, very minimal outcomes have actually helped people, but you can defer those results from the reason why posts were made in the first place: either genuine or from virtue signalers.
You are absolutely right. Read "When Helping Hurts". Short-term missionary/humanitarian trips may broaden the perspective of participants - which is not, in itself, a bad thing - but the assertion that they do little lasting good for the indigenous population is evident in the fact that those places that are popular destinations for humanitarian programs continue to have the same problems. Witness the top two, Haiti and Nicaragua. Short-term humanitarian aid, in the form of time, resources, expertise, and money has been poured into these places for decades with NO significant improvement. Only long-term, boots on the ground efforts have any lasting effect - the building of schools, medical facilities, orphanages, churches, etc., and equipping of indigenous people to staff and maintain them - yet even these, more often than not, fall victim to political exigencies beyond anyone's control. It's not wrong - or exclusively white - to want to help, that's a human impulse, and a good one. The issue is to take the time to do the research necessary to ensure that any help forthcoming is truly helpful, and doesn't perpetuate or, worse still, exacerbate the problem.
I agree! In Africa, church aid comes in the form of food aid. How can the local farmers compete with free food. Aid destroys their economy.
Seriously? Where in Africa? I mostly hear about building and well digging.
Church aid has always come at a cost to African people. Period.
but why are people starving over there? If they could afford food they wouldn't get aid. If they can't afford it well.... its probably more a government issue than anything and good God can westerners stop trying to save every 3rd world country?
MsSunhappy I don’t agree. They can give free food but they should have bought it from the local farmers.
@@agirlisnoone5953 but your not saving it your making it worst..
“Give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he’ll eat for a lifetime.”
-Maimonides
the fish are dying hes gonna b eating trash
That was actually said by maimonides, a jewish philosopher, you're being disrespectful by discrediting wisdom given to humanity by a certain culture. Dont be part of the problem.
Rayne Smith I don't believe OP was being disrespectful or intentionally "part of the problem". It seemed like an honest mistake and OP edited the comment after your reply.
I didn't know the origin of the quote either, so thanks for the info. Could've been said differently though, perhaps a little less judgemental or aggressive. We can help educate without accusing or shaming someone for not knowing better.
@@captaincmorgan i just believe in looking up quotes and info before i use it, its not that hard. Especially with so much misinformation, its incredibly harmful.
Have you seen the funnier version of this where the guy is like yeah I'll take that really big ass fish and sell it to buy a fishing pole and more, and then hire somebody with the money left and rinse and repeat. And the monk goes like "that's why I hate business mens"
Why I love the Food for People campaign because it prioritizes the locals growing their own food and the food provided is foods and recipes native to that location.
Helping people is good, sure, but humility is absolutely a must alongside it.
Bingo.
Smartest thing I've read in this comment section.
👏🏽
I am from Rwanda, East Africa. When I was a senior In high school , these white kids came to visit our school because our school was a religious school and they were sent by their church to come and teach English ,now you have to understand most of my class mates were even older than these kids since in Rwanda most seniors are eighteen and above some even 20, plus we study in English and French all our lives . Had they researched they would have realised that our school was a private middle or kind of high class school but I believe they did not, Now these kids came and started trying to teach us English and nursery School songs , it was so humiliating to us because most of us recognized these songs because they were taught to us as early as age three but these kids really believed they had changed our lives and taught us English. All they did was waste our time and humiliate us and give a reason to some kids to start developing racism in their minds against white people.
That's terrible 😔 they should have done some proper research before they start these humanitarian missions.
@@NurRadzi I know, they would say a word and then directly say we know it's probably hard to memorize a song whose lyrics/ words you can't understand but it's okay be comfortable to sing whatever you can get. And they would explain to us very simple words and when they were done they tried to give us free t shirts and then told us they would never forget us
All they do is take the riches from africa, we could’ve been the richest country ever 😭
@@catscratchfever7540 exactly I too realised that, why would the church bring them in the first place , is it possible to teach someone English in one day ? Couldn't the church at least asked for aid to hire better teachers or buy new textbooks ? Couldn't the church take them to actual kids who were in need and not ask us to fake being from poor families? I will never understand or know the answer to all these anyways.
Ugh, stuff like this makes me so angry. I can't imagine how you must have felt, I'm so sorry. As a fellow African (living in America), I've gotten into many arguments with people who don't see anything wrong about humanitarian trips smh
I remember growing up in Kenya white missionaries would go out and build houses and the I had friends watch them from afar and whose jobs were taken because the missionaries did it for “free”
@@nightviber2097 why don't you work for that pay then?
@@MsJbetancur see? that's the problem, if i go lower, i cant afford shit my dude. Those people tho get luxures by the organizations and goverment, i dont.
@@nightviber2097 so wouldn't the issue be that that job should be paid more or an increased wage, not that POC "stole" jobs?
And that the problem is exploitation of migrant workers?
@@MsJbetancur the pay you mention =$0. How far can you get on $0/hr?
I spent over 30 years and traveled in over 50 countries doing humanitarian work as a missionary, (with almost no money) working with the locals , and it would always grieve me so much when ever we saw these American rich kids on their expensive “mission trips “ being such an insult to the locals. ough!
So I loved your video and especially the list of solutions you gave at the end.
I actually spoke about this “white saviorism” and how minority groups often tell white people to “use their privilege” to “help”, and it contributes to this notion. Thank you for speaking on this. It’s very insightful.
White savorism would be a good term if only while people did this.. It's simply not true.
I knew a missionary who had lived in Africa for 30 years. He lives with people, he lived in poverty without comfort, just to teach people the gospel. I think this is different, than this white people who just going there to make themselfs look good. What do you think ?
@@dreamshooter90 To be honest, it's mostly white people really. I've never really heard any Asians (Maybe some Asians but not really a lot of them), or other Africans or South Americans doing this.
The whole idea of white privilege is bs. There r so many white ppl in poverty it's a ridiculous notion.
@@tinyviolin white people being in poverty doesn’t mean that there isn’t white privilege. And there are many examples of what white privilege that don’t involve socio economic status. And yes even white people in poverty have white privilege.
I am from a "developing country" and when I was getting my undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from UK, my lecturer asked me how I went from my house to the airport. Obviously I was pretty puzzled by the question. When I asked him to repeat the question, he assured me in a class full of 87 white students that I have nothing to be embarrassed about and I should tell my classmates about my daily commutes via "bullock cart".... ermmmmm my family owns 4 cars. In fact my city is known for having the worst traffic jams because there are too many cars! What the....
Oof. Did you tell them that?
Anthony Yup I did. Lecturer didn't look that convinced though 🤷🏻♀️
That's kinda racist, did he ask the white students that?
geekchic367 I wonder if you’re from Bangladesh 🧐
@@littlecat7133 India, Mumbai i guess.
My father hates humanitarians for this reason. He's Senegalese and he moved to the U.S to create a better life. When he started making some money, he went to Senegal and started creating small businesses. Then humanitarians came to his home town and started giving out free food and shelter. He lost his business and a lot of locals lost their small businesses too. His childhood friend became homeless because of this. These humanitarians (though they mean well) play big roles in further crippling local economies and stifle their growth.
Thank you so much for speaking up on this issue.
Oh wow this is terrible! Thank you for sharing this. As a person who really wanted to be a volunteer, this helps me realize something I had never heard of!
those aren't humanitarians, they're trying to be humanitarians
@@Jaylade Regardless of what they are, they cause harm to the environment they want to help. That's the point. Humanitarian or not.
@@KDbelieves real modern humanitarians by the new standard show up when they're have been disasters and help communities or by sending educated professionals to discuss with the communities on how to best help them before implementing plans! I don't remember what they call the ignorant version but it rhymes with humanitarian it just isn't that word... I believe the new group is trying to take the word back... honestly I think they should just pick a new one but some of them are genuine. This is what they've used to help combat different worldly issues. The one I can think of off the top of my head is battling female circumcision in Africa. Especially the way they do it in some parts of Africa it poses extreme danger to the women! But by sending medical professionals to have educated discussions with local elders they have slowly removed or at least alter the nature of a lot of female circumcision.
@@ashleyburbank3129 That is good, but they are going to have to do a lot of work. From my own community, a lot of us don't even like help from them. Some of these organizations literally don't even care that we don't want their help. They just do it, which shows they don't actually care about the people.
I really hope there are more genuine and INFORMED people. Being genuine is not enough and it shows.
I also I wasn't going to say this because it gets really dark, but it needs to be said. A lot of westerners don't know this happens. We need to have more conversations about the human trafficking behind a lot of these humanitarian organizations. They are kidnapping kids and selling them for sex slavery or to be sacrificed by those crazy voodoo people. Especially albino kids. Not to mention, some of these humanitarian travelers use volunteer work as an excuse to travel to other countries for sexual tourism. To essentially molest orphans. None of this is talked about and it's HUGE in these communities.
Overall, they do more harm than good.
This makes me more grateful for my church. My church works with and learns from the people of the place. Our goal is self reliance. In that Tonga situation, my church would put the locals in charge and guide the outside help in their ways. We'd ask, "What do you need us to do?"
Your church is still colonizing this places don’t fool yourself
"The Holiday for the empty hearted"
"Fill your hole by filling another's"
"Limping before the lame deeming it kindness"
I think this "white savior" thing is even weirder when comes from not-really developed countries. I'm brazilian, and I remember I had a friend in highschool that would say that she wanted to become a doctor so she could go help African kids (she's black herself). It really got me thinking, like, why would you go all the way to Africa to help some poor people when you have miserable and hungry people right on your face, on your own city?
Oh my god, yes! I too, am brazilian, and goddamn... I study at a catholic school that its 'brand' is very widespread across the world. We had a meeting in the study hall with this lady who'd became a novice and her + other nuns were going to Moçambique to 'help the children'.
Couldn't they just go to a local community and donate to them there? It seems like they are only trying to spread the religion (which I'm sure they are!).
@@mccperin Yes! A lot of times they just do this to "christianize" them. They do the same with the indigenous...
But this also points out that this isn't a race issue at all. I'm so tired of the obsession on race lately. Like only white people go on humanitarian trips? No other races live in western countries and go on humanitarian trips except ignorant white people? I agree with the main idea he has about aid and humanitarianism but its not a white savior issue its a westerner culture issue.
@@melissaann513 I know this. It's just because English isn't my first language so I couldn't find the exact term I wanted to use. Sorry if it sounded rude
I also know a girl that wanted the same thing, go to med school and take part in the "médico sem fronteiras" program. But she lived in a fucked up city in the South, so why the hell not just help her family? Lol
i saw a post somewhere that said:
Instead of telling children "there are kids starving in Africa/Asia", we should say "There are kids in your class that go to bed hungry". that way it removes the racial stereotypes so children don't think that poverty is just something that underdeveloped countries have.
edit: Some people say that this will create a class divide in your child's classroom. The thing is, class inequality exists whether or not you point it out. Rich kids will gravitate towards rich kids and vice versa because they have more in common. You can change it to "the other kids in the neighbourhood or in the school" because the likelihood of your child knowing those kids and "looking at those kids suspiciously" is lower.
I still believe that children will not bully on the basis of poverty unless they are taught to by their parents. That's why it's your job to make sure that your child sees poor people as human beings. The way to let your child see poor people as human beings is to show them that ANYONE can be poor regardless of how nice or friendly they are to your child, including the kids in your class. That's exactly why you shouldn't associate being poor with something foreign like kids far away in Africa or Southeast Asia or strangers sleeping on the street. The concept of poverty needs to be humanised, otherwise your children will always have a "not my problem" attitude towards it.
THIS
THIS
Yes but it is a fact that poverty is prevailant so much more in underdeveloped/developing countries.
@@Luna_Anonymous and yet developed countries use and exploit those counties resources instead of helping them.
maybe we should stop thinking that africa ibly consists of black people😃
It breaks my heart that experienced and probably far more knowing locals will get told to sit down and watch some association mess up the fundings that were given to solve their problem instead of just listening to them ugh ...
You're right about what you're saying but you're doing a huge disservice by labeling it humanitarianism. You're wrong on that. You were never a humanitarian. You were a voluntourist. They are opposite things. Don't confuse them. I'm not judging you, I started in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake with a voluntourist group. But I also made commitments to the work that voluntourists would never do. I stayed in Haiti for two years, became specialized in an area while I was there (cholera prevention), learned the local language semi-fluently, and worked with an almost all-Haitian team. I followed those two years with an MA in war studies with a focus on humanitarian work in conflict zones from a university respected in the field. I was trying to become a legitimate humanitarian. That was ten years ago and I've stayed at it. I'm in Gaza now with an organization I set as my "one day I'll be good enough" goal toward the end of my time in Haiti. I'm a humanitarian now (and to be fair, have been for a while) and I promise you if I ever thought I was veering back toward voluntourist models of work again, I'd stop. Immediately. It's anathema to us. Is the work I do now perfect with no problems? Hell no. The contexts I work in are exceptionally tricky to try to do no harm in, and we do still sometimes fuck up, but I can confidently say we do far more good than harm, often for truly vulnerable people facing horrors voluntourists would never go near (genocide, terrorism, ebola) and if it ever tipped in the other direction, we'd stop. That is the difference between voluntourists and humanitarians.
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Yeah he missed the mark here completely, it's a pity this comment isn't higher up. Real humanitarians understand the context of where they're working and don't go round taking pictures with people living in hardship.
I want to do this too. Real humanitarism work. These kids dont know what it really is so they have painted a wrong picture here. But I wanna do the real work, hands on, empower communities so they become self-sufficient and this is something the locals can not do, if they knew how, they would do it. And this is where we come in. I have some finances, all the free time and dedication to make a difference but where to search? How do we find the real humanitarian projects like you did???
As someone who lives in a third world African country I really appreciate seeing someone from the outside talking about this, what you said Is not foreign talk in Africa WE DON’T LIKE humanitarian trips because they disable communities in different types of ways. Thanks Hyram
❤
So interesting to hear this, not only from you but also this video because when i was a child i would see the "bless the children" commercials all the time. All the way up into my teens and those kind of commercials had me wondering: if there are thousands/millions of children dying each day/year as they say then how do you still have any children to show on these commercials for all of these years? There shouldn't be any kids after just a few years. Then after seeing shows and hearing about how there are wars and famines in these other countries plus there were organizations being exposed in the news for corruption i finally thought of how it could be the very people "blessing the children" so much that are probably the very ones helping to cause these problems for them. There's big money in this charity stuff so some of, if not most of the conflicts over there are probably funded/started by these "saving" organizations. Then they swoop in as "savior" to the folks of that land and just scam folks of the western world out of money and still treat the people horrible. Sick sad. and not just in Africa too.
thank you for you input on this! i was just looking to go on a volunteer trip to africa to help care for wild animals and help the wounded ones. does what you’re saying apply to this as well or are these trips good?
@@LesyaSachenko I don't support those wild life organisations in Africa because I feel like this narrative is just as dangerous. Think of it this way, alot of these people are starving and dying of starvation yet westerners decided to paint this narrative to American media that poachers are endangering and killing these animals. Now this is factual. But what are these people suppose to eat? Are African lives less valuable than an animal? It is the smple concept of us eating goats, chicken, ribs,fish. Who deemed that wild life animals aren't to be eaten. God placed them in Africa for a reason. Why are westerners protesting animals they have never even seen. How is it okay for us to kill and eat fish but wrong for them to eat food accessible to them or is it not considered food cuz a white man said so. If anything you are contributing to these dying ppl because you saw their lives just as worthless as these organisations. Often times their land is invaded and a charitable group puts a band from the locals just to turn it into safarees for tourist sight seeing and these same animals are killed by other animals because that's the circle of life- The life cycle
@@LesyaSachenko Watch the video on RUclips titled "This grandma cooks garbage food waste to survive in the Philippines" and then think carefully about what you are really contributing too. After watching this I won't even care if they ate dogs. I'm sorry but human life should always be valued the way God values us
Reasons:
1. Promotes reliance
2. Disempowers communities
3. Immature spending
4. Breeds white saviourism
How can you help with your money?
1. Financially supporting ethical organizations who understand the communities.
Watch the video for a detailed explanation. I 100% agree as i live in a country who receives such aid.
also, I think a valid point is: if you want to go, find something that you can actually help using your skills (as medical, or egineering, etc.) and work with something that is a real need to the community.
who knows where god wants to take you tho
But if white people are the ones with the money..........🤔🤨🤷🌺
Thanks so much for your input. This video was really informative. I always knew these trips were promoting white saviorism, but it’s great to understand more fully and know how we can actually help
Research your charites, there are ones that actually teach skills to people like Caritas
Props to you for being so honest about your personal journey and reflecting on some of the issues with humanitarian programs
THANK YOU. I grew up in Venezuela and I cant begin to tell you how correct you are.
This applies to so many things in life.
People trying to help cause more problems and create dependency. Human beings need to learn how to survive and solve problems by themselves.
Teach people to fish, if they choose not to... let them starve until they have no choice but to fish.
Then they will fish and wont starve again.
Why would you want unskilled 17 year olds building houses any way?
Scott Ring Exactly so what the point of those useless missionary trips to Africa???
@@monsterrr1999 to feel good about yourself???
@@7lawaneeena Now that's sad.
Yea thooo
cheap work hand
I went to Fiji after graduating, wanting to "teach" the poor uneducated children there. The teachers thought I was there for an internship to find out if I wanted to be a teacher. That really humbled me. Not for a second did they think, that they needed my help an rightly so. I was 19 and had no idea what I was doing, I just wanted to "help". It was one of the most educational and fun experiences in my life, because everyone there made it a mission to help ME.
I’m sorry but this cracked me up! I’m so glad that you were able to have that experience so early in life! We all need to be humbled to reach our full potential!
@@MaryJane-ky9qz No, the thing was that the locals didn't really need my help! I worked for them like an intern, helped some children learning to read when they were behind, stuff like that. They had it covered and I was basically an assistant. Fiji is a small and poor country, but they have schools and universities and their own teachers, they sometimes just lack funds. But nothing a 19-year-old could fix by just showing up...I meant well and we kind of had a culture exchange going on, but I didn't make much of a difference. So the locals weren't neglected, because of me, I was the only foreigner there. I hope that clears it up!
@@branganewolf6322 As a Fijian myself, I'd like to thank you wholeheartedly ❤
@@riannebentley7175 I had the time of my life and still miss Fiji after 10 years :) I can not say enough good things :)
Sounds like a humanitarian trip can also help the person, trying to help, discover something new about them selves??
When I was younger, I was asked to go work overseas in a town's schools, but I already had the education, skills and experience to do what I was asked. I had many of the type of young Americans you talk about arrive and work for us, talking to the locals as if they were children just because their English wasn't that good, and just generally feeling special because they were there. They all felt they were greatly loved because the locals were so hospitable to them, but after I'd been there about two years, I realized that the sign the locals have accepted you was that they've stopped the special hospitality. What I concluded was that if you go on some kind of helping trip, you're not helping them until you've been there at least a year, know the culture and can speak the language - before that, they're helping you.
"People who aren't apart of a community don't best understand that community's problems" very wise words
It shows the arrogance of these organizations. “Let’s save the brown people from themselves.”
I believe it's more of a class thing rather then a race thing. An 'I am so rich let me save the world so I can feel good' kind of mentality. I mean it is altruism and even altruism with not good or selfless intentions is still altruism. They clearly want to help, even if it is for bragging rights so all you really need to do is educate them on how to spend their money.
On another note, there are plenty of poverty stricken people in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and West Asia. These aren't 'brown people', people across the world need help, and all this 'arrogance' as you say has brought the level of poverty around the world to historic lows every year. Less people live in poverty now than ever before in the history of this Earth and I think that's amazing.
Don't make it about race. Many of these humanitarian actions take place in white countries
You made it sound Racist.
@@nh4ci295 race plays a huge role in every aspect of life. the only people who deny this are white people because they don't notice it. but us poc are forced to with the way we are constantly discriminated against. it's just a fact.
@@macaws502 perhaps because it can be. lol
Sad that in america, places like Africa and India are portrayed as completely poor and helpless when in reality, there are classes just like in the US. We also have to keep in mind that society and standards arent the same everywhere in the world and these people are completely content with their way of life.
people keep asking me how I speak such good English despite living in india for my whole life and I don't think they understand how insulting it is
Srsly
via leyah Where in Africa though? Everyone keeps treating it like it’s a country
Yeah just help the people in your country first 💀
@@eleaina444 Ppl ask me if iam poor cus i live in an African continente..Like Howw?!?!im just like yall
Ppl only see things on TV.they don't know the real world!!
this video is my first chosen humanitarian video to watch in my research to get going. I have done some locally but never abroad and abroad has been my life long calling. I am turning 50 years old in May and it's time to make this happen before I die. I really appreciated this video you made and I agree with everything you said 200% and I'm so glad I chose your video to watch first because it will help me to go in with the correct mindset. ThankfullyI already had the correct mindset from the start and never knew it because I have little experience but I have had these conversations with others numerous times. I get frustrated with my own city government where I live in Tampa because it has a very greedy mindset that focuses on tourism getting every penny they can out of every square foot of space. Since covid the rent prices have soared and keep on continuing to get higher and higher and This year for 2023 Tamp is listed as having the highest rent hike in the U.S and 9th in the world. This leaves many of the residents homeless who could previously afford their rent. This is a problem because there is currently no affordable housing here and very little assistance from the city. People step in to help these homeless by providing them with a meal. Ok so yeah that takes care of their hunger for a few hours.. But then what happens? How are they going to be empowered to recover from the rent crisis? And When being giving free meals or money etc, small handouts from random people, those random people talk to the homeless like they are 5 years old and can't take care of themselves. They might have been attorneys or had other nice jobs before they became homeless. I have served the homeless and have been homeless myself. and can speak first hand about being treated like a child by white saviors who think I'm suddenly drooling while I eat. I am very educated. Just because they are homeless doesn't warrant for someone to talk to them like they are a child. In most cases homelessness doesn't change a person's cognitive ability. It may change their mental status, but they can be 60 years old and on the street but they can still open a freaking bank account without a cosigner and tie their own shoes .So I completely understand where your coming from and it angers me as well. So I feel like my experiences have helped prepare me for the proper mindset for when I do serve again in the future and now that I've watched your video I know that I am not the only one who thinks this way. So any ways you got my attention. I'm going to subscribe. And check out your resources. That Metowe sounds like a thing I might like to do.
Thank you!!!! This is exactly the thoughts I had when my group visited a Fiji resort. They proudly showed off their school full of happy healthy children. What did my group see? All the ‘stuff’ they didn’t have. Ugh! I’ve been saying this for over a decade now, and I’m thrilled to see there are more actively addressing things in a constructive, empowering, and supportive way. Thank you!!
The most cringe- worthy part of the social media sharing is how often I’ve seen photos of people from these communities on dating profiles like Tinder 😭
Leah Krokowski Oh dear god, say it isn’t so 🤦♀️
Leah Krokowski we hate to see it
😂😂😂
Leah Krokowski I knew a girl who went on trips like these and she actually dated a guy who was on the mission she worked on. And she’d go back several times to see him again. Which I was like “uhmm he’s stuck there and you are there as a temporary distraction” she eventually broke up with him. I felt really bad for him. He would send her flowers online internationally from Haiti.
Leah Krokowski and by temporary distraction I mean she wasn’t there to live. She was there on her mission and she got to go back to warm bed and huge apartment. While he still lived in poverty.
We learned about something similar in my school, like it’s more about asking them “what do you need” instead of taking a hold of the ropes yourself and thinking “I know what you need”
Exactly!! ❤️
This is why an empowerment philosophy is so important. Thank you for this! I’m an advocate to dv survivors and it’s so important to be a guide on the side and not a sage on the stage.
ThisIsEmilyKate it’s from a really awesome book getting ahead in a just gettin by world by Philip e. Devol.
M. Gonz Jesus Loves You!!
This is asked in Half the sky
Also, vote for governments in the West that don't have exploitative trade laws.
Thank you for sharing this, Hyram! I grew up in the church and witnessed many going on these humanitarian or missions trips. I’ve always wondered this and thought “Is it really helping?” But kept it to myself because I would just receive backlash for that. Thank you providing ways I can truly help without having to spend thousands on fundraising for a trip overseas. I will be looking into these organizations
One girl that I knew went on a "Humanitarian trip" building homes in Africa when she was a teen. She forgot her backpack at the job site, and went back to get it. She got there and found a local construction company fixing all the teens' shoddy workmanship. The foreman of the construction company even told her that a lot of the kids that they were getting pictures with were kids of the construction crew, and not kids in need. They kept sending in the kids to get pictures with to slow them down, so the construction crew would have less to fix in the evenings.
Oh my God, I would have been completely embarrassed in her place 😐 I hope she told this to the organizers of the trip so they know that they are actually creating problems. Anyway, who thinks that a bunch of teenagers will be able to build a proper house? 😒
One group of girls was building a road in a remote part of Morocco. They naturally wore shorts as all construction workers do(!), thus grossly insulting the local people and putting themselves in danger. It became a national incident with one official asking, Do Euro-American construction workers usually wear shorts? He knew the answer. The girls just had to show off their legs, despite it not being appropriate in terms of the ferocious sun, the rough nature of the work, and the social mores of the local people.
One quarter of women in the Peace Corps end up getting raped.
@@Xiaotian88 I find it hard to believe that the organizers of the trip don’t know what they’re doing.
@@AK-jt7kh In that case, I'd say the organizers are running an outright scam. As I understand, people joining those humanitarian trips are paying quite some money for them. And by being registered as a humanitarian organization, you can probably get a tax reduction. So actually, these organisations are doing "feel-good" trips for privileged teenagers under the pretence of humanitarianism. It's probably more profitable than a regular tourist company.
@@gwynnapnudd702 Construction workers are usually men but yes they often take of their shirts when it's hot. Guess what nobody cares. Your story says more about your culture then about those girls. It doesn't make you look good.
I heard that the traditional clothing is disappearing on streets of some African countries, since so many "cloth aid" (used clothes no-one in the Western countries wants anymore) is shipped there with such a low price that no local artisan can make clothes that cheap. So this form of charity is literally destroying cultures.
Edit. A lot of people have commented how I wanted the second hand clothes shipping to be stopped completely. That's not true. I just feel like too much is shipped, just to move the Western problems elsewhere. Just like pointed in the first replies, so much clothes is being shipped that there's no demand for all of it and they become an environmental problem in the African countries. There's more production by fast fashion brands than anyone can consume, on any country in the world. So, those who ship used clothes to any country, should be more responsible about it. As well as those who receive the clothes in those countries. I don't really know who to blame. Also, if you feel like there's absolutely no negatives about the second-hand cloth shipping to your country, let me know!
Also, people have pointed out how I think everyone in Africa are poor and I apologize if I gave that impression. I just like traditional clothes around the world a lot and that made me write the comment.
Keep on discussing, it's interesting to learn more :) and please be polite thanks!
Kotifilosofi clothes donated are usually sold by cartels who ship containers from the west. You’re right, even not necessarily traditional clothes... factories that made ‘normal’ clothes are mostly shut down
@@faridamohamed2542 thank you for the additional info. This whole thing just makes me mad.
@@faridamohamed2542 also the fact that Westerners think the clothes we donate for free are given to the poorest for free. We have no idea the amount of clothes shipped to African countries is overwhelming, and also it's not even charity anymore soon as the clothes arrive there. Basically we just get rid of our garbage and being proud while doing so. We really need to be more careful and actually demand we get to know what happens to the donated stuff.
Oh well, this is just neo-colonialism, isn't it? Loss of traditional culture because of cheaper, Western articles.
Not only that. The majority of clothing donations is never sold and has to rot in landfills creating a huge environmental hazard in those countries. It's not so much about clothing donations it's about shipping our garbage to other countries.
I'm so glad you were able to see this problem for yourself so quickly. This is good work you're doing!
Education and infrastructure really are the most important gifts. People will rise above if given the chance. The US standard is so far above almost any other country. Even in Europe the homes are about half the size and wardrobes consist of a few staples and a few special items.
Just because someone is living below your standards does not mean they need you to come give them they're every possible need.
Actually teaching people how to do things so that they never need you again is true humanitarian work.
Give a man a fish he is fed for a day. Teach a man to fish he is fed for a lifetime.
"White Savior" is not only for white people. It's more like "Rich Savior" We have rich and higher-middle-class people in my country go on humanitarian trips too. On top of that, it's an act that strokes their ego so well. I came across some of them that have the i-am-a-humanitarian-therefore-i-am-a-better-person-than-you attitude.
I mean, you're not wrong but most of these rich people are white so I would keep the "white savior" term anyways
I totally agree it's definitely a class issue, same with the left wing in many western governments, thinking they're helping the poor working class or those poor black folk who can't work out their elbow from their ankle. That all they need to do is roll out social welfare programmes, that are, I think, sometimes necessary for the short-term but are used in the long-term and because those rich elites know so much better. They work to keep the poor, poor and voting labour/left.
@@hinatalavigne909 You would keep it because... Why? Because they are mostly rich white people? Where is your evidence to this? And even if you were right, how is that contributing in any way? It's just another idiotic buzz word with no empirical data to support it - it will get drowned by people who would will describe it as such. Why target a new group of people? And besides, it is extremely ignorant and inconsiderate to just group races together. It's mostly americans doing this, and white or black americans are very different from white or black europeans. Just like you can't just denote someone as being purely "asian". It is a disgusting and ignorant trend in America and you should stop doing it. Instead, be smart, be intelligent even and call it what it actually is: Messiah complex and pathological altruism as "kshiftkometh" said. Keep that emotionally biased shit out of here you butthurt buffon.
@@hinatalavigne909
You know people other than white can be charitable right? That they aren't all poor money/benefit scrubbers, that they have disposable income and the ability to be altruistic.
In this situation, it is classism, and hence rich savior. But white savior is definitely a thing, when it comes to racism. It’s literally like, simping for minorities.
They bring high schooler to build a house while there are fully capable grown men in the country..
how ridiculous.
Grown men and women x
It actually hurts the local economy, because the people there who could have gotten jobs building a school or whatever, are replaced by outsiders working for free. Like he explained in the video, things would be 100 times better for the community if you just collected the money the teenagers paid, and used it as wages for local workers to do the task. 🤷🏼♀️
Yes.
Like hire men and women of the country, teach them how to do it and pay them for it.
Maybe after the business has grown stable, they can continue to do so on theit own.
@@bloedjohan7602 often there are already locals who have those skills. Especially construction! How did all the existing buildings get there in the first place, were they all built by foreign volunteer kids? 🤷🏼♀️ In the video he even says that locals would try to help but they were not allowed to participate. It's one thing if you're a doctor or engineer with special skills. But there's no way an average middle class teenager can contribute more than a person living in the area who has experience working for a living.
EXACTLYYYY
I went on a church mission trip to Guatemala when I was in high school. Honestly looking back it was pretty darn pointless. We went to "help" a Christian run children's home and school there. All the suitcases full of stuff we brought to donate could have just been bought there, saving the price of extra suitcases. Any of the work we did we could have used our travel expenses to hire a local professional to do. And all the kids there were already going to church so it wasn't like we were teaching them anything new. Not to mention as an adult now I hate the concept of proselytizing. In retrospect it really was just for us to feel good about ourselves. I would rather go back to Guatemala on vacation, spend my money at local shops and hotels, and enjoy myself as a tourist.
When I read Paul Theroux's "Dark Star Safari", he related how Africa had changed since his days in the Peace Corps
back in the 60s. In short he could see how things had gone backwards in many ways since then, and he thought
the reason was the fact that "do gooders" who had come to help had made people dependent on them, so
people just sat around and waited for someone to come and do for them, all the while things around them were
just falling apart.
americans come to our countries with the mentality that they are the gods of the world and we are just plain people with no food or water and that we don’t have education or logic it’s just sad and that’s all thanks to the things they show on tv
American really need to explore world more😂😅
It’s Incredible how US citizens believe that in every aspect. They go to the Middle East, decades ago it was Latin America and they intervene in the country saying it’s because they are “saving it”
I don’t think we are gods of the world i think some people do have good intentions but need to be humbled
A lot of people getting involved with humanitarian work could start on their own countries. Where I live there is a huge homelessness problem and lack of political representation or decent social policies. Getting involved in local inequality is far more beneficial in my opinion. From my understanding, a lot of African countries don't want to be patronised. It's a shame that films often exploit this idea of Africa as poor for fundraising targets when there are plenty of up and coming people from Africa (for example) who are in many ways actually surpassing the ambition and passion of a lot of people from where I live and who especially don't want to be patronised by Europeans or Americans because they are proud to come from where they come from and working hard to get where they want to be.
Not all Americans believe everything they see on tv. They lie to us way too much for that. It’s crazy how much they show on those commercials. I need exactly what Hiram said a reputable company to help an area that needs to be actually be helped. You won’t see me showing up to a party uninvited.
We call this social tourism here. Basically its when rich people travel to "help" poor localities building houses but its mostly a exprience for themselves, like a yoga class or sth you do to feel better person, woke etc
Yes yes. And one of the student organization (aisec) at my university still constantly promotes and wants you to take part in that poverty tourism trips
Lmao you guys low-key Just hate rich people. No matter what they do they can't win
We always referred to it as "voluntourism"
Loreto Hidalgo You should not assume
Alex Zoldyck the correlation:
Thanks for the insight. There are some "humanitarian" outreaches that actually help local communities rather than going abroad. My dad received help from some of the local community, and we appreciate it and found it helpful.
This is really amazing. Its nice to hear someone talking outside of our country's problems. It's the same everywhere.
When we do this for anyone anywhere we disable them. Butterflies, chick's or people, when you do the work you handicap. This is true for parents over caring for their own children
As an African studying in Europe, I have had people say how much they want to send their kids to Africa so they see what "real struggle" looks like to whip them into shape. So THANK YOU for highlighting how damaging it is. People often forget that on that other side of poverty are people who have no desire to be looked at like a zoo animal. Thank you Hyram.
Lol tbh a lot of immigrant parents threaten their kids with sending them back home. I know Haitians Mexicans, south east Asians who get the same schtick. One boy actually thought his parents were bluffing. Never showed up for the next school year. Got sent to Mexico to live with relatives. It can be a good thing if your child is out of control and you have close family members back home. The change in environment can be good to them. Less peer pressure
I'm african living in Europe and my parents definitely threatened to send me or my siblings back to Africa
What?!?! Wooow.
@@oilcubebottle6389 same. OP is being over sensitive.
As a kid, I always wondered if people in Africa might say the equal opposite like, "start acting right before we ship your ass off to the U.S."
Like, why pick on Africa? I'd rather not get sent to North Korea lol
"People who aren't part of a community, don't best understand that community's problems".
Speak on it, Hyram. Yes.
Great video.
I’m your 1k like
Damn scrolled down at the same time he said it
problem is they have too many fucking kids and not enough jobs for their population.
This is perfect timing for me ,and the word 'selfless" certainly describes you . Thank you!
Oh my, you took the words out of my mouth. I wanted to respond, but you already told me everything about this topic. You are not only an open-minded person but also free-spirited.