Help or holiday?

Gap years are a waste of time and a “farcical masquerade”. At least, that’s according to television presenter Vanessa Feltz. There’s no doubting the stereotypical idea of gap years as nothing more than a glorified holiday for the children of affluent parents. But experts on the subject disagree.

“The image that a gap year is just a jolly for middle-class kids needs to be challenged,” says Dr Andrew Jones, a lecturer in human geography at Birkbeck College, University of London. He has conducted research into gap years for the Department for Education and Skills.

An ambiguous term

Photo: Paul Goldstein / Exodus

Taking time out from education was practically unheard of in the 1980s. Today, it’s a phenomenon. Annually, some 250,000 young people in the UK, aged 16 to 25, opt for a gap year, according to Dr Jones’s report, Review of Gap Year Provision.

The controversy about the worth of a gap year is complicated by it being an ambiguous term, ranging from six months drinking your way around Australia to a few weeks working on a conservation project in Mexico. Rarely is it a year at all. But the desire to do something altruistic is a common motivation behind people’s decision to go.

“Organised placements offer the chance to go straight to the projects and give help and work where it’s needed,” says Joe Hallwood of i-to-i, which offers volunteer placements. “You’re guaranteed that in your time abroad you’ll be doing something worthwhile.”

A range of experiences

There are around 800 organisations offering a huge variety of overseas volunteering positions, including community work, teaching, development projects and a number of conservation and environmental schemes. But the altruistic image often projected by them isn’t always matched by experience. As James Helsen, who went to Nepal on a teaching placement with Gap Activity Projects (GAP), found.

“I wanted to do something interesting and make a difference,” he said. “But once I was out there it just turned into a really nice extended holiday.”

Helsen found himself placed in a private school where he felt his help wasn’t really wanted. He’d just completed his A-levels, didn’t speak the local language and wasn’t qualified as a teacher. “What the school did want was for people to come, have a nice time and leave lots of money. I felt that I was there as a kind of cash cow, which undermined the whole experience.”

Romantic illusions of achievement?

Feeling that their organised placement has failed to make the promised difference is a familiar grievance amongst gappers.

Photo: SPW

“While I felt that I, and my fellow volunteers, developed through our experiences, our aid towards the local community was minimal,” said Chris Gordon, who spent three months of his gap year in Chile with Raleigh International on a marine conservation project, at a minimum fundraising target of Ł2,995.

Many other volunteers who’ve worked overseas will tell you that the projects do make a positive difference. The problem is that volunteers are often over romantic in what they think they’ll achieve.

“A lot of 18-year-olds have highly unrealistic ideas and think that they’re going to be able to have a dramatic impact,” says Dr Jones. “There is a positive development aspect to these projects, but you have to remember that you’re only an individual.”

Personal fulfillment

Often, the most positive impact of overseas volunteering is on the volunteer themselves. The experience of living in a developing country stays with you for the rest of your life.

“Overseas volunteering will make a whole generation more open and connected to the third world,” said Peter Slowe, founder of gap year organisation Projects Abroad. “Living and working in a developing country is a completely different experience to travelling. It helps overcome that ‘otherness’ problem that older generations encounter.”

Helsen, despite his negative experience, agrees with the importance of gap years as a means to opening people’s eyes. He now follows news stories about Nepal and says he’s more likely to give to charities based in the region. It’s also affected his future career path.

Influencing careers

“It helped solidify my ideas as to what I wanted to do,” says Helsen, who is now a volunteer fundraiser for Oxfam. “In the long-term it made me more aware of the issues of international poverty. I’ve decided, largely because of the experience, to work in the charity sector.”

Photo: SPW

Similarly, Chris Gordon was sufficiently inspired by his gap year experience to go into conservation as a career. Having completed his degree, he now works on an academic project studying meerkats in the Kalahari Desert.

Another understated benefit of an overseas gap year is the steep learning curve that volunteers undergo, and the soft skills they acquire. Although leadership, communication, teamwork, and confidence are intangible and hard to assess, Dr Jones’s research shows that they are what employers, whether corporate or charity, recognise and look for.

Paying for gap years

The price tag of organised overseas placements can put a lot of people off, reinforcing the idea that they are the preserve of the rich. However, the organisations say volunteers’ backgrounds are hugely diverse. One in five young people taking part in Raleigh International projects from the UK are from deprived backgrounds, it says. The fee for the placement can often be fundraised, because of the charitable element of the work.

The cost involved can also encourage the idea that gap year providers are mere commercial ventures profiting from volunteers’ fees.

“It seemed to be a money making exercise above anything else and the woman we were staying with was paid a very nominal amount, I was shocked,” says gapper Christina Franks, who paid Ł1,195 to do a three-month teaching placement in India.

A positive experience

Gap year organisations claim the majority don’t make large profits, if they make one at all. Setting up placements is a costly business. GAP says it relies on corporate donations for a quarter of its turnover and wouldn’t exist without this financial support. The money a volunteer pays only accounts for 75% of the cost of the placement.

“A well used gap year can be the making of someone,” concludes Dr Jones. “Not only can a year out provide a much needed break from the incessant pressure of formal education, but a placement with a gap year provider can help you make a difference to others and yourself.”

Student Partnerships Worldwide
www.spw.org

Gap Activity Projects
www.gap.org.uk

Raleigh International
www.raleigh.org.uk

Projects Abroad
www.projects-abroad.co.uk