Tie Up the Lion

Thinking of travelling the world or volunteering abroad? You might soon become one of the millions of people who participate in ‘Voluntourism’ every year. The unregulated sector is becoming increasingly popular with young, Western backpackers seeking to make a positive contribution to the world around them. Well meaning voluntourists spend time in the poorest countries in the world building schools, digging wells and teaching English under the auspice of 'making a difference'. But does their involvement actually do more harm than good? Tie Up The Lion explores how young people's motivations to 'save the world' often have alarming, unforeseen negative consequences on the lives of the very people they're trying to help. Some voluntourists unwittingly become involved in placements that exploit children, line the pockets of unscrupulous for profit companies and wreak havoc across local communities. This book will help you to avoid such placements and discover positive, impactful ways in which you can contribute to the world around you.

Thinking of travelling the world or volunteering abroad? Are you motivated to make a positive contribution to the world around you? You might soon become one of the millions of people who participate in ‘Voluntourism’ every year. The unregulated sector is becoming increasingly popular with young, Western backpackers seeking to make a positive contribution to the world around them, with people paying significant amounts of money to spend time on their gap years involved in a variety of placements in parts of Africa, Latin America and South East Asia. Well meaning voluntourists spend time in the poorest countries in the world building schools, digging wells and teaching English under the auspice of 'making a difference'. But does their involvement actually do more harm than good? By bringing together opinions and testimonies from people who have been involved in voluntourism placements, and interlacing them with studies conducted by organisations in different parts of the world; Tie Up The Lion explores how young people's motivations to 'save the world' often have alarming, unforeseen negative consequences on the lives of the very people they're trying to help. Some voluntourists unwittingly become involved in placements that exploit children, line the pockets of unscrupulous for profit companies and wreak havoc across local communities. This book will help you to avoid such placements and discover positive, impactful ways in which you can contribute to the world around you.

Ross Young is co-founder of The Zuri Project Uganda, a UK registered charity that supports the design, delivery and evaluation of a variety of development projects in south-western Uganda, that aim to improve community wellbeing and alleviate multidimensional poverty. He has worked as a freelance consultant since 2014 in the field of international development, collaborating on person-centred projects in the UK with the HSA Foundation and in India with the Institute for Person Centred Approaches. He has an MSc in International Development from the University of Birmingham and a BA in English from Nottingham Trent University. He currently lives in Birmingham, UK, with his family and 3 beagles.