Ghanaians are friendly people. They smile a lot and in general are very helpful. Behind the smiles though lurks an undeniable and pretty ugly truth. That is that Ghana really is a very poor country. I have been to developing world countries before but never have I felt it so much in my face as now. Maybe it is because the places I have been are a bit away from the tourist spots but I get the impression it is the same everywhere. I have seen some very miserable looking shantytowns along the road with open sewers running through. One of the most difficult things I have encountered here is the begging.Given that traffic for most of the day is hopelessly stuck anyway, all the main roads are filled with beggars and street vendors, slaloming between the stationary cars. The vendors sell the oddest collection of things you have ever seen. The ice water bags and plantain chips I get but who buys exercise equipment, kitschy cuckoo clocks or foam rubber puzzles of the human body through their car window? The mismatch between supply and demand is enormous. So many people are selling but so few people are buying. Even more heart breaking than those vendors balancing their merchandise on their heads are the beggars. I have literally seen old ladies in wheelchairs being shoved in front of the –fortunately very slow driving– cars, begging for money. I have been approached by a young guy on crutches for the second time in two days asking me for money to eat. He may not remember me but I do remember seeing him the day before on that same spot. As do I remember the old man with the blind, hollow eyes being lead by the hand by his grandson. He too sits there every day in the scorching sun.
I don’t know how to react to all this. There are so many of them that I feel there would be no end to it. So instead of forking out some small change, which even on my modest salary I could easily afford, I hide behind my sunglasses and look into the distance. I do feel miserable though being this evil witch who does not flinch. Of course I know this is a problem that cannot be solved by my few cedis. On the other hand, all my instincts tell me that nobody has ever been better off without money to buy food than with it. I honestly don’t know what to do. Any thoughts on this?
5 comments:
Although it may seem a very mean thing to do, not giving anything is the best approach. If you start giving out money, pens, whatever, the beggars are only encouraged to continue begging.
One way maybe to ease your conscience is to get to know one or two people there and try to help them.
I'm not sure about that. One way of looking at it is as an added cost to your trip: you spend a lot of money traveling and in a way you do support the local economy, but that money mainly goes to businesses that are successful already: restaurants, hotels, taxis, etc.
I don't think it's wrong to give a few cents to beggars here and there, because it costs you almost nothing, and it helps them a little bit. Jocelyne has a point that giving money to beggars encourages begging, but on the other hand, a person in a wheelchair in a developing country may not have any other option than begging, so whether or not you encourage it, may not have that much of an effect.
Keep up the stories, by the way. I'm enjoying your trip report!
I tend to agree with Edith on the fact that some of these people really do seem to have very few alternatives to begging.
It feels very schizophrenic for me because the Ghanaians I meet with through my work here are all people with good jobs and good educations. So I don't personally get to meet many people on the other side of the divide.
I try to at least not to haggle too much over goods I buy etc since I can afford it even when I know they are charging me unreasonable prices...it's a small gesture though.
Do those people you meet, with the good educations etc., give money to beggars? It might help you to explain your dilemma to them.
Very much enjoying your Ghana reports!
As for the begging, I'm not for giving. If your conscious is bothering you and you're up for an added expense to your trip, spend some time asking about effective, locally run organizations that help a target group that interests you. It could be street kids or handicapped or women or whatever. They will know what to do with any time or money you can give them and more likely do better with it that you can with a mountain of change or pencils!
If you have the time, here's an interesting podcast from my favorites This American Life. It's the story of an Afghan man who's given cash by aid workers to pay for his love match marriage. In it, an experienced aid worker talks about her thoughts about the give or not give question.
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