beggar or not beggar
 

I was wondering how you guys answer the beggars while travelling,for me I try not to promote begging, I do give sometime to some individual but I do prefer to give food to street beggar, I am pretty much avoiding to give money especially to kids. In some countries I willingly give money to kids or adults if they do provid a service or sale some useless "stuff or art".I also give money to old people which I know cannot work ,I guess this depends also on continent, so far the worst was in some part of Africa (sometime north africa kids get a bit pushy), I will soon be going to India and will have a new experience at this level.

Share you experience at this level.

Allah kareem
 

Obviously, we each make individual decisions about who we give to. In Arabic speaking countries, when you don’t want to give, simply say ‘Allah kareem’ meaning ‘God is generous’, i.e. ‘God will look after you’, which cannot be refuted by a believer.
Stephan

Never ever give to children!

In most cases the parents sent them out to beg and the only way to stop this is by not giving them anything. And not using services provided by child labour.

I know that in some places they need to work for the family to survive, but in many places the parents keep the children out of school so they can work or beg.

But again you must choose your battles. I never give at turist destinations, but in "normal" foreign cities I give.

I only give food. Once in a while if I am in an area that I think is very poor I will stop at a cheap bakery and buy a lot of bread to give away. Usually people take it, but sometimes they are insulted that you think they are poor and get mad.

The good thing about bread is that it is cheap and goes a long way in feeding people. It is also perishable so you know that it is not going to be sold for alcohol/smokes.

The worst, of course, is when you give a beggar food and they look at you as if you had just served them up a turd burger and toss it on the ground. Worst, I say, because you've just wasted perfectly good food, not to mention given your philanthropic ideals a bit of a dent.

Other people's problems are just that.

Hard? Maybe. I try not to give - not out of meanness but prefering not to interfere with the natural way of things in the country I am passing through.

If one sees you giving something that makes them more persistant. I once gave a few shillings to a poor wretched looking cripple in Kenya, only, as I walked away, to hear his cries as other beggars robbed him of them.

Depending on the circumstances I sometimes will do a deal with kids that if they watch my bike, and it is OK when I return, I say I will give them something. And I do!

I generally don't give anything away, although occasionally succumb. I always acknowledge people though, even if it's just a shake of the head. Everyone deserves the respect of being acknowledged.

Never give ANYTHING to children.

Matt :)

I will give coins to people who obviously can't work for themselves. Kids will get nothing except mild abuse. Recently an old lady asked me for money but she refused the coins and asked for notes. I guess she never heard that beggars can't be choosers.

to give or not to give, that is the question
 

Some great comments already. I find it hard to give money to children who show signs of being harmed to make their plee, as by giving to these you may be making their tormentors harm others, thinking that way they can get more money.

I agree with giving to those who seem to old to help and I also think its a good idea to observe what others do especially locals.

Remember not everyone wants something and sometimes a small gift goes a long way. i had some oil pastels in India that a foot artist appriciated and used to better effect far more than I ever could.

I liked the arabic Allah Kareem, I also find La Chokran yim shin bakara(no thanks maybe tommorow) works well to deter unwanted carpet sellers etc.

:thumbup1: Unless that's dialect, it should be 'yimkin' (possibly/perhaps/maybe).
Stephan

I think you will be surprised if you follow some of these beggars and see who ultimately takes the money.

If you must give, give unpacked food. The truly needy will appreciate it, and at worst those who do not will stop pestering you.:cool4:

That's correct but the easiest way to transliterate might be "La shukran, yumkin bukra" or just even saying "bukra habibi," although not to someone of the opposite gender as 'habibi' is somewhere between 'buddy' and 'my dear/darling' and could be interpreted as being rude or a smartass.

In English-speaking West Africa you can politely refuse a beggar with a 'Maybe next time, I'm late-oh.' Don't feel stupid about putting on the local accent there for quick exchanges, everyone does it and rather than making you look like an idiot it can get the point across quicker. 'Mebbe nestaim, ay lade-oh'

I had a heartbreaking experience with a 5(ish) year old Guinean kid who was begging and shoe-polishing in Freetown. He didn't ask me for money at all but spent about 2 hours sitting with me wanting to show how he was learning English by reading Time magazine to me. I really wanted to give him something but saw the response from the local teenagers when I bought us both a Sprite and realised that it would be very rough for him if they found out he had cash. I wanted to give him all of my leftover Leone (about USD100 - about 3 months salary for a public servant) but it showed that even in the cases where it is the right thing to do it can have very nasty consequences.

I think you have to have some sensitivity to what is acceptable in the area. In West Africa for example there is a substantially different response to beggars compared to what is normal in the UK. I've been in restaurants there where beggars have come in and started eating the food left on plates by diners who have just left. In the UK they'd be thrown out on their ear, there they were welcomed, offered a chair and given a refill. I've seen it often enough to know it's not just one soft-touch owner. I've also seen beggars come into banks and be given a little money by the counter clerk - not something likely to happen here!

They were fairly obviously genuine beggars and if the circumstances are appropriate I'll donate a little. Kids touting for "cadeaux", border hustlers or street corner "guides" don't tug at my purse strings unless they've done something to earn it though. On my last trip I had starting problems with the bike and rather than sweat myself to a standstill each time trying to get it going I'd pay the inevitable group of kids a little money to push start me. No problems with that, they've provided a service and I've paid for it.

I always try and observe the locals and take my lead from them on begging and only ever give food to children, as Backofbeyond has pointed out what is not acceptable at home might be normal elsewhere. I was in a cafe in Bolivia when a very old, slightly confused looking woman came in begging from customers, everybody gave her a little and when she started begging from her own reflection in a mirror the waiter gently lead her to the door and showed her out.

I always try to give my business to those who would appreciate it most - street sellers rather than supermarket chains etc.
Other than that, I am in country purely to observe. All of our pockets are pretty shallow, so we can't benefit a population by small spontaneous acts of generosity.
It's also quite easy to think that most of the beggars have only been reduced to the state by seeing an oppulant westerner arrive who may be able to save the day with only a small handfull of change or notes - the truth is that these people are normally also begging the hell out of the locals, so I don't feel in the least bit bad - especially in Africa, after travelling through the middle east on the way, where poor people actually gave me stuff out of respect for a stranger and guest in thier country.

I don't think about it too much but generally it depends on me, not them.

For example, if I'm in a good mood and have some coins within easy access then I'll hand them over but if they're in my jacket at the bottom of the saddlebags and I've had a hard day I'll just tell them I don't have any change.

That said, I give quite a lot to beggars, especially if I've been drinking :thumbup1:

OOOOO a very touchy, but good subject...

I have traveled with all sorts of people who have ranged from treating the beggars (as well as the locals) like some dirty disease that ruined their view, to overly generous people who give to everything to everyone who asks..

Now, I do not believe in supporting begging. I don't believe in giving someone money just because they ask for it is right...It makes a career out of it !!

I've given money to local kids, and other local folk asking but I've always made a job for them to get paid for.. Showing me where to buy oil, helping me carry my shopping (even if i don't need help), or showing me around the local sites.

On the other hand, if I see and old woman begging on the street or someone disabled or obviously starving who has no means of making money without begging, I find it very hard not to give some pocket change... It's nothing to me and may feed them for a few days.

You have to make your own opinion. Travelling through Africa gives you a THICK skin to beggars. You get to know the ones who are just supplementing their income to those who genuinely need help..

Maybe irrelevant, but I often wonder how a "charity worker" feels about driving around in a fully kitted out new £50,000 Land cruiser, eating and sleeping in expensive places, when the people there are still starving !!

You have to do what you feel is right.

As others have said will your money even if for a little job or task make a difference ? who knows. It might make them change something for the better in their lives, it might make them say this is not so bad i will just do this for a while.

I consider it the "good thing" to do if you can but its completely personal and dependant on what you see around you.

It is a touchy subject, that I usually find hard to deal with. In India, you will be overwhelmed and I guess that most come to a plain NO as a general rule. As others said, especially with kids, although looks harder to do. One experience we had in Pushkar:

A 12-13 y/o kid comes to us speaking quite good Spanish (our language). Nice, friendly chatting. After a while, he asks if we can give him some money. I say: I will rather give you food (he said he lived in the desert, poor familiy, etc). He takes us to a shop which is quite near and asks for some sort of "dried butter" (?) and gets 1kg package. "My family can live 1 day with this". (very touchy, he looks as it is even going to cry). I look at the price, since prices are always written in Indian products (thanks God for us foreigners!) and then I see a hand written price covering the "right one" which says something like 500 rupees (could be more or much less, cannot remember, but really really high in India). At first, I feel confused, stupid, guilty and even selfish, about denying food to a kid, but "13€ is muuuuuch more than back at home!". Hand-written price. No way this trick or scam. (bring the butter back, share the 500 rupees with the tender).

Feeling scammed, I say to him: much better luck with next Spaniard. The, kind soft, friendly Indian kid looks at me as if he wants to kill me, makes a fist each hand and Mr Hyde comes out. Wow...

From then on, I only give my very own biscuits if i feel like... and still have to count how many times beggars (who were asking for food) refused them! As Indian tourism motto: "Incredible India".

Islamic countries, i open muuuuuch more my pocket, since it is a totally different actitude.