Ethics, Quality, and Equality: Unite For Sight
Is the Unite For Sight program an "adventure," "voluntourism", or a "medical mission"?
Unite For Sight is the leader in socially responsible, effective volunteering abroad. Our programs apply best practices in global health, volunteerism, and social entrepreneurship. Our Global Impact Corps program is not an "adventure," "voluntourism," or a "medical mission." Organizations with this type of representation indicate that they are marketing programs to vacationers and do not have a commitment to supporting local health care professionals through sustainable, effective programs that achieve measurable results. Just as employment in a volunteer's home country is not considered a vacation, volunteering (employment without pay) in a developing country should not be considered a vacation or represented as an adventure. Volunteering requires the same level of devotion and professionalism as a job. Those looking for a vacation are unprepared for the rigors of volunteering abroad and are especially prone to unprofessional behavior that can undermine local communities. Representing volunteer work in developing countries as an "adventure" indicates a disrespect for the local community and for the developing world as a whole.
"Medical missions" refer to short-term interventions that, despite honorable intentions, can actually cause significant harm. In fact, short-term programs are serious public health concerns that create new and oftentimes more substantial barriers to patient care, thereby reinforcing and furthering health disparities and the cycle of poverty. Module 9 in our Global Health Online Course more fully discusses the concerns about medical missions.
Committed to spreading best practices and eliminating the worst practices that are prevalent in other organizations with volunteer abroad programs, Unite For Sight developed an evaluative framework by which one can evaluate volunteer abroad programs worldwide.