Responding to the Pleas of Children on the Street

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Last month, we published an article by freelancer Lori Robertson on the ethics of travelers' giving money to street children ["Begging: The Question," Jan. 14]. The article, which quoted experts recommending that travelers donate to charitable organizations rather than to individuals, provoked strong opinions from readers. Here are some of their responses.

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With very few exceptions, I see it as wrong to give money to children or anyone who is begging, but who is not obviously disabled. With insistently begging children, I generally ask them to give me money each time they ask me. If the children say they need money, I say that I need it, too. I do this in the same way they asked me, though with a smile on my face, making it fairly obvious that I am kidding. They usually drop back to move on to someone who is easier.

Dwayne Shreve

Elkton, Md.

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In 1970, on my first of many professional trips to Chile, I asked a friend how she responded to the pleas of hungry children at the marketplace. She responded: "First I take a loaf of bread from my basket and give it to them. If they or their family are starving, they will at least have a little food. Then I go home and increase my contribution to Planned Parenthood." I have followed her advice ever since.

Vera Rubin

Washington

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We recently returned from a two-week trip through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. In a floating village on Tonle Sap Lake outside Siem Reap, Cambodia, I took a picture of a boy floating in a wash bucket almost instinctively: I looked at him, he gave me the peace sign and I snapped the picture. I regretted it almost immediately, as he began shouting, "You take picture, costs $1." I normally wouldn't have given him money, but as I had inadvertently made a "purchase" I felt obligated to pay.

As I made my way to him, I attracted an even larger crowd of kids begging for money. Turning my back on them was hard, but I think the right thing to do, for the reasons noted in your story.

Darryl Drevna

Alexandria

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We worked with street kids in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for 5 1/2 years and found that giving money only kept the kids on the street longer. Many of our younger street kids had a quota they had to reach before they could come home at night. Of course the kids always asked us for money, but we offered to sit with them and play a game (Uno was a big favorite), play soccer or draw with them. They would never ask for money again after that.

Bev and Knox Swayze

Montclair, Va.

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I've never given money to street children but only handicapped adults while traveling in Ghana, Togo or Niger. I have given children pencils or pens, crayons, hard candy, hotel-size bars of soap, sewing kits, handkerchiefs, rubber bands and balloons, and I have bought them food from nearby vendors. Once, just before leaving a village, I distributed 20 T-shirts; the kids squealed with delight.

Generally, if I'm in a country more than two weeks, I wear local dress. As an African American, I am not inundated by the youngsters unless I'm at a major tourist attraction, and then these youngsters are trying to sell me something.

I do contribute funds to a few international orphan-relief NGOs.

Diane Waldo

Hyattsville

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I am leery of donating to the big charities, as suggested in the article, because I know there is a huge bureaucracy and I don't feel like contributing to the lifestyle of the bureaucrats.

I recently traveled to Ethiopia. Near Bahir Dar, after hiking to the Blue Nile Falls, we were surrounded by a dozen children, all wanting to sell us a trinket. It was a bit overwhelming, so our guide got the kids to line up. I gave him 100 birr (about $12), and he bought an item from each of 10 children. It seemed to work well.

Amy Henderson

Leonardtown, Md.

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Three years ago, I was getting ready to cross a main avenue, and a woman holding a child approached and asked for money "for the sake of the child." I handed her $5 and said I wished I could do more.

After I crossed the street, I turned back to see the woman handing the child to another woman, and that woman approached a pedestrian and, I assumed, asked for money. A bystander told me that women using children to ask for money was a common practice in this particular city.

The city was Chicago, and I had crossed Michigan Avenue. We do not have to travel to foreign counties to help begging children; they are here in the United States.

Diana Suttenfield

Shepherdstown, W.Va.

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I have been traveling a lot in poor countries around the world, and I have never given money to street kids. I have given them food, though.

In Phnom Penh, Cambodia, I came across a very good idea for getting kids off the street. On Christmas Eve 2004, my sister and I ate dinner at Friends Restaurant. This is one of many projects in Phnom Penh to get kids off the street; they are trained as cooks and waiters. Not only is the food delicious but the atmosphere is friendly and warm, and you are eating for a good cause. That was my best Christmas ever.

Michaela Borghese

Washington

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In Bangladesh, a Muslim nation, there is a tradition of giving to beggars, but foreigners come in for special begging attention. I once had a colleague who gave a woman the equivalent of $3, probably 50 to 100 times the normal gift. The entire time he was in the country he was followed by a gang of up to 25 people, all grabbing at him and making it hard for him to walk down the street.

The next time I went, I was recognized, and a bunch of kids started following me. When I went into my hotel, the kids started throwing rocks at the hotel, and the staff came out with sticks and chased them off.

I have worked in 40 countries, most of them poor, but I don't give to street kids. They can be mighty cute, but a mob of 20 of them throwing rocks is not cute at all -- and when they become a little older, they may graduate to more violent measures.

Tony Hudgins

Washington

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When my husband and I were in countries where there is a lot of poverty, we always made sure we knew where the bakeries were. We used to buy bread, rolls or pretzels and give that to street children, and some small coins.

I cannot walk away knowing that some of these children have a very hard life at home, if they have a home. They get beaten if they do not bring money home. A young boy told us that one night at midnight, when we asked him why he was still begging. I will never forget his little face, and those big, brown, sad eyes. A small coin goes a long way. Many organizations never reach those children.

By the way, a candy can do no harm to a child who has so little.

Does DeRosa

Springfield

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Lori Robertson makes good points about Western tourists' sense of distress and confusion when exposed to the poverty of developing lands. Having lived in East Africa, I have faced all of the situations she describes.

Here are some further suggestions:

Give such items as shoes, school supplies and clothing discreetly and directly to a specific recipient. Then you know they will be useful.

Put the item in a bag. Envy and theft are problems in Africa.

Buy from women and children, if possible, and don't bargain too hard. It's another way of donating.

Buy fixed-price items, such as newspapers, on the street. Add a small tip to encourage a vendor with a job.

Finally, get a grip on your guilt. Before leaving the United States, make a donation to an organization that helps people in the area you plan to visit -- Doctors Without Borders, Habitat for Humanity, CARE. Then as you travel, it will be easier to resist giving indiscriminately, not usually a successful strategy.

For a pre-trip donation in East Africa, check out Amani Children's Home in Moshi, Tanzania, at http://www.amanikids.org/. Your money will be well spent, I guarantee.

Linda Wolcott

Annandale