In this blog post from the Georgetown University Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Sarah Chhin - technical advisor to M’lup Russey, an NGO in Cambodia that assists orphans and vulnerable children - describes an incident in which foreign volunteers tried to block efforts to close an orphanage in Cambodia and reintegrate those children into families, describing the impacts of orphanage voluntourism and calling on volunteers, agencies, and charities to support communities and families rather than institutionalization.
"Six months after the orphanage raid," says Chhin, "one of the volunteers returned to apologize for her behavior after having done some research and realizing the implications of what had happened. When orphanages are able to make money from tourists and volunteers, the practice of offering volunteer opportunities is not going to stop, so the onus is on sending agencies and volunteers to change the narrative, based on verifiable research that is freely and openly available."