Travel Tips

OK -- The Title of this little piece was to try and get your attention, Now Hopefully, that I have got that, then the first thing to say is that I Do Not consider myself an "Enlightened Tourist" and although I have been to Nepal five times and have got to know the place very well, I still consider myself nothing more than a mere visitor.
Next, The idea of this small piece Is Not to Ram my own ideas down your throat, I would be quite upset If some of you were to think that I was somehow setting myself up on some sort of pedestal or pretending that "I Know Better" -- None of this is either true or is it my intention.
My intention is however to Try and offer some information on the consequences of giving money to street beggars.
The way that I am going to Try and do this is by writing a little about a few incidents that either happened to myself or to close friends of mine
So here goes.

Imagine the scenario, you are sitting in a cafe in Thamel one Saturday with your girlfriend, enjoying your lunch and two little boys come up and ask you for a biscuit (Saturday is a school holiday in Nepal). They are full of smiles, clean and well turned out and you think "What harm can it do" so say "Yes" and get them a chocolate cookie apiece. They then eat these, thank you and go on there way. You probably say to your girlfriend "What Nice Cute Kids" and probably feel quite Happy about the Good Little Deed that you have just done.
In Fact you Might Just have started them on a slow road down hill to a life of begging
"No" -- Impossible I hear you cry !!
But never-the-less this is quite true.
Imagine that the next day after school the two boys come back to Thamel again (Encouraged by your kind ? act) but this time they don't ask for a biscuit, they ask for a dollar and two more unsuspecting tourists give them a dollar apiece, So when they go home and show their Mother what they have been given, She is then delighted, (a typical wage for Nepal is 1,500 rupees per month, there are 70 rupees to one dollar so the boys have been given more than a days pay each, so it is hardly surprising that the Mother is so delighted)
So the next day the boys decide not to go to school and to go back to Thamel again and try their hand at begging for a full day.
This day they manage to get two dollars apiece -- That represents almost three days work so again they are happy and their Mother is Delighted.
The next day they go back again and so on and so forth, But eventually they meet up with some of the Thamel street children and discover the delights of Glue, so now a little of their money doesn't go home to their Mother but is spent on their new found habit. Next they try some grass and then they don't bother to go home, one habit leads to another, now school is just a distant memory, They now sell grass and Anything else that the tourist may desire to feed their habit, They no longer think of their Mother, No longer think of their home as they now live behind the dustbins on Thamel Marge.
And Why -- Was it all because of that one biscuit ??

As you are walking through Thamel a woman with a baby comes up to you and asks you "If you can buy her some milk to feed her baby". The Baby is crying and doesn't look so well, In fact it looks quite badly undernourished so you think to yourself, "What Harm can it do" so you take her into the shop and buy her the Big tin of Baby Milk (The cost of this is approximately 250 rupees) and the woman with the Baby thanks you profusely and you have a Happy feeling because you have done a bit of good so you go away with a nice glow -- But Have you done that little bit of good that you think you have, Or have you actually done a Lot of Harm ??

In all probability, the baby that you have supposedly fed doesn't belong to what you thought was the Mother, The Baby might be an unwanted girl baby from one of the villages and the woman might have been given the baby to look after, Or she might have even bought the baby !!
Why I hear you asking ??
Well after you left, walking away with your Happy Feeling, after doing your little bit of good, the woman with the baby goes back into the shop and sells the shopkeeper the tin of baby milk back for half the purchase price (125 rupees, (Equivalent to two days wages in Nepal)). This might even be the third or fourth time that this very same tin of baby milk has been sold today !! The baby in fact hardly ever gets to see the baby food, The more malnourished the baby appears the more effect it has as a tool for begging. A woman with a young baby can expect to earn a Lot more than anyone else by begging, So All that you are doing by offering to feed this baby is to encourage it's suffering and in fact encourage even more young women to Acquire babies and take up begging

Now this is the Difficult question.
First thing that I would Suggest is Never to give money to beggars, Or Anything else for that matter.
The above stories are Unfortunately True and are intended to illustrate the Down side of giving direct,
There are Many charities that you could subscribe to, One good one that I have come across is just-one
I met the guy, Declan Murphy, who concieved this charity when I was in Nepal this year, and he Really Impressed me, Nearly All the money that he collects goes to helping both street children and other underprivileged children get a start in education, Without a basic education there is No Hope of someone being able to better their lot !!
I have "Borrowed" some photo's (With his kind permission) from his web-site to ilustarte this piece.
Please take a look at the web-site through the above link -- Thanks

Or
If for some reason you don't wish to subscribe to a charity what else could you do,
One thing that I get a lot of pleasure out of is collecting pens and pencils (The ones that come free through the post advertising this and that) and bundling them up into my old rucksack and when I am in the mountains, preferably well away from the main trekking routes, I locate a village school and go and see the head master and ask him if the pens and pencils are of any use to the school. The answer is inevitably yes and that I am usually invited in and get great pleasure form giving these small gifts.
Please -- Don't give pens and pencils away on the street in towns and villages, Again, Like as in the above stories, these are Rarely used for education and are unfortunately usually sold off to shops and restaurants.

So, By the way of closing.
I Really do Hope that you have found at least some of the above interesting and maybe of some small benefit to you for your own future trips.
The above is about Nepal but it also applies to many of the worlds poorer countries. maybe something to bare in mind when you are on the road !!??
Again, What I have said is Not intended to either upset or offend anyone, The stories are unfortunately True, All we can do is to "Do our Best" Maybe employ a little thought when we are a guest in a foreign land, Try and remember that we Don't have all the answers and Maybe to try and do something that will actually help others and Not just make Us feel that little bit better, more comfortable and less embarrassed by Their situation ??
Thank you for taking the time to read what I have had to say, Any comments then please email me and I look forwards to hearing from you.
Very Best Wishes
Rob Steele