Po people in Da house!

1102pm
20.11.8
Pondicherry
Poverty.


Let’s return to a subject that is close to the heart of anyone who has visited India with any compassion. Even the unexpected compassion of a high flying tourist whose tour company has carefully planned the itinerary to exclude any unwanted "distractions", but couldn’t anticipate that young girl; that young girl who now haunts the tourist’s memory.

Her body was lying in the middle of the street, an expanding pool of crimson meeting the ever present saffron dust of India. Quickly, crowds of people gathered as if a Bollywood star had been slain. She was “no one” and yet truly, a precious one had indeed been slain. But the driver cold to the scene, found it only an obstacle to the next destination. He used the mass of the Jeep to push people out of the way, and once past, sped away.



Almost every traveler to India or to any Third-World/Developing (choose your terminology) country, has to wrestle with poverty. And any one seriously interested in the problem, will tell you that handouts are not the answer. Two sayings come to mind: “don’t put a band-aid on a gaping wound” and “if you give a man a fish, he can eat for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime.”



Putting band-aids always makes us feel better. But it doesn’t help, and in practice it actually hurts development.


So what can we do?

1. Let yourself feel compassion. This doesn’t mean you have to “show” your feelings of compassion as you walk down the street. This might prevent you from getting anywhere, and might attract a mob. But it does mean, take time to reflect each day and be touched by the poverty.



2. Try to understand what Poverty means. Is a person in poverty if their net worth less than yours? Is a person in poverty if they don’t live in a house? Is a person in poverty if they don’t have three meals a day? Is a person in poverty if they make less than the government’s poverty line? Or some arbitrary international line? Etc.



3. Recognize your ignorance. Recognize that you can’t differentiate the poor from the relatively well-to-do lower middle class. Recognize that you don’t know what it means to be poor in x country. And recognize that you can’t solve the problem, but may just increase the problem.



4. In the humility of this recognition, act on your compassion. First, give of yourself. Work with NGOs and poverty groups at home and abroad that have a first hand knowledge of the country they exist in, and that have solutions appropriate to their country. Second, get others involved. Third, give of your resources.



For me, I don’t consider poverty to be someone who’s net worth is less than mine (my net worth is less than most of the poor here, due to my incredible access to credit, and school loans, and the ensuing debts.). I don’t consider all beggars poor. It’s a tourist industry. Often they make more than shop keepers or other workers. For example: a basic salary is somewhere between 3000-5000 INR a month. That means that a person gets between 100-200 INR a day. If you give a beggar 50 INR for five minutes of begging, how much do you think he made in a day? Lets call it a bad day… only 50 INR an hour… for 12 hours (they’re there all day) that’s 600 INR. Over a Month, that’s 18000, which is 3-6 times more than a starting salary. This is why I NEVER give to beggars in tourist areas or areas of high traffic. I also never give money. If you give anything, give food (opened packages only) and nothing else, not even medicines. There are so many NGOs that offer free medicines to the poor, and medicines can easily be returned for cash.



Even food, I only give to beggars that I assess as truly poor. There’s a certain dirtiness of the truly distressed, or depressed. They don’t take care of themselves, because to them it doesn’t matter. If a beggar comes up to you, with new Nike shoes, a clean shirt, or nicely pressed pants… you can bet he’s a con-artist, or at the very least, not what an Indian would call poor.

The problem with this tourist begging industry is how financially rewarding it is (as I’ve already shown). Because it’s financially rewarding, families from one generation to the next find no reason to seek education, when they get paid just as well or better begging.




So in conclusion, if you want to help poverty, don’t give to beggars, we foreigners are not wise enough to discern those in need and those not in need. And if you think you are, then either you’ve lived here for over a year and worked closely with poverty, or you’re deluding yourself. Instead give to an NGO that supports education for street kids, or that gives free medical care, or the like. This way you know that the money and time you give will go to solve the problem, not to worsen it.




Some charities that I have ties with:
The Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa’s sisters)
Roshni (http://www.roshniindia.com), a new NGO in Bangalore and Karnataka working on sustainable solutions to poverty.

If you want to donate to either, contact me and I will send information on how to donate to them directly.

May the Lord let His face shine upon us all!
1158pm