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 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 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 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. There are nonetheless sometimes concomitant advantages for locals as well.