Guest post from PEPY Tours: PEPY Reader favorites from 2012

On all of our PEPY Tours adventures, we ask our participants to do a little reading from time to time. We introduce articles on a variety of different topics – ranging from the Khmer Rouge trials and education in Cambodia to community development and responsible tourism globally – and then facilitate discussions and debates based on the arguments these articles put forward.
We keep a record of all the things we’re reading in the office – and all the things we’re asking our participants to read – in a kind of ‘online library’ we call The PEPY Reader. We update this resource regularly with a range interesting bits and bobs, including news articles, videos, blog posts, and more, with the aim of providing a range of perspectives on topics that are important to us.
Here’s a round-up of our favourite PEPY Reader additions from 2012…
The seven worst ideas in international aid – This tongue-in-cheek article provides a concise, humorous, yet all-too-true run-down of the damage that can be caused by ‘helping’ before doing your homework.
Empowering communities through relevant education – DevEd produced this creative video to explain the importance of culturally, historically, and geographically relevant education in community development.
Beyond TOMS – Many have criticised TOMS and similar enterprises for hindering rather than helping. This interview talks to the founder of Oliberté Footwear, a social business working hard to provide a responsible alternative to TOMS.
When volunteering becomes big business – This year Al Jazeera produced a number of different videos and articles about the problems in Cambodia posed by voluntourism. This video gives an interesting insight into the world of badly managed volunteer projects, and their repercussions.
Street children, free meals, and lessons learned – Both PEPY Tours and PEPY like to be very honest and open about the mistakes we’ve made along the way (the evidence!). It’s great to see other organisations sharing the lessons they’ve learned while working on community development projects in Cambodia.
The heritage curse – This video provides an interesting insight into the various damages caused to places (in this case in South East Asia) when they are officially recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The obsession with easy – This blog post from PEPY’s own Anna McKeon puts forward a convincing argument for why not everything in life should be a piece of cake.
Six questions you should ask before donating goods overseas – Donating things that you no longer need feels like a good way to help those in need, right? Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out the way you’d like it to. This handy guide will help you donate in the way that is more effective than destructive.
International voluntourism guidelines: Feedback from the industry – The International Ecotourism Society and the Planeterra Foundation joined forces to produce a set of guidelines for international tourism. This comprehensive article provides an overview of what those in the tourism industry (including our own founder Daniela Papi) made of those guidelines.
Obama in Cambodia – This year Barack Obama made history by being the first American president to visit Cambodia. This article explains the problems in Cambodia that Barack was keen to highlight through his visit, and how his trip contrasted with his time in nearby Myanmar.