🤝 An invitation full of hope
👉 In 2024, I invited a partner to accompany me to Nepal. The purpose was clear: to meet the children that Helping Hands has been supporting for nearly a decade, to visit our projects, and to gain a true understanding of the reality on the ground.
👉 I wanted to share what humanitarian commitment truly means: consistency, attentive listening, and lasting human connection. I hoped this immersion would spark a genuine desire to support our mission in the long run.
Guided by this spirit, I poured my energy, my time, and my hopes into this meeting.
🎭Beyond appearances lies another reality
A few months later, disappointment set in. I came to understand that this partner was never truly seeking real commitment. For him, the trip was mostly an opportunity to satisfy his ego, disguised as"helping".
When an action remains ad hoc and without follow-up, it lacks sincerity.
With maturity, we understand that true commitment is proven through actions, not words.
In this case, actions never followed. Once back, there was no real investment, and everything came to a sudden halt.
For me, it was a painful mistake, as I had pinned so many hopes and illusions on this collaboration.
✈️💔 The Humanitarian Tourism Dilemma
This kind of attitude reflects the phenomenon of humanitarian tourism (or voluntourism): traveling to disadvantaged regions to witness poverty firsthand, occasionally offering a one-off donation, yet without any genuine intention to engage over the long term.
The drawbacks are numerous:
The local people are reduced to mere sights to be observed.
Nonprofits invest time in welcoming visitors who will not be seen again.
One-off donations create the illusion of support, but they fail to build sustainable projects.
Many leave believing they have “changed something” in just a few days, while in truth, they have done nothing to tackle the underlying causes of poverty.
🔗 Further reading: The dangers of voluntourism – France Diplomatie
🌱 Helping Hands: a true commitment
At Helping Hands, we stand for authentic humanitarianism:
Authentic: no staging, no ego.
Durable : monitoring over several years.
Respectful: aligned with needs expressed by local communities.
In practical terms, this means :
Ongoing monitoring of our projects in Nepal and the Philippines.
Listening to communities comes before action.
Full transparency on how donations are used.
We refuse to turn suffering into an attraction. Helping is not about “passing through,” but about staying, following, and accompanying.
💔 Why it hurts those on the ground
For a small organisation like ours, every visit truly matters. We open our stories, our projects, and above all, our bonds with the communities we serve.
Discovering that it was merely a visit, motivated by curiosity or ego, leaves a bitter taste. We are not seeking spectators—we are seeking partners for the journey.
📌 The signs of true commitment
Genuine commitment can be recognised by certain behaviours:
Finding out as much as possible before visiting
Asking questions to understand the issues.
Supporting projects over the long term.
Prioritising the needs of others over one’s own image
All the rest is nothing but a façade.
💡 Acting for the right reasons
Humanitarian aid is not a leisure activity, nor an "exotic" experience to be recounted.
It's a responsibility, a bond of trust and a commitment that requires sincerity and consistency.
Join us only if you believe in the cause — if you are willing to stay, to listen, to understand, and to act with respect.
At Helping Hands, we know that true commitment transforms lives. That is why we will always prefer steady, ongoing support to a spectacular one-off gesture dictated by ego.
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