A must read for anyone considering volunteer tourism.
Elizabeth BeckerA manifesto for doing good well, this is an indispensable book for anyone volunteering overseas.
Noam ChomskyThis is recommended reading for all those considering volunteering in a developing country.
Philip GoodwinThe pedagogy of Learning Service is foundational to responsible travel.
Reed HarwoodOrder the book now
This year, over ten million people will go abroad, eager to find the perfect blend of adventure and altruism. Volunteer travel can help you find your place in the world–and find out what you’re made of. So why do so many international volunteer programs fail to make an impact? Why do some do more harm than good?
About Us
International volunteering has grown in popularity, and with so many people going abroad to “serve”, we worry that we are often forgetting a really important step: we have to learn before we can help. If we don’t research our options thoroughly, understand the context and culture of the communities we visit, and ensure that our skills and experience match the needs, volunteering can be wasteful, and at worst, cause a lot of harm.
We are promoting a movement of learning, designed to better prepare young people about to travel abroad for the first time, and travellers of all ages looking to give back through their time, with the skills and mindsets they need to be of “service”, not just for a few weeks on a volunteer trip, but for the rest of their lives.
Videos
We’ve produced an excellent video collection to give you more information. Check out some of the videos on responsible tourism here.
Library
Want to learn more about responsible volunteer travel, but don’t know where to start? We created a few guides to help!
Consultancy
The Learning Service Team offer bespoke trainings and consultancy to travel companies, schools and non-profit organizations. Find out more
From Our Blog
Why I Advise Gap Year Students to Use the Learning Service Approach
Marion Taylor is the founder of Taylor The Gap, a gap year consultancy for students. Here she talks about what she has learned through her own experiences in traveling and volunteering abroad. Like in many of the personal experiences shared in Learning Service: The...
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7 Things Medical Volunteers Need to Know
This is a guest post by experienced nurse and serial volunteer Emily Scott, with some important advice about volunteering overseas in the medical field. When I started volunteering abroad as a nurse, I used to tell every medical professional I met that they should...
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“No, Sorry” – What We Say to Foreign Volunteers
This is a guest post from Sally Hetherington, about the journey her organisation took with international volunteering and how she made herself redundant. I was 23. It was my first time in Cambodia. I thought, “why not visit an orphanage?” I was disappointed. The...
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