The Problem with Service Trips

              With summer slowly approaching, I have begun thinking about plans for what I am going to do.  Something I was briefly but keenly interested in the New Trier in India trip.  This trip consists of two weeks of traveling around India, at the whooping expense of 5,322 dollars.  The trip is considered a service trip because students contribute to building a school in a poverty stricken village.  I believe that students who go on this trip and teachers or sponsors involved in trips like these have the greatest of intentions, but should stop to consider whether or not they are making the greatest impact possible. 

Malnourished man in India 

             While doing research on the cost of living in India, I discovered that on average a decent meal ranges from 10 to 20 rupees, which is 0.37 cents in American Dollars.  This means that if you put the 5,332 Dollars toward feeding India, one could supply over 14,410 meals to hungry human beings.  This amount of money could also supply three meals over the course of twelve years for one individual.  So whose lives are we implying are ‘worth more’?  Is it the students who pay an outrageous amount of money purely to experience India or the starving malnourished Indians who could benefit tremendously by the money the students pay?  A trip to India consists of leisure and fun.  One is introduced to a new culture. Students may interact with a few needy children at an orphanage, but in a matter of days these students get to go back to their privileged lives, and leave these malnourished deprived people in the dust. This story even appeared in the Chicago Tribune.  The point of view of one of the New Trier board members is very similar to my own "(he) said the travel costs would be better suited as a donation to the cause, rather than to give a small group of students an international experience".  Clearly he believes that in the bigger picture the cause is more important than an individual's experience. The graph below shows the soaring rates of poverty, and highlights the needs many people in India are facing. 

          These needs should not be ignored.  There is a great irony here, Wealthy American students pay a ridiculous amount of money to view the deprived community, but the money they are using could have reduced some of this poverty.   I’m not trying to discourage travel or one's desire for exploration but instead to raise awareness and possibly encourage individuals to change travel habits.  Instead of paying outrageous amounts of money to stay in fancy Western styled hotels and restaurants, why not engulf your self in the culture? Live like the locals.  This will not only keep the cost of the trip down but allow the Americans to really relate to the locals.