Volunteering - or Voluntouring?

Who I am doing this for? myself  - or the people of Zambia, and if it is the latter- exactly how much am i giving up in order to help them? 

Here in Mfuwe I am staying at a lovely budget lodge/backpackers called Marula Lodge - (marulalodgezambia.com). I am living out of a pretty small suitcase but I have a computer which plays DVD’s and I obviously have a intermittent internet connection. Electricity does disappear now and then, occasionally for a few hours, but the water runs reliably. There are a few things which i am looking forward to renewing an acquaintance with when i get back - such as chocolate, ice cream, non instant coffee, non white bread, a bath ….but the list is pretty short. 

This is of course a subject which is constantly discussed among volunteers, and Marula is visited by a constant stream of volunteers of all sorts. Some of them are doing mainly a tourist thing with a bit of work thrown in, often helping some sort of educational initiative. Some are working for big NGO’s and turn up in big 4X4s and seem to be living quite a ‘bwana’ (boss) lifestyle. However, many are coming here to the lodge for a break from a very tough existence living in primitive conditions for long periods of time. For example, I have just been chatting to a girl who is doing something I could not even cope with for a week. She is from California, and works for the US Peace Corps. She has been living in Zambia for the last year and a half without going home. She lives in a village which has neither electricity, nor running water, nor proper toilets (obviously). Even more impressively, she lives 12km from her nearest fellow volunteer, and there is only one man in her village who speaks English. She has a phone which she charges with a small solar panel. Her transport is by bike.  Once a month, she goes by bike 19km along dirt roads to the nearest town once, and then takes a bus to her HQ for a weekend, the journey taking most of the day. She is only here this weekend because her Mum is visiting. 

She is helping to train local volunteer health workers, mainly to do health education talks to the villagers.  HIV and Malaria prevention and encouraging Ante- natal care are among the most important issues. She says that Africans are generally happier than Americans, which is not intuitive, considering that they face major threats to their most basic needs, such as how to feed my family and keep them healthy.  She personally is ‘as happy as I have ever been’. The only way I can explain this is that she is feeling that her work is worthwhile and fulfilling, and that her relationships with local people are authentic and rewarding. In both cases - this is of course relative to the US. 

So my minor degree of deprivation of a few favourite luxuries pales into insignificance by comparison. But, I am outside my comfort zone quite frequently in my work in the government clinic, both in terms of my skills and ability, and in terms of the lack of drugs, equipment, and referral options. So, although I am having a hugely interesting human experience as part of my trip here, I think I can say that I am not just a voluntourist.