“White saviour”, “poverty porn”, “reinforcing negative stereotypes” have been some of the phrases thrown at Ed Sheeran in recent weeks after he ‘won’ the 2017 Rusty Radiator award handed out by Radi-Aid. This annual award, along with the Golden Radiator, highlights the very worst and best fundraising videos in international development. The judges criticise videos […]

Universities have a duty to stop promoting orphanage volunteering

This post was originally written by myself for the London School of Economics, who have full copyright. See the original post. At LSE we’re incredibly passionate about volunteering and the role that students play in changing the world for the better. Our most recent research shows that almost 50% of our undergraduates volunteer during their time […]

The Orphan Myth: Keeping Families Together

A new documentary from PBS has, once again, highlighted the problem with the institutionalisation of children across the world. The film explores why children, often with living parents, are put in to care centres. It also explains the psychological damage this often does to the children, why orphanages are expensive ways to raise children and how governments […]

Tag: Campaigning

Friends-International: creating change with elephant poo

Heads, shoulders, knees and toes

Ethical travel with Ayana Journeys

Case study: Samui Elephant Sanctuary

What is it like to lose your child to an orphanage?

Human zoos in 2018

Volunteering, voluntourism and social impact

My facial palsy story

The two sides of Ed Sheeran’s development work

Universities have a duty to stop promoting orphanage volunteering

The Orphan Myth: Keeping Families Together