The Role of Short Term Volunteers in Responding to Humanitarian Crises: Lessons from the 2010 Haiti Earthquake

Political, social and economic shifts in humanitarian responses to disasters have increased the prominence of short-term volunteers, often working through small, informal and non-governmental channels. Such volunteers offer the potential for a “surge” capacity in crises but are also often under-regulated, poorly trained and know little about the people they claim to help. In this chapter, we first draw on social theorists like Zygmunt Bauman and Michel Agier to argue that this represents a form of neo-liberal—“liquid”—governance that offers only fleeting, fragmented and privatized solutions to collective problems. However, we temper this critique with a review of the literature on short-term “voluntourism” that shows it can have an important pedagogical role, priming volunteers to engage in more long-term solidarity with people in distress. To illustrate our argument, we use ethnographic and participant observation research conducted in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. We show the flaws of many short-term volunteer programs but also highlight efforts to manage them responsibly, as an attempt to cultivate an ethic of solidarity with marginalized communities. We conclude with a list of good practices for leaders of short-term volunteer programs in humanitarian crises.