<p>I think there are a lot of points on a continuum when it comes to these kinds of trips. The church I go to has been sponsoring “work trips” for youth for nearly 40 years. They generally go to some relatively impoverished area (ie. Appalachia), and they do primarily physical labor such as repairing houses or community buildings. The vacation-like elements are minimized but not completely absent. Periodically they do a foreign trip. Usually these are done in conjunction with some charitable group that essentially packages the work for church groups–so they work on teams with kids (and adults) from other churches. I don’t think the church does this in order to bolster resumes for college, and I don’t think most of the families do it for that reason, either. That being said, it is partly for the benefit of the recipients of the work, and partly for the benefit of the kids going on the trip–it exposes them to situations of need, it lets them work in a team environment, they learn some skills, and there is often a spiritual element to the program. While it might be more efficient to just work in the home area, there are benefits to the trip–including getting more kids to do it. Both of my kids did it, and I think it was a beneficial consciousness-raising experience for them. Also, my daughter learned how to do electrical wiring.</p>
<p>It would be a shame if all of the programs like this are discounted as college resume padding.</p>
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While there is some truth to this, it reminds me of “could not this costly ointment have been sold, and the money given to the poor?”</p>