Media

Good Will Hunters

Sally and Rachel have an important conversation about why short term, unskilled volunteering often does more harm than good.

They chat about the need to change the narrative around volunteering, to be more aligned with principles of local-ownership and sustainable livelihoods.

 

Hustle & Flow

Sally chats with Leslie and Shaun about the many mistakes she has made and how we can better support our brothers and sisters overseas and global citizens.

 

 

Audrey Puzzle Daybook

Sally encourages others to learn from her mistakes in this article about the damages that can be done from voluntourism. “I was a  voluntourist; that’s what made me change my ways. Good intentions aren’t good enough when we are playing with people’s lives.”

 

 

What She Did Next

  • Her entrepreneurial beginnings and her early career in the financial services sector
  • Her family connections in Myanmar and the trip that led to her awakening as a global citizen
  • Her experiences as a volunteer in Cambodia and what she learned about the impact of the ‘voluntourism’ industry on local communities
  • How she built up a locally led NGO in Cambodia, making herself redundant in the process
  • Her top tips for being an ethical traveller and helping communities overseas in a positive way

 

Dear Teenage Me

Sally and host Lua Jones discuss:

  • The best advice for young people wanting to volunteer abroad
  • More ideas on how to be altruistic in life
  • Thought-provoking ideas and tips for life in general!

Good Girls Don’t 

Sally chats with Ashleigh and Verity about:

  • The danger of unskilled volunteers.
  • Why skilled volunteers are making skilled Cambodians redundant.
  • Our impact on children at risk and how voluntourism adds to the lack of stability and impacts their attachment issues.
  • How empowering women creates an intergenerational increase in education, allowing women to rise, and reducing domestic violence.
  • How can we be ‘ethical travelers’ and be conscious of the footprint we leave behind in the countries we visit?
  • Why the term ‘third world’ needs to be eradicated in order to combat poverty.

The Daily Telegraph

Sally Hetherington will tell you she was once a “voluntourist”.

The Northmead woman — who has been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) as part of the Queen’s Birthday honours — moved to Cambodia in 2011 to help street children.

“I fell in love with the country but I realised I was going about things the wrong way,” she said.

The Others

Is voluntourism – the act of travelling to a foreign country to ‘help’ those in need over the short term – a positive when it enforces a ‘white saviour complex’?

That’s the question Sally Hetherington OAM wrestles with in her autobiography It’s Not About Me.

 

 

Good Mag

Read about Sally’s journey to sustainable development in Cambodia.

 

The Book Podcast

Listen to Sally speak about her book on this podcast dedicated to Australian woman writers.

 

Probono Australia

Read about why Sally stepped back as a leader.

 

 

Women Travel

Read about one traveller’s change of perspective after reading ‘It’s Not About Me’.

 

 

F Magazine

Learn about Sally’s passion for ethical travel.

 

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Mariah

Listen to Sally talk about her opinions on voluntourism in Cambodia and how those wanting to help can make sustainable change.

Third Sector

Read why Sally was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) as part of the Queen’s Birthday honours.

 

Team Women Australia

Sally Hetherington is an Australian who is passionate about empowerment and sustainability in developing countries. She’s spent the past five years living in Cambodia, committed to developing projects so more Cambodians can break free from the cycle of poverty. Sally’s journey started when she was 25 years old and took a 15-month career break to volunteer in Cambodia for a local school. Five years later, she’s made herself redundant from a dream job and is now heading home.

World Nomads

Sally talks about what she learnt when she moved to Cambodia.

 

The Advertiser

Most people would not be happy about losing their jobs, but Sally Hetherington is thrilled to be leaving her position at Human and Hope Association in Cambodia. This is because after four years, the education provider is now entirely locally run. In Cambodia, there are insufficient staff in schools, resulting in many classes consisting of up to 90 students.

The Newcastle Star

It is not often someone is happy to be losing a job. But that is exactly how Novocastrian Sally Hetherington feels as she prepares to leave her position with Human and Hope Association in Cambodia. The 30-year-old, who grew up in Adamstown Heights and completed a Bachelor of Business degree at the University of Newcastle, has been based in Cambodia for the past five years.