【推荐2】The Negative Impacts of Volunteer Tourism

Volunteer tourism, or voluntourism, is an increasingly popular form of altruistic travel. Its appeal lies in being an experience that allows visitors to feel good by being a part of some kind of meaningful change. But despite good intentions from participants, volunteering abroad has been the target of heavy criticism over the past few years.

Voluntourists only have a limited amount of time, and the ability to change the systems and provide support for the places they visit. Being volunteers, they also simply don’t have the skills to do so. And they can sometimes inadvertently perpetuate unhelpful and even patronizing(自视高人一等的)ideas about the places they visit. A number of studies have shown that volunteer tourism can have negative impacts, ___________benefiting the local communities.

*Unskilled labor creates more work

Previously, volunteering opportunities were often___________to skilled professionals, but this is not the___________of volunteer tourism. Anyone can become a voluntourist, which brings a series of problems. Though___________, they are often unskilled, especially when it comes to work such as construction and digging. This can often lead to locals being forced to take on the added responsibility for rebuilding homes and schools that would have been___________inadequate.

*Volunteers take local jobs

In the meantime, this takes jobs away from locals who would have been paid to do the same work. It also prevents them from learning or being taught the skills that could then be used to___________the community. As a famous proverb says, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” The time and efforts of volunteers could be better___________making local communities more economically independent and self-sufficient, allowing them to improve___________even after they depart.

*There is no long-term commitment

Lots of communities do need the help and assistance of volunteers, but what are they able to address in the few short weeks of their “___________”? Most places tend to benefit more from long-term engagement, and often the largest number of meaningful volunteers come from the communities themselves, rather than from____________eager to fix things. While short-term volunteers can do a lot of good, it is often so only when they have skills and training that____________the specific needs, such as medical aid, construction, conservation, teaching, or even religious work; as well as having experience doing the required work and with different cultures.

* There is a lot of focus on__________the volunteer

Voluntourism tends to place a lot of emphasis on the volunteers, sometimes even at the expense of the community they are looking to help. Travel companies attract individuals with promises of____________but immediately-rewarding experiences. This, in turn, can lead to large numbers of volunteers who, instead of helping create a change, can actually____________local communities from becoming more economically independent due to their very presence.

What Can We Do Instead?

Short-term volunteers, especially students, also need to be given the opportunity to explore various different cultures and destinations. But they should take the time to learn about the socio-cultural backgrounds of the places they visit. Short-term placements thus become more about experiences and____________exchange, where they may gain knowledge and respect other cultures, rather than go on trips that “help the poor”.

This kind of cross-cultural engagement can do a lot of good in a world that is increasingly leaning towards violence and xenophobia.

【推荐3】Massimo Bottura opened a restaurant in Italy in 1995 which is a two-time winner of the world’s best. Today, his cooking empire _________ from Dubai to Los Angeles. And he is one of the stars of a popular Netflix series. However, out of all those _________, Italy’s most celebrated chef says that the peak is Refettorio Ambrosianos.

At Refettorio Ambrosianos, dinner guests are greeted by name and dine on fine china at tables. The menu changes daily,_________what comes in with the morning’s delivery. The delivery may_________ dry vegetables, meat close to sell-by date and too-ugly-to-sold fruits. By dinner, however, the supermarket wastes have been _________into delicious meals. About 100 diners—refugees, the homeless, and the unemployed—enjoy the meal with obvious_________, laughing with the volunteer waiters, praising the volunteer chefs, and forgetting, at least for an hour, the_________ of a life on the streets.

_________, Bottura’s Refettorios are not restaurants, they are soup kitchens. But unlike _________ soup kitchens, the guests do not have to wait in a line to receive food. As Bottura says, the experience can make his guests __________ confidence, forget the hardships and feel__________.

Chefs at Refettorio cook free meals with__________ from local shops. So Refettorio Ambrosianos are __________ as places to focus attention on the growing global food waste problem. “Refettorio Ambrosiano is a movement hoping to __________food waste crisis,” says Bottura, “I never thought leftover foods were a waste. An old carrot, a hard piece of bread, brown bananas…they are just opportunities for us to create something__________.”

【推荐3】Many people are volunteering to help others. They are a generally _________ group and getting a huge benefit that non-volunteers don’t. Research suggests that volunteers aren’t just helping the communities they _________. They actually experience a boost in their mental health.

_________ with people who don’t volunteer, people who volunteer are more _________ with their lives and rate their overall health as better. Also people who volunteer more frequently experience greater _________: Those who volunteered at least once a month reported better mental health than those who volunteered _________ or not at all.

The researchers also found that people who started to volunteer became happier over time. While it’s _________ that happier people spend more time volunteering, studies suggest that you don’t need to already _________ happy to benefit from it. In fact, some research suggests that people who _________ with lower levels of wellbeing may even get a bigger boost from volunteering.

Why does volunteering __________ mental health? A combination of __________ is likely at play. Volunteering appears to be naturally __________ -when we help others, we tend to experience a “warm glow(喜悦)”. Volunteering is also likely to help boost a sense of __________ connection.

In particular, for older adults, volunteering can be a way to stay connected to others after __________. Finally, volunteering can be a way to __________ professional skills and try out leadership opportunities.