White Savior Complex

Someone yesterday asked me "What is the thing I disliked the most on your humanitarian trip to the Dominican Republic?"

The answer came easy to me: People's naivety.

First, let me put my thoughts into context.

In 2015, I moved back to Canada for University and decided that I would finally do a humanitarian project- something I had always wanted to experience. And so, I headed to DR for 5 weeks with the idea that we were going to help this community buy building 3 houses, creating a summer camp for the kids, and helping with the harvest of the sugar canes. Sounded all beautiful and nice to me! Well, until I actually lived it...

Truth be told, I had never cried so much in my entire life combined than when I was on the trip. I cried because of the things I saw, but also because of how wrong I had been about those exact things - especially abouthumanitarian trips. Myths had been implanted in my life and it was quite a process to debunk them all alone.

In fact, I fell into a depression when I got back to Canada. I had realized so many things that made me question who I was (or thought I was), who I wanted to be, what my life meant, and what my presence can actually bring to other people.

The hardest idea to grasp was that humanitarian projects often does not help people. More often than not - it makes it worse. Here are examples from my trip:

1) I do not know how to build a house => Someone needs to tell me exactly what to do => that someone cannot work his usual job => maybe his family won't eat today because there is no money coming in while I am there or maybe he will have to go in the field until 12 tonight.. + the construction takes way longer because well, we are actual builders..

2) The 2500$ I paid for this trip was used for food, shelter, plane ticket, buses.... and the houses. In other words, if I had put 2500$ into building houses, people there could have built a lot more than 3 houses...

3) Kids get attached. We were only there for a few weeks... Most cried when we left. Having strangers come into their lives for that short period of time is hurtful to kids and even adults. You may go back home to your friends and family but they will just remember that you left.

4) You are not really helping overall..The community has to change its routine to accommodate you and make you feel at home. They have to watch what they say and do, sometimes in fear of judgement.

5) Many come with pity.You cannot show up feeling sorry for them or wanting to fix everything because well, you can't! Many were raised with an occidental view of things which seems to make any diverging mindset as bad. Be careful, it is not because you think something is bad that it actually is.

6)Most are unaware of their privileges. Just the fact that you are abroad is a privilege of its own. Some people may feel jealous or resentful of the fact that you can just leave your country so easily and they can't. .... There are more, but the point is that there is a lot of myths surrounding humanitarian trips that we cannot forget.

And so, when I say people's naivety is what I disliked the most is because 95% of the people that came on the trip never realized these things. They believe they have brought a better world to these families when the truth is shyly hiding under their naivety and white savior complex ideas. So yes, I did a trip myself butI will never regret that decision because it has helped me see the truth. However, I just wish others would stand up and position themselves and their goals around their privileges and oppressions. Not all humanitarian aid is bad. You just have to learn where to look and to keep your critical mind in action.