Kramatorsk: Pizzaria Scam as Russians Destroy Hotel Housing US/UK Special Forces Advisors/Contractors

THE INTEL DROP ^ | June 28, 2023 | INTEL-DROP

[CatHerd]

Ah yes, voluntourism. A $3 billion business (and a profitable one!). Where you pay a bunch of money to do a job you’re not trained to do, have no expertise or experience in, take jobs away from locals who need them (unless they’re getting paid to redo the shoddy work the voluntourists did — yes it happens!). With the same money, you could provide jobs for locals to build whatever, sort the donations, etc.

So what volunteerism outfits do they recommmend?

Here’s the first one:

https://www.volunteeringukraine.com/volunteer-opportunuties/make-it-possible-ukraine

Let’s see. You can help run a fun camp for kiddies, plan their classes, organize sports and games, etc. You can teach English to Ukrainian kids, even if you have no degree in TEFL. For a day or a few days or a week or more. Up to you! No experience necessary! Whee! You get to play with cute kiddies! Even though you can’t speak a word of Ukrainian. No background check. What could possibly go wrong here?

For the price of your trip there, you could help pay for qualified teachers. If these kids really need to learn English as a priority, which is questionable if not planning on relocating to an Anglophone country, pay for a qualified teacher certified in TEFL. Maybe hire some of the kids’ unemployed parents to organize games and sports and all that. (Unemployment rate in Ukraine: 23%.) Would that not be better and safer for the kids? And better for the Ukrainians who need jobs?

What are the financials on this outfit?

Whoops. Looks like Charity Navigator has no filings from them since 2020:

Next up, you can peel veggies and stuff for freeze dried meals. Again, why not donate $ and give unemployed Ukrainians a job? Same for weaving camouflage nets for Ukrainian tanks. Give that job to a Ukrainian who needs it and pay him or her for it.

Lots of volunteerism for “rebuilding” and yet reports say construction workers in Ukraine are suffering some of the worst unemployment. Why not donate $ to give these qualified experienced workers jobs instead of paying money to travel there so inexperienced clueless you can flail around trying your hand at repairing buildings?

Really, the only real good these people are doing is providing jobs to those working in the hotel and restaurant businesses serving these voluntourists. Before voluntourism became a thing, hotels in safe-enough parts of a country at war were filled with IDPs who fled the dangerous areas so they could stay in their own country and a few filled with professional international humanitarian workers awaiting being outposted to more dangerous areas. Now they are partially filled with voluntourists. Is this the best allocation of resources? Ukraine has an unemployment rate of 23%. Why not donate instead and give these unemployed people a job?