Are Short Term Service Trips Worth the Cost?

Prior to leaving the states, our group met for weekly meetings in order to learn about our trip, as well as to foster team bonding. During one of our meetings, a woman who represented Alternative Breaks came to speak to us about short-term service trips. She gave us a handout that was a little bit difficult to read because it shed light on the truths about short-term service trips. It talked about how people who go on these trips often return describing the trip at “life changing”. But the article challenged that statement by asking, “life changing for who?”.

It went on to discuss the cost of these trips. The reality is that I spent almost three thousand dollars to go on this trip to Guatemala where I would participate in service work in an attempt to help the community. But if I were to simply donate that money instead, the community could use is to do whatever project I was going to be working on. Except, they could pay local workers to do it who are desperate for money and who are far more qualified in construction than myself. After paying these locals, they would almost certainly have enough money left over to complete several other small projects for the community, all while creating jobs for locals. When putting it that way, it seemed like this trip was going to be benefitting myself more than anybody else and I felt selfish for wanting to do it.

At first, I was a little bit upset that this person made me read such an article after I had paid so much to participate in something I thought would be a great experience. But after discussing the above situation, she explained that there is in fact a point to short-term service trips. While I am technically there for service, what matters is what I do upon returning from the trip. What’s important is soaking up the culture of the country while I’m there and listening to everything that I can. The point is to learn about the issues of the country and to return to the US and be a mouthpiece for the people and communities that I had the privilege to work with. To tell their stories, successes, and struggles.

This seemed like a daunting prospect before the trip. I was thinking, oh no, I have to find a real issue in Guatemala and then come back to the US and do something real in order to try to help the problem or advocate for the peoples. However, I found that it ended up being a really great guide for the trip. Suddenly my two-week trip to Guatemala had a purpose and I was going in with real intentions. All in all, the point of the trip was not to tie rebar and create the foundation of a building. The point was to become an asset of the San Andres community and become a more global citizen.