Voluntourism

I came across the new term/concept 'voluntourism' today. I think it's pretty cool. It's not exactly a new concept, students and youths (especially) have been doing this for a long time in their gap year, career breaks etc. Perhaps the coined term is relatively new. More about voluntourism here.

Clicks here and there also brought me to the Ecoteer website, a program under a similar concept, where the tagline is 'Travel with a cause.'

Talking about gap year reminded me of my university days where some of my friends had opted for it. Gap year is when students take a year off studying in between high school and university admission, a popular practise in UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada where the trend is to participate in international education programs that combine language study, homestays, cultural immersion, community service, and independent study (quoting Wikipedia).

What do you think of gap years? Is it beneficial? Should it be an option for Malaysian students? If so, would it be a popular choice?