You are abroad — clean, happy, healthy and flush with spending money. The hand of an individual, who is clearly none of these things, appears before you, arresting, imploring. You're face to face with a beggar. What do you do? And what do you do the next time? And the next?
Unless one travels in the countries of the developing world as hermetically sealed from reality as a head of state, encounters with beggars are inevitable and you are likely to be both touched and repelled by one-on-one brushes with desperate want. At home, you can appease your conscience by writing an annual cheque to a charity. Abroad, in some countries, it will be exercised daily, hourly, and — like a muscle — will first tire with exertion and then harden.
Most experienced travellers develop their own rules of how to deal with begging, and usually none are hard and fast. Here are a few considerations to keep in mind:
Who to give to
Give to children, women with children, invalids and destitute elders. Reward shoe-shiners, street musicians and sellers of chewing gum and cold drinks who are doing something to earn an income and self-respect.
Ignore, as best you can, the persistent, the theatrical, able-bodied men and women and the obvious “career” beggars.
Where to give
Try to make your giving as private as possible, avoiding the ugly experience of suddenly being surrounded by a sea of faces and outstretched hands in crowded markets or narrow streets in poor residential areas.
Alternatives
Oxfam Canada, an organization dedicated to creating self-sufficiency, believes that begging encourages, even creates, a culture of dependency. “[In] Tanzania, not a lot of foreigners come and create that culture,” spokeswoman Noreen Kahn said. “It's not saying there isn't a need, it's just that a culture of begging is not created.”
For more information or to donate, visit www.oxfam.ca.
G Adventures, Canada's largest adventure travel company, encourages its clients to give back to people and places visited by contributing to its non-profit Planeterra Foundation, which supports community projects and charities in countries its tours visit. It also gives its patrons an opportunity to visit or volunteer on Planeterra projects.
For more information, visit www.gadventures.com/sustainable_tourism/planeterra.
Mahmood Poonja, managing director with Bestway Tours and Safaris in Canada, encourages his travellers to carry a supply of mementos from Canada.
“Lapel pins or, better still, ballpoint pens with flags — stuff from dollar stores are especially good to give to children instead of cash,” he said. “To say ‘no' may be quite okay in some situations. But saying no is not always right. Carry a message from your country. It creates goodwill. That's the business of tourism.”