More and more young people from wealthy countries are spending time in communities in poorer countries doing unpaid work such as teaching or building houses. Why is this? Who benefits more from this, the communities or these young people?

It is becoming increasingly common these days for individuals from wealthier nations to donate their time to aiding less developed

countries

. In my opinion,

this

is a natural result of advances in

media

and technology and it benefits the wealthy far more than those being ostensibly helped. The main reason

this

has become a pervasive trend in recent decades is that young

people

are more aware of and capable of

traveling

Change the spelling

travelling

show examples

to other

countries

. The

last

several decades have witnessed the rise of

media

beyond traditional television shows and newspapers and now include websites and social

media

. The average young person today can use their smartphone to easily access information from a variety of sources on issues in distant

countries

.

Additionally

, individuals today are generally able to

travel

conveniently abroad. Air

travel

is not only far faster than past modes of

travel

including ships and trains but has

also

become cheaper as average incomes have risen, particularly in developed nations.

However

,

this

phenomenon is mostly concerned with improving the self-esteem of the wealthy. Young

people

often lack confidence and one way to improve their own self-image is to volunteer for causes in other

countries

. A young person of privilege might feel guilty about their own standard of living and lack of accomplishments in life and

therefore

travel

abroad to help others in order to gain confidence. When

this

person returns home, they will be able to flaunt their achievements in front of friends, their parents, and on university entrance essays.

In contrast

, the

people

who have been helped are unlikely to experience a significant change in their lives and the cost of housing and training young volunteers might even outweigh their contributions. In conclusion, young

people

today are able to

travel

to other

countries

because of new developments in technology and

media

and

this

chiefly benefits the

travelers

Change the spelling

travellers

show examples

. There are

nonetheless

sometimes concomitant advantages for locals as well.