OUR MANIFESTO

A reflection on volunteering, solidarity, respect, and commitment to children, youth, and communities

Who is Really Helping Whom?

Introduction

In recent years, international volunteering, social tourism, and cultural immersion experiences have grown considerably in different parts of the world. Many people travel motivated by the desire to learn about other cultures, discover different realities, contribute in some way as volunteers, and live an experience with meaningful human value.

Alongside this growth, important questions have also emerged regarding the ways in which certain realities are narrated, interpreted, and presented, as well as the real impact of some practices promoted as “social projects,” whose results and scope deserve deeper reflection.

This invites us to consider not only the good intentions that often motivate these initiatives, but also to critically examine the concepts, approaches, and practices that support solidarity, volunteering, social projects, community activities, development support programs, and cultural exchange. It also leads us to ask what real effects these programs and initiatives have on children, youth, and communities, and how they contribute—or do not contribute—to strengthening their autonomy, dignity, and well-being.

Our intention is not to point fingers at or discredit any particular institution. There are different ways of understanding volunteering, cultural exchange, and social commitment. Many people come to Guatemala with a genuine desire to learn Spanish, share, and contribute. This desire has value and deserves respect.

However, today there are also short-term volunteer programs that are marketed as community service experiences. Although they are often motivated by good intentions, they frequently focus more on the visitor’s experience than on the actual needs of the communities.

Short activities, such as painting a school, sharing in a celebration, or participating in a one-time event, can create the feeling of having produced significant change. However, when these actions are not part of a broader and continuous process, their impact is usually limited, since local needs and challenges require long-term commitment, accompaniment, and sustained work.

We have also observed that some programs focus their efforts on donations or short-term activities that, although they may generate visible results in the immediate term, do not necessarily strengthen local capacities or contribute to sustainable processes. Our experience has taught us that the most meaningful results are achieved when actions emerge from participatory processes and respond to priorities defined by the community itself.

For this reason, we seek to avoid approaches that turn poverty into a learning experience for visitors or into an opportunity primarily intended to generate personal satisfaction, without creating meaningful benefits for the communities involved.

Visiting a primary school for a few hours, painting a wall, breaking a piñata, distributing candy, delivering food supplies, or giving gifts may create pleasant moments and memorable photographs. However, we believe it is important to ask ourselves: Who are the true beneficiaries of these experiences? Children, youth, and communities, or those who participate in them with the desire to help?

We also believe it is important to reflect on a common practice in some settings: the use of images of children, especially in contexts of poverty, as a promotional strategy.

Images of children, youth, women, or people experiencing vulnerability often evoke emotions and attract students or volunteers. However, we believe that children, youth, women, and communities deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and should not become tools for emotional marketing.

Sharing experiences with children, young people, and communities involves something much deeper: listening, learning, understanding their historical, social, and cultural processes, and recognizing the causes that have led them to face different conditions of inequality, exclusion, and poverty.

The INEPAS Experience

For this reason, at INEPAS we have chosen a different approach. Our projects have been designed to contribute to the well-being and strengthening of communities, rather than as activities primarily aimed at providing entertainment, emotional experiences, or personal satisfaction to students. Our purpose is to promote processes of learning, exchange, and collaboration that generate real and sustainable benefits for the communities involved.

At the same time, students are a fundamental pillar of our institution. Their participation in our Spanish language programs contributes to the sustainability of educational, social, and community initiatives that benefit children, youth, and their families.

The walls and hallways of INEPAS are not covered with photographs of children. We do not want to disrespect the families with whom we work, nor do we seek to appeal to the emotions of our visitors.

Furthermore, we do not bring gifts or candy to children; we leave that to Santa Claus. We believe that sustainable development is built by strengthening capacities, opportunities, and relationships based on mutual respect. We do not promote paternalistic approaches or experiences in which social realities become products for emotional or tourism consumption.

We seek human encounters capable of transforming the way we see the world and relate to others.

The philosophy of INEPAS has been shaped by years of educational work, social research, community accompaniment, and the defense of Human Rights. These experiences have given rise to a vision based on respect, dignity, and a deep understanding of the social, historical, and economic processes that shape the realities of communities.

If you are interested in learning more about our community activities, we have an online archive where you can view photographs and videos:

Conclusion

Perhaps the most valuable meaning of human exchange does not lie in the immediate help we believe we are offering, but rather in the inner transformation that can emerge when we learn to see others with respect, dignity, awareness, and humanity.

And, in the end, perhaps the most important question remains:

Are we contributing to the well-being and strengthening of children, youth, and communities, or are we reproducing subtle forms of inequality under the language of help and solidarity?

María Antonieta Ixcoteyac Velásquez
Coordinadora General
INEPAS

Original source: Nuestro Manifiesto [ES]