Better citizen of the world

We have quite often heard the term, “better citizen of the world”, which has been translated in various ways by various people.

It is commonly associated with humanitarianism i.e. concerned for the promotion of human welfare in its various aspects. Be it the understanding and appreciation of cultures, languages, ethnic groups, education or health.

Well, how does one become a “better citizen of the world” whilst travelling? Whether for a short term or long term, meaning that we would like to build bridges between the two worlds that of the visitor and that of the visited.

There is no doubt that the travel and tourism industry is service-orientated. You pay a certain sum and get certain services, unless ofcourse unforeseen circumstances come in the way.

To promote better travel, conscious consumers can now contribute towards better citizenship of the world in the course of their travel. Travel firms have integrated special ways achieving it with special programs or schemes such as the CO2 emission where one pays an additional fee to assist lower the environmental impact and thus ideally reduce the carbon footprint.

Others offer travel advice to educate the traveller on what is appropriate to do when travelling in a foreign country; the World Travel Organization (WTO) has published generic travel guidelines to steer travellers through the relevant do’s and donts.

Are there possibly other means of becoming a “better citizen of the world”, one might rightly wonder.  There are now countless methods towards becoming a more conscious consumer that could imply the notion of a “better citizen of the world”.

Nowadays, the most common practice amongst youth especially, is volunteering whilst travelling, to use a more contemporary term: voluntourism.

It has become a well-known practice for college and even university students worldwide to engage in volunteering work whilst travelling. In fact this is probably the most sought after experience. Not only does it boost one’s self confidence but it also offers an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the world as well adding a plus point in one’s CV, though most significantly it helps fulfill the yearning for “doing something good”.

There are hundreds of organizations that offer these experiences, but one must choose with care. Some volunteering holidays have been known to go terribly wrong.

As much as one needs time for choosing the perfect holiday destination, one must equally spend as much time choosing the “right” volunteering. As a rule of thumb, we must all garner as much information about the host country as we possibly can prior to setting off.

Some might argue that voluntourism goes hand in hand with tourism sustainability because it contributes to positive development. This can have a significant level of economic and social benefits to the host country, provided the volunteers are qualified and will some way benefit the local communities.

To no one’s surprise, the island of Unguja has also jumped on the voluntourism bandwagon, though this is still at its infancy. As a person who strives to become a conscious consumer, I would urge travellers to embark on a volunteering spree when visiting the islands of Zanzibar.

One of the on-going volunteering projects in Zanzibar that has blended leisure with volunteering, is The Panje Project located on the North coast, in the fishing village of Nungwi. The project is the brain child of locals themselves, their aim is to raise the educational level of the youth whilst fostering a better understanding between them and their visitors, in the name of “tourism for all”.

We can all play our part and strive in our own various ways to become better citizens of the world; by doing what little we can to promote better human welfare.  As conscious consumers, however, we should be aware of the possible impact of our travels, both positive and negative.

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