Scott Rosefield

Gap year students who volunteer at orphanages overseas are propping up a system that “irreparably harms children”, JK Rowling has said. The author, who founded children’s welfare charity Lumos, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that while students may have the “best of intentions”, they could be funding orphanages that abuse vulnerable children and sell them into sex work.

What’s your idea of a break? Whether you’re in college, or working a monotonous 9 to 5, some time off is always welcome to shake yourself and give your brain some new stimuli. If you're considering a sabbatical or looking forward to summer, you're probably looking to make some cheap travel plans. We’re all wistfully sighing at blogs and vlogs of solo travelers who ventured into a community far away to make a world of difference.

Hit the road and save the world! It’s a brilliant idea… but just how easy is it to actually make a difference whilst traveling? I have a confession to make… I have extremely mixed feelings about people volunteering abroad for a week here or a week there and then filling their Facebook page with pictures of them and beaming crowds of children. Do they have any child-care experience? Are they really able to make a difference to a child’s life in just one week or do they risk forming a connection with an at-risk individual and then, simply, leaving?

Volunteer tourism, or voluntourism, is no stranger to criticism. Media reports regularly support claims that profits and visitor experience are trumping the needs of host communities. Volunteer tourism is the intersection between tourism and volunteering. It involves travellers participating in organised short-term voluntary work to help communities, the environment and/or research in the places they visit.