First time I have found such a simple but in-depth strategy of ‘giving’. I am working with a small NGO and running schools for around 300 poor children under national Child Labour Project in Faridabad, Haryana besides some other works in Delhi. I am trying to start a movement to ‘Stop Child Begging’ in Faridabad. Your insight helped me well to put some more points to it. Thank you and invite you to be frinds in facebook (act_ngo@yahoo.co.uk)

Wish you a nice time

I am Indian and I live in India. Needless to say I face beggars on the street often and my heart cringes every time I do not give anything to them – but I never have as I do believe in what you say in this post – there are better ways to help. So kudos for this piece.

All the very best to you and Aditya. And have a gala time when you visit my country.

Great post! I will definitely be checking that website you recommend.

My husband has mentioned all those things-beggars connected to the underworld, deliberate mutilation, professional beggars, kids able to get meals at some public schools, etc. He also has said that many temples give free meals to devotees, at least in South India.

Our plan is to give money to his elementary and high school to be used for scholarships. We shall see…

More can be found at this link: http://www.bigissue.com/

My book club read “She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders” written by a professor at a university in Maine who never felt comfortable in her original gender and made the switch, and the issues she went through professionally and in her family. It was recommended by one of our book club members whose sister also changed genders. The professor came to our town to give a talk, but unfortunately I missed it. She’s pretty interesting though. If you see the book around, I’d recommend checking it out.

I liked this post…gives some info and links to more info on hijRay.

I don’t think most people realize what is happening when they give to beggars.. they see one poor individual and they don’t realize what is going on behind the scenes, or what giving to a beggar with perpetuate.

In addition to what you have mentioned above… there are other concerns regarding the welfare of children– some small children or babies can be ‘rented’ out to adult beggar women to make people more willing to give to them… I have seen many times women holding ’sleeping babies’ (who sometimes look drugged to me, not that I can prove that) and empty bottles and begging… now I just don’t know how many poor women in India would choose to BOTTLE-fed their infant. I think it is part of their ‘dressing up’ for begging. Additionally, In Jaipur women would beg with babies and first they would get this fake doctors notes showing the baby is ill and needs medicine. So it is really awful for these small babies to be out on the street corners all day breathing in fumes as a prop for beggars, whether or not it is their parent or sibling.

Another case I saw was in Delhi– this children stick their hand into (god knows what awful and toxic) chemical that makes their hand look like it has been horribly burnt. The first time I saw this, I thought the child had actually been burnt, it looked so horrifying. I even called the Childline (1098, this number exists in most cities in India as emergency helplines for children, if you see a child in India who you think needs help you can always call them). Later I realized that is was a ruse, but I still hope that Childline found that child… who knows what those chemicals can do to your skin and your health.

You also mentioned that begging is a business… it is also very hard for me to ignore the children when they beg, but then I keep in mind that the often has a ‘boss’ they have to give most of their money too (or to rent their spot) so they don’t really get the money anyways…

Sometimes I do buy or give food to children who beg… though I am not sure if I should be doing this or not. Probably not, as it still encourages the children to go out onto the streets to get food.

I do give regularly to charity as well, I currently sponsor 3 children in India (which is ‘individual giving, sort of, but mediated through Children International) and I have done volunteer work working with former street children as well as poor children in Bihar, but it is so hard for me when I see a child that looks very hungry and poor.

Someone made a comment about the “midday meal program” in schools.. this is true, but you should also keep in mind that the program is not running properly everywhere– the government schools themselves are not running properly everywhere– let alone the meal program in the schools! It does work in many places and helps keep kids in school longer… there is one organization I know that partners with the midday meal program, it has developed technology to help cook and serve hot and nutritious meals for children in school all over the country.. it is called Akshaya Patra.. and I think that if you see a beggar and are feeling really upset at their plight, this is a great organization to give to, because it feeds children good food AND encourages them to go and stay in school.

Another non-profit that I have worked with that helps make schools and encourages children to go and stay in school is Barakat. They work in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. Also worked with Sister Jessy (from Kerala) in Bihar through her tiny organization the Massihi Gyanjyoti Ashram (she is Catholic, but her organization is not religious based) that gets informal education to thousands of children in Bihar, and also has programs to help families get cows, chickens, plant fruit trees, etc. She is really an amazing one-woman show– I stayed with her for 2.5 months and taught English to a group of girls… Bihar is one of the poorest and most dangerous states, so not very many organizations like hers are working there.

There are many organizations for people if they would like to sponsor a child’s education in India. Other organizations, like I-India (which I volunteered at in Jaipur) helps find street children and encourages them to come off the street and live in their home. There, they can track down their family, if appropriate, they can live there, go to school and/or get vocational training.

Another thing to keep in mind when seeing street children is that there are programs like I-India and many child shelters to help them, but some choose to stay on the streets and beg– many of them do drugs, you might see children or adults on the street take a container of white-out (correction fluid) pour it in a rag and sniff the fumes– this is a cheap way to get high (and kill brain cells) for people on the streets. Many children on the streets will only stay there as long as it is feasible, then they will seek out something else– the sooner you get a child to go to an organization that will help them, the higher the chance they will stay there, go to school, not do drugs etc.

Anyways, I have just kind of spilled out a lot of various thoughts… Hope it is helpful. I guess while GoriGirl spoke more on the economic reasons while giving to a charity organization is better than giving directly to beggars, I (though I agree with her economic analysis) tend to reason it out more simply on what gets perpetuated when you give to begging– and it is not good– encouraging young children and babies to be in the roadway (possible rented out– there was a recent story where a nanny had been regularly drugging a baby and renting it out for begging while her upper middle class parents were at work! Not normal, but crazy to think about), encouraging children to stay out of school for food and money, and encouraging people to find new and creative ways to ‘dupe’ people into feeling sympathetic– chemicals on hands, fake medical notes, etc.

I just wish more tourists around the world realized this… this should be something discussed for anyone traveling!