{"id":11220,"date":"2016-05-10T21:40:38","date_gmt":"2016-05-10T20:40:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/?p=11220"},"modified":"2016-05-11T10:46:02","modified_gmt":"2016-05-11T09:46:02","slug":"voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with director of The Voluntourist documentary, Chlo\u00e9 Sanguinetti"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

#StopOrphanTrips Blogging Blitz<\/div>
This post is part of a month long #stoporphantrips Blogging Blitz.\u00a0You can see all the posts and learn more about the campaign on our Orphanage Volunteering special focus<\/a> page<\/div><\/div><\/p>\n

\"C.A<\/span>fter graduating in humanitarian aid and International relations, Chlo\u00e9 Sanguinetti worked in international development alongside an NGO in Cameroon as well as for the French Red Cross. She then set out on a year and a half long round the world trip. On the way she filmed short-term volunteers working with children, asking them about their motivations and their impact on local communities. She also interviewed directors of local organisations, questioning them on their need to welcome international volunteers, to produce the documentary \u2018The Voluntourist<\/a>\u2019. Now based in London she is actively promoting the film to raise awareness against short term unskilled volunteering.<\/p>\n

She spoke with Better Volunteering Better Care’s co-ordinaitor Anna Mckeon about what she learned when making the film, and what she hopes it might achieve.<\/p>\n

Anna: What inspired you to make the film?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Chlo\u00e9:<\/strong> When I was 19 I volunteered in Vietnam, teaching English to \u2018street children\u2019 for two weeks. I didn\u2019t have the appropriate skills; I didn\u2019t know the country, the language or the culture. As soon as I stood in front of a class I crumbled: what was I doing? Who did I think I was, pretending to be a teacher? I came back home, went back to University, wrote a few essays on international volunteering and decided to take my questioning further. As soon as I finished studying I set out on a round the world trip with my camera. I met with volunteers who reminded me of myself a few years before and asked them about their motivations, the impact they thought they were having and generally questioned the idea of \u2018voluntourism\u2019 altogether. The result became the film \u2018The Voluntourist<\/a>\u2019.<\/p>\n

Anna: What was the most surprising thing to you about the volunteers and the situations you experienced?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Chlo\u00e9:<\/strong> As I set out on my trip and started asking people why they were volunteering I didn\u2019t really know what I would \u2018find\u2019. I just wanted to understand why people were so eager to help without questioning their impact. I didn\u2019t expect to discover that voluntourism could be as harmful as it can sometimes be. Especially in the case of orphanage volunteering. I remember walking into an orphanage in Cambodia that was hosting 15 western volunteers and thinking \u2018what the hell is this place?\u2019 The Cambodian director shamelessly told me, on camera, that he used to send the \u2018orphans\u2019 to beg at the nearby temples of Angkor because he didn\u2019t have enough money. The volunteers weren\u2019t doing anything, they would just sit around and play with the children, cuddling them and taking photos. But they were bringing in money. It was like the perfect voluntourist trap. But the volunteers were so full of good intentions and na\u00efve that they didn\u2019t question it.<\/p>\n

Anna: What kind of reception did the film get?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Chlo\u00e9:<\/strong> The film was well received. Two days after I posted it online I received an email from a girl who told me that she\u2019d started volunteering in an orphanage a few days earlier despite what her friends had told her, watched the film and stopped her placement straight away. It felt amazing. The aim of the film is definitely not to shame volunteers or people who want to help but rather to open up the debate on voluntourism: I think this is why it was well received. People are ready to hear that maybe we could do things better. Once at a conference, a man stood up and told me I was irresponsible for making such a film, that it would discourage people from wanting to help. I later discovered that he was working for one of the biggest volunteer sending agencies and that my film would threaten his profit. That felt great too!<\/p>\n

Anna: Did any of the volunteers you met see the film? What did they think?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Chlo\u00e9:<\/strong> The general feedback from the volunteers in the film was that although they weren\u2019t really comfortable with being shown as an example of something you should not do, they agreed with the message of the film and hence agreed to be in it.<\/p>\n

Anna: You have screened the film and done talks in a number of different places – how do people react to what you have to say?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Chlo\u00e9:<\/strong> It largely depends on the audience. I have screened the film in a lot of universities and the reaction is always great. Students are really eager to talk about voluntourism and how we can make sure that we have a positive impact. It\u2019s always a little bit difficult at the beginning because when you question people\u2019s good intentions it becomes very personal\u2026 But I think it\u2019s a healthy and necessary conversation.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, I once screened the film in front of the staff of a volunteer sending agency (I won\u2019t name them) and as I thought that the conversation was going well, they went on telling me about all the orphanages they were working with and how their programs were different from the \u2018bad\u2019 ones. I felt a bit deflated.<\/p>\n

I think this is interesting: when I talk to past and potential volunteers I feel like the conversation is going somewhere. When I talk to people who benefit from voluntourism, not so much. Weird right?<\/p>\n

Anna: How do you see the problems within orphanage volunteering fitting into the overall picture of volunteer travel?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Chlo\u00e9:<\/strong> As I discovered while doing research for the film, orphanage volunteering is possibly the worst kind of volunteering you could decide to do. It is harmful and dangerous. But it is still one of the most attractive types of volunteering. And that to me illustrates perfectly the problems with voluntourism. Working directly with children is rewarding, you feel loved and useful; you get great shots of you doing something good for the world, come home and feel satisfied. And because of this you do not question the actual impact of your experience. We need to stop confusing what is good with what feels good.<\/p>\n

Anna: What steps do you think need to be made to try and change some of the more negative practices that you explore in the film?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Chlo\u00e9:<\/strong> We need to keep the conversation going. The more we question what we do, the programs we take part in, the organisations we engage with, the closer we will be to having a positive impact. The change needs to come from both sides: the more volunteers will ask for ethical volunteering programs, the better volunteer sending agencies will do. More and more young people aspire to travelling and giving a bit of their time during their trip: I truly believe this is a force that can lead to global understanding. But not the way we are doing it now. We should travel and learn from each other rather than assuming that a local community on the other side of the world needs our help.<\/p>\n

Get Involved<\/h2>\n

If everyone who reads this can share at least one blog post in the month \u2014 if not more \u2014 there\u2019s a chance to make a tremendous impact. If something shocks you, if you learn something, if something\u2019s interesting or appalling, share it to your networks and raise awareness across global sectors and bring about the change required to #StopOrphanTrips. Don\u2019t forget to include the hashtag!<\/p>\n

Share this article and use\u00a0the hashtag #StopOrphanTrips.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sign the Avaaz petition<\/a> calling for travel operators to remove orphanage volunteering placements from their websites by the next Responsible Tourism day at the World Travel Market in London in November 2016. Don\u2019t forget to share it and include the hashtag #StopOrphanTrips, too!<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a volunteer tourism operator who is happy to #StopOrphanTrips, then please let us get in touch \u2013 we\u2019d love to highlight your support of the campaign. For more information, visit\u00a0www.bettervolunteeringbettercare.org<\/a>, and if you want to learn more or get involved, email\u00a0volunteering@bettercarenetwork.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For 18 months, Chlo\u00e9 Sanguinetti travelled the world, interviewing volunteers and people working for volunteer orgs about the growth of voluntourism<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":11221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[675,138,551,535],"tags":[158,134,159],"yoast_head":"\nInterview with the director of documentary film, The Voluntourist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For 18 months, Chlo\u00e9 Sanguinetti travelled the world, interviewing volunteers and people working for volunteer orgs about the growth of voluntourism\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Interview with the director of documentary film, The Voluntourist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For 18 months, Chlo\u00e9 Sanguinetti travelled the world, interviewing volunteers and people working for volunteer orgs about the growth of voluntourism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Travindy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/travindy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-05-10T20:40:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-05-11T09:46:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/voluntourist.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anna McKeon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Travindy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Travindy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anna McKeon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Anna McKeon\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/37f78ba0dd68482e022acfc2c5b7cc73\"},\"headline\":\"Interview with director of The Voluntourist documentary, Chlo\u00e9 Sanguinetti\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-10T20:40:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-05-11T09:46:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/\"},\"wordCount\":1385,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"orphanages\",\"volunteering\",\"voluntourism\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Corporate Responsibility\",\"Human Rights\",\"Interview\",\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/\",\"name\":\"Interview with the director of documentary film, The Voluntourist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-10T20:40:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-05-11T09:46:02+00:00\",\"description\":\"For 18 months, Chlo\u00e9 Sanguinetti travelled the world, interviewing volunteers and people working for volunteer orgs about the growth of voluntourism\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Interview with director of The Voluntourist documentary, Chlo\u00e9 Sanguinetti\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Travindy\",\"description\":\"sustainable tourism consulting, news and resources\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Travindy\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/cropped-travindy-logo-square.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/cropped-travindy-logo-square.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Travindy\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/travindy\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Travindy\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/37f78ba0dd68482e022acfc2c5b7cc73\",\"name\":\"Anna McKeon\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5a3c43208458eabd7329d9587344072d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5a3c43208458eabd7329d9587344072d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Anna McKeon\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/author\/anna-mckeon\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Interview with the director of documentary film, The Voluntourist","description":"For 18 months, Chlo\u00e9 Sanguinetti travelled the world, interviewing volunteers and people working for volunteer orgs about the growth of voluntourism","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Interview with the director of documentary film, The Voluntourist","og_description":"For 18 months, Chlo\u00e9 Sanguinetti travelled the world, interviewing volunteers and people working for volunteer orgs about the growth of voluntourism","og_url":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/","og_site_name":"Travindy","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/travindy","article_published_time":"2016-05-10T20:40:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-05-11T09:46:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":960,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/voluntourist.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Anna McKeon","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Travindy","twitter_site":"@Travindy","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anna McKeon","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/"},"author":{"name":"Anna McKeon","@id":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/37f78ba0dd68482e022acfc2c5b7cc73"},"headline":"Interview with director of The Voluntourist documentary, Chlo\u00e9 Sanguinetti","datePublished":"2016-05-10T20:40:38+00:00","dateModified":"2016-05-11T09:46:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/"},"wordCount":1385,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/#organization"},"keywords":["orphanages","volunteering","voluntourism"],"articleSection":["Corporate Responsibility","Human Rights","Interview","Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/","url":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/","name":"Interview with the director of documentary film, The Voluntourist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-05-10T20:40:38+00:00","dateModified":"2016-05-11T09:46:02+00:00","description":"For 18 months, Chlo\u00e9 Sanguinetti travelled the world, interviewing volunteers and people working for volunteer orgs about the growth of voluntourism","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2016\/05\/voluntourist-chloe-sanguinetti\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Interview with director of The Voluntourist documentary, Chlo\u00e9 Sanguinetti"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/","name":"Travindy","description":"sustainable tourism consulting, news and resources","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Travindy","url":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/cropped-travindy-logo-square.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/cropped-travindy-logo-square.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Travindy"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/travindy","https:\/\/twitter.com\/Travindy"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/37f78ba0dd68482e022acfc2c5b7cc73","name":"Anna McKeon","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5a3c43208458eabd7329d9587344072d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5a3c43208458eabd7329d9587344072d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Anna McKeon"},"url":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/author\/anna-mckeon\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11220"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}