Children of Immy Yethu

Documentary Short (2012)
Director / Producer


Children of Immy Yethu is a short documentary that examines the impact short-term volunteers have on children growing up in a post-apartheid South African township.

Directors Statement:

I spent my teen years participating in ‘mission trips’ through my church youth group. When I entered my early 20s I began to take a long hard look at what we were doing and questioning if it was actually beneficial to the kids we were ‘helping’. This question burned in the back of my mind, and really took root as I pursued my degree in journalism. The concept of ‘voluntourism’ started trending a few years later on the internet. I felt like I had participated in this in a negative way as a teenager, and wanted to explore the topic in an observational documentary.

I knew about a program that focused on bringing teachers to South Africa to try and help tutor students. The summer before my last year of undergrad I moved to South Africa for nearly four months to follow a handful of students (age 14-18) as a number of volunteer groups came and went. It was a challenge to remain a neutral party and not want to get involved in their lives to try and ‘help fix’ things. It was also a challenge because I was my own sound mixer, camera operator, director, and editor. I have remained in touch with many of the documentary participants, and have always had it in the back of my mind to return and do a ‘Part II’, exploring where they are now.

OFFICIAL SELECTION - 2013 Foster’s Film Festival