Begging - How To Deal With It On Latin America Vacations

If you’ve ever taken Latin America Vacations, you’ll know that sooner or later you will have to deal with beggars. An extended hand usually accompanied by a sorry looking face will put most people in a very uncomfortable situation. Wherever you are taking a Latin America vacation you can use this guidance to help you deal with someone begging.

1) Think about your motivations for giving
Why would you hand over money to someone? Is it because of the way they look, or because of a story that they have told you? Do you want to help them get out of their current situation? Are you giving to ease your conscience, or because you feel pressured?

2) Consider your options for giving
Some things to consider - all is not necessarily as it seems with beggars. Sometimes the beggar will use the money to buy drugs or alcohol. In other cases the beggar is part of a scam to persuade people to hand over money, or they are used by gangs to obtain money. The difficulty is that you don’t really know the full circumstances of the person you met a second ago.

Think about the benefit of the money that you give away. Does it really provide a benefit? After the beggar has spent the money, what will they do next? Probably return to begging. Is there a way that you can spend the same money to have a better long term effect and not re-enforce a culture of dependency?

Maybe there are local organizations that you can donate the money to that work to change the circumstances of people who would normally be begging.

Also, is there something else other than money that you could give? Maybe food or water, or perhaps you could arrange to volunteer with a local organization using your skills and time instead. These are things that cannot be easily used for other motives.

3) Make a decision
Consider the options above, and come up with a personal policy for how you will deal with begging if someone approaches you, no matter what their circumstances seem to be. If you want to provide a benefit to the society that you will visit for your Latin America vacations, make a clear choice about how you will do it.

4) Be consistent
When abroad, stick to your decision. Maybe you have decided that the money you contribute as a tourist is making enough difference, or maybe you will give away a certain amount of money each day. Remember that if you give to one beggar you may well be approached by many others. You have to feel comfortable with your decision of how to treat them all fairly.

Dealing with begging is a very difficult subject, and there are no fixed rules. How do you deal with begging?

 

Author: Gary Sargent - Escaped to Peru / Escaped to Latin America