Thousands of volunteers visit McDowell County, W.Va., and Tijuana

Although they probably didn’t think of themselves as such, the first volunteer tourists in McDowell County were from VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America) in 1965, says Nancy McGehee. “They were followed by the beginnings of what have been legions of volunteers from all over the U.S. coming as part of high school-aged church groups, college students conducting service projects, or retirees hoping to give back, with the skill sets that come from a lifetime of experience.”

The McDowell County Mission, based in the county seat of Welch, she says, has perhaps the greatest visibility among volunteer tourism organizations in the county (population about 27,000). It coordinates the group visits of more than 4,000 students, families, and individuals each year. Many of its employees are also recipients of the assistance offered by volunteers.

Another Christian group, Mustard Seeds and Mountains, estimates that more than 10,000 of its volunteers come to the county each year to engage in home building, school and community center repair, and educational assistance programs.

As for Tijuana, the world’s busiest border city is also a highly “voluntoured” city, McGehee says. Organizations there include Los Niños, which uses the “promotoras” approach of training-the-trainers in leadership, organizing, and community education. About 60 local trained residents — the promotoras — work with more than 19,000 families in the city each year, providing information on nutrition and ecology, and exploring other ways to improve their quality of life. Working with the promotoras and Los Niños administrators, volunteer tourists spend about a week engaged in basic construction projects, often at elementary schools.

Esperanza, another non-profit, provides micro-credits toward home building and ownership and organizes volunteer tourists for labor on such projects.

Illustration by Bryan Lawson