Civilizing mission narrative

Child abuse is one of the very popular topics discussed among volunteers.

Below is an extract, posted by Alison on her blog. It is a bit long but highly revealing.

“I don’t want to stay quiet. I don’t want to keep this in the dark. This is real. Child abuse is out there. So many things when I was home, they were just maybes that floated around and I knew they existed. But far away. So far away from my world. But here. Here I can’t close my eyes and not see it. Last night something happened that shattered my heart.

One of our older girls had taken one of the younger girls on a walk without asking anyone, and somehow, Uncle found out. When he got home (from what I gather, since it was all in Nepali), he repeatedly screamed at the girls asking them where they went and why, and then, he reached over and slapped the older girl with full force across the face. To me, what made it worse was that five minutes after Uncle had left the room, everyone was acting normal again except the older girl. I had taken space and went outside and as I came back in, another one of the older girls saw that I had been crying and she said, “don’t be sad, she cheated, she deserved it.” The kids don’t even have each other’s backs, because this is so normal to them. I realized that if Charlotte and I hadn’t been there, no one would have been there to console her after she quietly tiptoed to her room unnoticed by the others. No one would have been there to soothe her or hug the pain away. It makes me so sad to recognize that at our orphanage, the abuse is nothing compared to other orphanages where friends of mine have volunteered. And I realize that the kids have a place to live in, are being fed, and are being sent to

Chapitre 4. Consuming poverty in the volunteer tourism experience: An ethnographic study in a Nepalese orphanage

school, but they have no home. They have no love apart from what Charlotte and I provide. And when I was crying, I was crying for the lack of knowledge of the people here. I’ve had so many conversations with Nepalese about hitting children and they just say, “that’s how we do it here”. But it’s because they don’t know any other way. And they never explain why what the child did was bad. So the kids repeat the deed over and over again, because they’re never properly punished and disciplined. I was crying because it was normal here. I was crying because her siblings didn’t have her back. And I was crying because as much as I wanted to hug and soothe all the pain away, I knew it would happen again. Watching someone you love, being hurt is one of the worst experiences I think that you can feel. And being alone in another culture where they have no problem with what they’re doing? That tops it off. I want to start a movement. Start sharing ideas with people who see no other way besides using their hands and feet to “teach” the ones younger than them. I want to create a safe place for kids to thrive, and for them to grow up surrounded by love and meaning and support. I need to do something, because watching and feeling helpless, needs to end.” (Alison, blog)

In her blog, Alison denounces “child abuse” in her orphanage and Nepal in general. Her narrative reveals the embodiment of an activist role. In fact, Alison was not only telling an incident of everyday life in an orphanage. She was denouncing a “common” practice in orphanages in Nepal that she considered as abusive and to which she showed unreservedly her total disagreement and even more her rage. She started her blog with an alarming sentence to announce to the reader that what will follow will be dramatic: “I don’t want to stay quiet. I don’t want to keep this in the dark. This is real. Child abuse is out there.”

First, Alison made a clear separation between her world, America, “the safest, greenest and most democratic” country she described earlier, and a world of

Chapitre 4. Consuming poverty in the volunteer tourism experience: An ethnographic study in a Nepalese orphanage

savages where kids are abused. Then, she described in detail what happened:

the story of a girl who went out with another younger girl without asking permission. The orphanage’s director learned about it and punished them. He

“repeatedly screamed at the girls asking them where they went and why, and then, he reached over and slapped the older girl with full force across the face.”

Alison described this as an abusive practice. She continued with her moralistic narrative reproaching people in Nepal for their lack of knowledge: “I was crying for the lack of knowledge of the people here.” In other words, they are uneducated and uncivilized persons. Alison considered Nepalese as primitive, lacking of knowledge, “savage,” and “narrow minded.” At the same time, she emphasised her role of giving them moral lessons about the best way to educate their children. “I’ve had so many conversations with Nepalese about hitting children and they just say, ‘that’s how we do it here.’ But it’s because they don’t know any other way…. And they never explain why what the child did was bad.

So the kids repeat the deed over and over again, because they’re never properly punished and disciplined.”

Further, Alison explained that she was very affected and sad because everything was back to normal five minutes after the incident. In particular, she underlined the fact that other kids were not supportive to the two girls: “another one of the older girls saw that I had been crying and she said ‘don’t be sad, she cheated, she deserved it.’” More, she highlighted her important role and that of another volunteers as the only affective support available to the kids. According to her, even though kids in her orphanage were fed and went to school, they were lacking love: “I realized that if Charlotte and I hadn’t been there, no one would have been there to console her.” Later she added, “I realize that the kids have a place to live in, are being fed, and are being sent to school, but they have no home. They have no love apart from what Charlotte and I provide.” In the end, Alison expressed her wiliness to do something and to set up a movement to denounce child abuse.

In fact, Alison’s blog illustrates how volunteers play different roles from the activist to “Mother Teresa.” It is important to note that the incident in itself is not that dramatic; the girl was fine and there was no harm. I have been in the same

Chapitre 4. Consuming poverty in the volunteer tourism experience: An ethnographic study in a Nepalese orphanage

orphanage with Alison. The girl who was slapped is not an orphan; she is the niece of the director. I think that there is absolutely no doubt about the immorality of abusing kids. It is actually a very important issue that must be denounced. However, it is also important to define what could be called as “child abuse.” The incident described by Alison could happen to anyone in Nepal or outside Nepal, in an orphanage or in a loving family. However, the focus of this blog was self-promotion and a pure role performance. In fact, by moralizing, criticizing, and denigrating Nepalese, Alison was emphasising her important and fundamental role in the orphanage. Volunteers become frustrated to learn that orphans do not need them. To overcome this frustration, they emphasize their role in the orphanage as a mother/father who provides love and affection. At the same time, by denouncing an issue like “child abuse,” they are also re-appropriating their role of hero.

Another classic discourse among volunteers’ narratives is that of the expert.

Volunteers consider themselves capable of judging not only the Nepalese way of dealing with, educating, and caring for children, but also the educational system in Nepal.

“I know a lot about education. I’m an educator and have seen the way you educate the kids in Nepal and this has contributed to a great for half a decade and it’s not really that bad. It’s actually, like, good. We teach kids, we try to teach kids not what they should learn but why they should learn, and this is very important. This is my philosophy of education. This is what we should be teaching kids, is not one plus one is two. Like, what is more important…? You’re supposed to teach kids how to learn and why to learn but you should never teach kids what to learn.” (John, interview)

Chapitre 4. Consuming poverty in the volunteer tourism experience: An ethnographic study in a Nepalese orphanage

In this narrative about the educational system in Nepal, John compares the great American system to the Nepal’s system. The reference point is the developed world. According to him, the educational system, the public schools in particular, is very bad and does not allow the kids to learn anything. The advantage of the American education system was highlighted as the ultimate reference for education. In addition, according to John, all the Nepalese problems come from their invalid educational system. In other words, if they follow the “American”

model, they can hope to ameliorate their situation and alleviate poverty.