What is it about?
Short-term teams to the Global South are a growing phenomenon, and yet there is a growing skepticism about the impact of such teams on participants and on host communities. This paper examines a case-study of a short-term team to Uganda and finds that many of the criticisms of short-term teams did not emerge as strongly as the literature suggested. It is postulated that this is due to the specific team characteristics, which could serve as potential guidelines of best practice for other organisations sending short-term teams.
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Why is it important?
With the number of short-term teams travelling to the Global South growing annually, this research begins to lay a potential framework for guidelines of best practice for organisations committed to sending short-term teams that will ensure that harm is minimized and good is maximized. Furthermore, the research suggests that without such guidelines in place, organisations should strongly reconsider sending short-term teams due to the potential harm they can cause.
Perspectives
I hope this research will be useful to individuals, communities and organisations involved in the short-term team phenomenon, as with the number of such teams growing annually there is a real need for critical evaluation from all stakeholders to ensure they are benefiting those involved, and not causing more harm than good.
David Barr
University of Edinburgh
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Avoiding the sapling and the elephant: A case study from Uganda of the impact of short-term teams on participants and host communities, Missiology An International Review, August 2019, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0091829619860264.
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