Yeah it really sucks that majority of international volunteering/mission trips are shams and give actual needed help a bad name. I did go on a mission trip to an island country one year in high school (before I knew about the harm they cause) but it was a dental trip that brought actual dentists to a community that didn’t have affordable or regular dental care, and people were previously dying of tooth abscesses. They came every 6 months for a clinic, and the organization (which did much more than dental care) operated several businesses that employed locals and have put small business loans in the community, as well as funding local schools.

While I still question why I, as a regular 17 year old, had any business being there (I taught kids how to floss or something?) I think there are legitimate organizations that can unfortunately bear the stigma of all of these shitty groups (like orphanages that actually cause human trafficking).