It’s great to expose kids to service and it’s great for kids to travel, so opportunities to combine them are attractive. But the overall notion that they, in 3 weeks, are jetting in to be saviors, is not one that’s particularly helpful to anyone. These trips really are tourism. One of the activities is planting a garden or painting a school. Another may be hiking, rafting, or visiting a market. Can they change a kid’s perspective on the world? Absolutely, but does it make a kid a stronger college applicant?
But I think we may be straying from the OP’s question.