Taking little presents
 

I remember reading a post by some Aussies here who took a number of small Koala teddy bears with them. They give them to people who were exceptionally friendly or helpful.

I was wandering what I could take. Something small, so I can take a sufficiently large number. For Africa I'd probably take a supply of pens. But for Asia?

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Salut from Southern France, the bikers' paradise,

Peter.

everything that could be cultural, educational, health : pens, books, postcards, photos of you and your family, toothpaste, toothbrush, soap, shampoo, etc ...

not presents but games : i was travelling with a kite and a freesbee / o-ring : very quiet and "peacefull" also, to play with the "locals" : i keep excellent souvenirs :-) sometimes, they hadn t seen one before. you make them happy, you create some interest. in some countries (pakistan, india), small kites or popular, but they only have one rope.

+ it s light and does not take a lot of weight in your luggage. a few times, some kids were taking plates to play with more "freesbees" and their parents had to say : "no no" :-)

i also had a little "fake" plastic camera : when you click on it, you can see the different views of paris : they loved it also. in mongolia, i remember one "local", when he saw the Eiffel Tower, telling me " tv antenna" and he was part right :-)

I take balloons for the children, round ones and long ones to make animal shapes. My friend in a 4x4 takes an instant camera (Polaroid), and gives them their own photo, but they are expensive to use and bulky.

[This message has been edited by Bill Holland (edited 05 June 2005).]

Hi
Coming from Israel, I took with me to Egypt some postcards of the holy mosque(El Akza) in Jerusalem. and gave them four times to people that were very kind to me, it was more than magic. one of them in Siwa oasis, insisted I will go to the local mosque with him to meet his kadi. Other presents were two pairs of reading glases , the cheap ones you buy in the pharmacy I carried with me.one was given to an old man that calld all his family to see the miracle. the second pair was handeld to a police officer leading us to a hospital we needed. And some ten lighters were given here and there.
Yoni

Thanks, keep them coming...

Hi Peter...

We took a little bag of kiwiana... Plastic tiki's, NZ stickers, postcards and temporary tattoos! The postcards were probably most popular.

We've heard of other travellers taking small coins with them... The number of times we were asked for coins from our country, this would have been a great idea...

Cheers
Jacqui and Trent

Hi Peter,

My wife and I are the Aussies that took the toy Koala's, they worked well as gifts for kids and even with adults as a thankyou (in a light harted friendly joke way). Pens and pencils are also good. We will be taking all these when we travel again.

I like the postcards, coins & stickers idea too - thanks for the idea. We had postcards to show what our country and city looked like, but didn't think to have spares to give away.

However, what I would really have liked many more of was "Stubby Coolers", the neoprene (wetsuit type material). Is Aus the only place that uses these? Doesn't anyone else need to keep their beer cold? We travelled mostly in eastern europe and spain with our own cooler each (and a spare each). We could have given away or sold these hundreds of times over! We did give the spares away.

We went to the 2003 Hungarian F1 GP as our holiday treat when in Budapest. If I had only posted a few boxes of stubby coolers to Budapest, I could have sold them at some vastly inflated price and payed for my tickets! or maybe the whole trip! Seriously, hundreds of people asked which stall sold them. Unfortunately they are a little bulky, or I would take a few dozen of these on the next trip.

John

For France,perhaps err frogs
Ben

I helped a Dutch couple once and they gave us little wooden goodluck charmes with silk threaded tassels. They still adorne our travelling bike keys now. They are very special to us because of the lovely people they remind us of.

Charlie

i carry a a small bag of rainbow badges...and some union jack badges... just little ones ... Come on Grant?????? why can't we get Horizon ones ..... same as the stickers...Cheap!!!!

Hi Jacqui and Trent! Still in Oz? Haven't had any news for a while.

Lots of good ideas here. I think I'll stock up on pens and postcards.

France isn't really known for its frogs, more for snails. :0

I've never heard of a stubby cooler, but I noticed that our local plumbing store sells neoprene tubes in various diameters by the metre. You probably get 6 coolers per metre. From the offcut you cut round bits to glue into the bottom. Just and idea... But yes, bulky to carry.

No pens please. The last thing we want is to encourage the 'one pen! one pen!' brigade in every small village!

Seanh is right. In every village we passed in Nepal all the kids could say was "Namasté!" and "Pen please!". Though, actually they do need pens, since cash is rare in the remote villages and the do need them for school.

Postcards showing villages from southern France will be appreciated, just so pics from thge Dalai Lama in buddhist areas.

Hans

Unless someone has helped you/been very kind then I am very much against this habit of giving gifts.
It seems a lot of people do it and it creates such a problem for the next traveller and the next one etc etc. I think it must make people feel really good giving things to people a lot poorer than themselves and I can understand that but I think the consequences need to be considered more seriously. It creates a begging culture, it means travellers get seen as 'potential gifts' rather than just a person travelling through, if you don't give then you have to deal with the guilt knowing that others have. Just a personal opinion that I have based on my own travels.

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Africa Trip web journal

Hi gifts givers
I think that giving is something to do with being human. It can be sharing pita bread with a stranger on a trip stop, or helping other biker in need. or letting a (-can be a rich- http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/smile.gif kid to put my helmet on. it all has to do with nice things. I will be glad spreading pens all over the world. if that is the fee for getting kids happy, and my trip on.

I have to agree with PaulJ.

Yes it feels nice to give. But remember

1. you are giving nothing, and in return you are getting big waves of thanks you don't really deserve. It is a cheap way to buy feel-good.

2. A relationship is created of donor and recipient; the powerful with largesse to dispense, and the needy given the role of gratitude. At worst, this is pretty ugly, and echoes rich world/poor world relations.

3. It establishes a precedent. The next travellers through are expected to give. This is quite a problem is some areas, as someone mentioned: the Lonely Planet crew doling out pens everywhere.

In the end, your choice, of course. I carried a few postcards for people who I made a real bond with. But showering the kids with pens...yuk. Empty charity at its most destructive.

Well, yes, I should have said that in my first post that I want to give presents to people who have helped me, not to throw around.

While we're on the subject of giving out 'gifts'. I also noticed on my travels that people carry gifts for soldiers/police/government officials and readily gave them out (money as well) whenever they were asked for. I know that bribery is sometimes necessary but there is a tendency to accept it all to easy and to give in straight away. I can't count how many times we were asked for 'donations to cross check points/borders/visas etc but everytime we politely said no and were never delayed more than a few minutes. In the end we had to pay 2 bribes in 7 months across africa. I certainly don't mean put yourself at risk by refusing but read the situation and make a stand when you think you safely can.

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Africa Trip web journal

Yep, I agree. No gifts to just everybody. After having been helped - ok.

Bribes can also cause problems. In Chile locals warned me not to try and bribe the police. It might backfire. Although, that was a few years ago. The situation might have changed in the meantime.


Hans

we were warned in india that tourists giving money to children was causing serious economic problems, the kids were earning more begging than their parents were by working.
It develops a culture of dependence where travellers are seen as a gravy train.
A friend of mine witnessed an italian Paris dakar truck throwing stuff out of the window while driving past at high speed. clearly they were not the first as the kids were falling over each other running at fast moving vehicvles - unbelievably dangerous
the kids of today are the border guards (or politicians)of tomorrow. pen today, 100euro tomorrow.
IMHO people who distribute gifts in a meanigless manner do so to satisfy their own guilt and make themselves feel better, whilst being too stupid and blinkered to see the long term problems this creates.
this does not refer to the original post, that clearly stated what, IMHO, is a reasonable scenario for saying thanks, but might well refer to some of the other people who have replied to the original post!!
If you want to donate stuff then do it through the proper channels. Give pens to schools, medicine to medical centres etc

andy
landrover 101 ambulance/camper
landcruiser h60
morris minor traveller

You dont need to give gifts that you have purpose bought. we found that letting a person start our motorbikes was a big deal for them. As the group surrounds your bike choose the cutest, youngest, ugliest or whatever kid and let him start your bike......you should see the faces when they push the button and the bike roars.In countries like Pakistan the adult men will try and push the kids out of the way so they can do it.
Also ..if you have a digital camera then take their photo so that they can see themselves on the screen. Some asked us to take a television photo of them. you can always wipe the photos when you have left.....never really had them ask to keep the photo....they seem happy just to see them on the screen.

good tips guys, also helps to break the ice (so does a polar bear I believe!)

Couldn't agree more, Moggy.

I lived and travelled in Uganda for 2 years and was appalled to see what Overland travellers had done to some communities. In a country where people are generally friendly, welcoming, and proud it was sickening to see children demand "give me my money!", "give me my water!", "give me my ....". This only ever happened in places that were frequented by comparativley rich and usually Caucasian tourists. Other, more remote, or less interesting for your normal 'back of a truck' overlander, areas did not show the same problems.

My colleagues and I visited a villeage with a small Community Tourism Project and were asked if we had any advice for the project. The unanimous answer was:

"If you get Overlanders throwing sweets or money from their lorry as they go past (seen it lots of times) make sure you children wait until the tourists are gone before picking up anuthing. Try to discourage tourist from turning you and yopur children into a spectacle!"

At first the project committee was surprised about this advice, but after a short discussion they were very happy, as they had never thought about this particular face of tourism or how tourism might change their community!

So, give gifts to the special people the made a difference to your travels, but don't carpet bomb communities with unwanted/undeserved presents. Think about the spoilt kid that had everything!

Give to organisations. Give usefull stuff. Give personal stuff. Give love and friendship.

I you really want to make a difference in a place, stay there and help. You will be surprised how interesting one small villeage in the middle of nowhere can be!!

Enjoy

Atwoke

This thread deserves a bump ;)

Yes, it deserves periodic bumps. The key concept here is that people who shower strangers with gifts--this includes children and adults equally--are not making anyone happy but themselves. In the final analysis, they are stripping the recipients of much that is of real value: work ethic, pride, coherency of local culture, etc.

Anyone who doubts this need only talk to the elders in those little villages where the children crowd around grasping for "bic pens" or "sweets." Or settle into a roadside cafe and watch the expressions on the faces of the grandparents when your fellow tourists blast through, showering the begging kids with all sorts of crap. It makes you ashamed of your position in life to see such a thing...and to watch the disgust which is so obvious in the people who remain behind while we tourists move on to the next village, the next exotic sights.

Safe journeys!

Mark

At first I felt a little bad that I didn't have anything to say thank you to all the people who helped me on my trip - I met so many, and I was offered so much hospitality. If I go to dinner with a friend I take a bottle of wine or a box of chocolates, and here I rarely even had that!

Then I realised I did have something to give that everyone wanted: my blog.

It doesn't sound like much, and to me it was just something I was doing anyway, more for people at home than anything else. But it means the people you have met can see where you've been, and know what happens to you after you've moved on. One of the people signed up to get notifications from my blog is a Serbian mechanic who speaks no English whatsoever - but clearly he's still interested.

It's like answering all the questions they ask when they meet you, as well as the ones you don't know the answer to yet.

Obviously this assumes that they have internet access, but it's a good start!

Laura

????
 

Completely off course and off topic but what the hell is a bump?
Sorry for being so thick, I think senility is setting in!!

I only have experience in Southern Africa, but have a lot of it and I recently wrote this for my website:

I’ll apologize in advance, but this is one my pet hates! Much of Africa is inhabited by nomad farmers and very poor people who used to do fine in life before the travelers came. Now, because travelers who passed though the country felt guilty that they were privileged and handed out money and gifts to the “poor little Africans” have created a culture of beggars in Africa. The worst town for this in my experience is Gobabis in Namibia where 100’s of little kids will swarm your vehicle asking for money. Not food, not water… Money. And when you say no, politely, they just get aggressive up to the point of you loosing your temper and behaving like a barbarian. In the far north of Namibia this has started up as well. The Himba people have led nomadic, self sufficient existence for longer than the “white” man has been in Africa. Only now, the irresponsible tourists have tough them to beg for money, or charge money or cigarettes for taking their photograph. Every little kid walks around with a “begging book” telling stories of how you must help pay school fees or fund their cricket tour.


They have no excuse! Botswana is right next door and have similar tribes, but no begging culture. The reason for this... Well, in my opinion it is because they have never been ruled by westerners. They are proud and self sufficient, have almost zero crime and a definite zero tolerance for corruption and crime. If only all African countries could be like that!



Leshoto in Southern Africa is the worst by far. There little kids run to the road side at the sound of every car and stand with their hands out shouting: ”Sweets!” In some instances, when ignored, they through rocks at your car as you’re leaving the scene.



All this could have been avoided if those “passing through” travelers did not try to save Africa… Africa does not want to be saved! If you want to help the community, use their camp sites, and their guides. If you want to help more, donate some pens and books to the local school. Do not hand out money or cigarettes or sweets or even food. Especially the Himba is not used to the food we eat and the germs we carry.



Not that I have any strong feelings about this of course…

Notice that threads are sorted by order of newest post? To bump is to move a thread back to the top of the list by posting a new message. Also referred to as BTT (Back To Top, Bump To Top).

HTH,
Sean


PS: HTH=Hope This Helps :mchappy:

For the English, roastbeef, for 20% of English children live in poverty. They could also be given pens and balloons. We could make the kids into beggars screaming "School pen", tho' we would feel really generous and wonderful. That's the point, isn't it?

In Australia, perhaps err wallabies or koalas. Tho' food and clothing could be brought for the aboriginal people, as they are in poverty too.

In the US, I hear they are chopping programmes to help the poor - so food would be useful there. No balloons though. Wouldn't want to humiliate them.

We could make them all into beggars; after all we love to do that in other countries.

Legalities
 

In the interests of appreciating a cultural awareness, I would like to point out that we (as a community in this forum) have used the word Bribe quite conversationally.

I do not pretend to have holistic knowledge here, but any UK or USA citizen committing an act of Bribery anywhere in the world is committing an act of crime punishable in their country by fine and imprisonment. Furthermore anyone anywhere bribing someone in UK / USA is exposing themselves to imprisonment and / or a fine.

Clearly there are complications of understanding but it needs to be understood, that a Bribe is a serious offence.

Please note that the conversations had above allude to people encouraging / educating others on committing bribery. if you are a UK or USA citizen, this officially has consequences.

I don't make the rules, I practice and like to think that I follow that grand Colonial tradition whereby payment is made for a service rendered, and on occasion in order to secure services, some people's energy must be rewarded. I think of it as lubricating a seized engine.

Regretfully, the muppets in charge in USA and the UK see otherwise... Now

Sometimes all it takes is a little homework and a few emails before you set off .....

A few years ago I travelled to India. Everyone on the forums said 'take pens for the kids .....' After a quick bit of research I tracked down details of a small village school on my route, and found an email address for them. A few exchanges of emails and it was sorted - I would visit and leave pens, paper and colouring pencils with them for the children to use.

It was early in the trip and the space taken was not a problem. I was welcomed like a VIP at the school and introduced to one of the classes where I spent over an hour talking to a group of very polite and friendly children about the UK, my family, my bike and my trip. And I left with a sense of satisfaction that, in return for my enjoyment of their country, I was leaving something behind that would actually be of use and make a difference to the local community.

Otherwise, I always have something in my bags that would be of interest and make a suitable 'thank you' gift for those who genuinely help me on a trip bier

That would have been me ;-)

I'd suggest going to your local or nearby tourist shops and having a look at what they have on offer. Key rings, Kiwis ect, I also take a bunch of my local Automobile Association stickers, works a treat ;-)

Cheers Dave