Oct
Dealing With Poverty As A Location Independent Entrepreneur
Photo by Leni Rachael
This post is our contribution to Blog Action Day 2008 – Poverty.
Imagine this…you’re gallivanting around an idyllic tropical island thinking to yourself how lucky you are to be a nomadic, location independent professional when all of a sudden a scrawny, scruffy child – who seems no older than about 5 – pulls you out of your reverie and asks you for some food so they don’t starve to death.
That is reality. And it’s the reality you’ll face if you, like us, choose to live and work in countries around the world and you don’t plan to stay holed up in a plush hotel all day, every day.
How would you react if:
- Someone comes to your open front door at night crying and asking for R5 (approx. £0.30) for a bus fare because they have no money and can’t get home.
- You get stopped almost daily on the street and asked for money or food.
- You have homeless people who sleep on the street outside your fully furnished, short term, comfortable apartment.
- You find out that the average wage for a worker in the country you’re staying is approx. £7 (or $14) per day.
- Your cleaner (who probably earns £5 per day) asks if you’ll donate some money to the local community for fixing the church roof.
If you’re the kind of person who would never consider giving money to someone who asks for it because you can’t stand beggars or who wouldn’t go into a shop and buy a sandwich and a drink for a homeless person, then you are probably better off avoiding places such as Grenada and many Caribbean islands, parts of Asia, parts of Eastern Europe, most of Africa and many big cities around the globe. In fact, you’re probably better off never stepping outside your front door at all.
Poverty is everywhere, whether you choose to acknowledge it or not. On a continent like Africa, it can be overwhelming. You’re faced with it daily – you may even get annoyed by constant requests for money and food but you can’t avoid it, no matter how hard you try.
In a world where there is always someone far poorer than you, it is easy to convince yourself that your actions (no matter how large or small) make no difference nor have any impact on those with lifestyles less fortunate than yours.
You’re wrong. You – we – can make a world of difference.
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Hi Lea, It’s so true and a lovely idea to remind us all of this reality, especially in times when those of us who are LIPs are looking around for countries where our dollars will stretch farther in the economic crunch. These countries are usually those as you describe above where we suddenly can live a lifestyle a few notches above what we are used to in western countries. I spent two months in Bali, Indonesia this year which is quite depressed after the terrorist bombings & threats that destroyed much of it’s tourist business along with many western government warnings to avoid it. However we certainly felt perfectly safe all over the island. Our ever-cheerful Balinese housekeeper was doubtful she would be able to keep her two beautiful daughters in school much longer and the price of rice was skyrocketing while we were there. A 25kg bag was approximately $15 US and the family earned about $40 per month and needed about a kilo of rice per day. When we would go to empty and cheap five-star beach resorts for a few days I would ask the staff about their lives. Many were trainees trying to break into the hotel trade. They had to work for three months full-time for free and have enough money to support themselves just to get a certificate that might help them get a job if they knew someone that could help them get one of the coveted paid positions in a hotel and generally you had to buy your way in. When you can get endless trainees willing to work for free – why bother hiring? But this was just one of the very sad realities we faced living in paradise and it was hard not to be affected. And yet the people who shared these stories were the sweetest most charming and happy people and deeply spiritual. Like our driver used to say to me “Don’ worry be happy”. We were most welcome everywhere and appreciated just for being there because many of the hotels and restaurants were quite empty. We have experienced this in other third world countries too, as you mentioned, the Caribbean, South America, Asia etc. We did come to understand that apart from supporting various causes, employing people or buying a bag of rice for a struggling family that we also supported the entire infrastructure by just being there which creates those hotel and housemaid, waiter, spa and driving jobs for people who desperately need it. So even so you may not be able to help everyone you pass on the street personally you do also help these countries just by being there and spreading the word.
It’s definitely a good idea to set aside something for those occasions. Often even the smallest denomination will be happily accepted.
Hi Carmel – thank you for sharing your experiences here. You are so right – and we often hear from people in the countries we visit that just by being there, we’re helping out by creating a need for jobs in the tourism industry.
We always try and buy local – and spread around our money…buying from one fruit stall one day and a different one the next. There are so many things we can do as LIPs to “invest” in the countries that are good enough to host us for a few months.
One thing that makes me wary of giving handouts in places like you mention is the thought that if I give to one person, it will get known that I’m the guy to go to for free money…that I’ll be swarmed by beggars.
That sounds kinda paranoid and crazy now that I’ve typed it out. Hmm.
Hi Lea, I’m from Brazil and here we’re used to live with this kind of poverty, people asking for food or money daily. This is so annoying, because in many situations they want money for alcohol or drugs, not for food. There’s some people who just ask because is easy than work, they don’t pay taxes at all, don’t need to be at office all day long, they simply ask. Sometimes they get more money than a lot of people in the end of the day. They put their children to ask to commote you while they’re drinking or drugin theirselves. Of course that not everyone is like this, but you need to be careful with who you wanna help. Could be better look for some charities than help someone randomly, just think about it.
Definitely we can make a world of difference, but let’s do the right thing to the right people.
Love your blog.
Cheers.