Pause...Before Rushing In: Examining Motivations to Help in Trauma Impacted Communities Internationally

International service learning courses, cultural immersion projects, and international disaster response teams have provided valuable aid, services, supplies and programs to trauma-impacted communities across the globe. Many colleges and universities support global learning and the creation of global citizens, and this ethic is reflected in many educational mission statements. To avoid a tepid humanitarian response to a disaster, it is important for human services providers to critically examine their motivations for assisting so that the result reflects justice, integrity, and cultural competence. This article offers a set of reflective questions for human services providers, cultural immersion curriculum developers, and independent agents to ponder prior to responding to international disasters. We used a qualitative social justice framework to inform and design applied practice recovery efforts. This framework promotes meaningful dialogue for ensuring mutually reciprocal recovery efforts, a goal that will be ultimately more empowering in the long run.