Fake volunteerism, overseas edition

I've often wondered about the various charitable organizations who send students to third-world countries to do construction or other "valuable" work. According to a major British charity, the projects are frequently a waste of time, effort, and money:

One of Britain's leading charities has warned students not to take part in gap-year aid projects overseas which cost thousands of pounds and do nothing to help developing countries.

Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) said that gap-year volunteering, highlighted by Princes William and Harry, has spawned a new industry in which students pay thousands of pounds for prepackaged schemes to teach English or help to build wells in developing countries with little evidence that it benefits local communities.

It said that "voluntourism" was often badly planned and spurious projects were springing up across Africa, Asia and Latin America to satisfy the demands of the students rather than the needs of locals. Young people would be better off simply travelling the world and enjoying themselves, it added.

One of Victor's friends was recently on a trip to Africa for this sort of thing, and she came back all fired-up to get all her friends to go and do similar things. It's a shame that that sort of enthusiasm can be wasted — or worse, cause more harm.

H/T to Johnathan Pearce.