Respect, Marko.
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Respect, Marko.
Very eye opening. I will have to think hard about giving out gifts on the pub crawl again. St. Anthony's Kitchen sounds like a great alternative. Respect, Rob. Appreciate your honest insight.
This looks like the lane behind Ras Rodys and Sharks. We stay just up the lane a little bit more. Love all the little places through here. The shortcut into the village from Seastar puts you out by a little place that has awesome Patty's. Little red shack with a digicel sign and Christmas lights.
from the "One Love Bus Tour, Negril" facebook page:
Lenbert Williams writes,
Please do not judge the love bus bar crawl by the shanty town experience.
I am in the pub crawl business , not a shanty town tour and I do not have a licence to operate a charity.
I will however accommodate the kind folks who want to touch the lives of the less fortunate kids and parents. These kids and parents are not perfect. If they were they would not be in this plight. While I do not encourage begging, 2 dollars will buy dinner for a family of 5 in the shanty (one lb of rice, one tin mackerel, 1/2 lb of sugar and a cool aid.)
The reality is the government and corporate Jamaica have turn their backs on these folks for far too long and the love bus and its very generous tourists are the only source of help for many of these very desperate people.
The love bus alone cannot solve the the Shanty town problem but I hope that through the wider tourist community, policy makers will be embarrassed into ensuring that the people are taken into consideration.
When the visitors donate stuff to other charities no one knows where it end up. I prefer when the visitors give directly to the needy folks, experience the joy first hand and witness the struggle, the poverty, talk about it and complain. This in my opinion is a first step in ensuring that future government policy makers involve the people, not just the water front and large corporations.
With the contribution of some musical instruments from some good tourists, the Love Bus is in the process of setting up an orchestra for the youths from the shanty.
May God continue to bless those who have given and those who plan to give as we try to bring some semblance of order to this side show as many visitors are demanding and requesting the shanty as a quick stop.
Please note that the shanty is not a regular stop of the love bus tour; I only go there on request.
One love, Lenbert
Amen, Lenbert.
so if one person wants to donate the improper way, he's going to ruin the trip for everyone else? Makes sense to me.
Hey Lenbert,
Just do your best!
Cap (you know me as "ah foo"
So now we have Lenbert basically saying the exact opposite of conventional wisdom on the subject, and he casts doubts on what happens to donations that go through "normal" channels.
So what's the deal here?
Whether we are bringing donations or not, we don't mind a stop in Shanty Town. I'm guessing the people that think it ruins the trip are pretty shallow.Quote:
Originally Posted by saeyedoc
To each their own. Jah Bless
I have been reading this thread with great interest. It is precisely the discussion I had with a good (dear) friend of mine earlier this month while in Jamaica. I heartily recommend that those interested in this watch a documentary on Netflix (available in both Canada and U.S.) that she put me onto. Poverty Inc. It addresses these issues, and supports and expands on what so many - Bnewb, Rob, Marko ... so many ) are saying about giving and the long term impact. I won't go in to details, but it outlines real-life impact of our perceived "generosity" - in one example, our "generous" sending of our used clothing to developing nations (great idea, right?), managed to wipe out the cotton industry in Kenya. The whole industry!. Watch this documentary (Thanks, Onion Love!) and think about it. It opens your eyes to a lot and makes you think - what am I REALLY doing? And who am I REALLY doing it for? I am guilty of the random giving in the past. I had stopped it, and now give only to controlled organizations - Rotary; Fr. Jim; St. Anthony's - and you see where the money is going (Get the Kids to School Programme - now that's a freaking winner, guys! So many kids!). I was quite confused and conflicted with the whole thing - but this documentary spells it out in living colour by the people in the affected countries who are trying to deal with the "generosity" and bring themselves (meaning their nation!) up! I would love to hear comments from anyone who does watch this. It's pretty informative. And thanks to the Robs, Bnewbs, Markos and all who tell it like it is. Give with your heart, but don't create a bigger problem. Be informed. There is a comment in the documentary from a Haitian man that is VERY telling .....
Giving with your heart is good. BUT, giving with your INFORMED BRAIN, from boots on the ground .... is, long term, better!
With the real world being what it is, all we can do is become informed as we can. With information comes enlightenment.
Living in any country, developed or developing, there are always inequities. I recently saw a documentary on the homeless in Hollywood, CA. Quite enlightening.
A study was done in NYC using relatives looking like anonymous homeless folks and their blood relatives walked around or over them without a thought. When one experiences poverty, often they become immune to its existence.
Obviously Lenbert sees it and recognizes it for what it is, pure human suffering. Whatever you label it, shanty, squattering, ghettos, slums, it all comes down to other humans that are not part of the "system" and they have become marginalized.
With his pub crawl, Lenbert has seen with his own eyes the direct impact the donations, gifts and money has on these people in his neighborhood. I have been there and witnessed it myself.
This is an emotional issue for Lenbert. I know that for certain. He has seen bartenders at even some small bars tipped more in one round than some of these people see in a month. Life is not fair to all, and I am sure many of you have experienced it in your own life or the lives of friends or family members.
Lenbert has admitted he is not a legal charity. We cannot expect him to know all the legal aspects of the accounting and audits involved with legal charities. In the same vein, he cannot be certain what goes on behind closed doors of the "shanties". His position comes from visceral experience, trying to correct an inequity that hurts his soul.
Lenbert and I have talked in length about this, and while we have differing opinions on how to get there, we both know something needs to be done.
I have always been a believer in the idea of teaching one to fish because it feeds for a lifetime. But if there is not adequate time to teach, what are the alternatives?
Jamaicans are extremely lucky in the fact that food actually grows on trees and it is impossible to freeze to death. But when one sees the hungry children moments after witnessing tips that equal a month income, emotions can and will have an effect.
I still believe that giving away "donations" for the most part has an overall negative impact. But if Lenbert can organize the children's orchestra, then the community will be giving something back to show their appreciation for what they have been given.
If this becomes a reality, it will be hard to argue with the result.
But as Maggie wrote, "Poverty, Inc." is a reality. Lenbert, and each of us have to weigh the reality versus the possibility of an unlikely positive outcome.
I agree with Rob about teaching a man to fish......but he has to eat while he learns.
My wife and I have known Lenbert for a few years and have been on a dozen or so pub crawls. We have brought school supplies, toys, backpacks etc. to the children of Jamaica. A couple of years ago Lenbert and I had a discussion about what we could bring that would help the children the most. Lenbert's reply was "musical instruments". I thought it was an odd request but I realized that children that have an interest in music actually do better in school and are more focused. By bringing musical instruments and hopefully getting the kids interested in music, we can help them in other areas as well. We look forward to hearing the orchestra someday and to know we had a little help getting it started.
So far the wife and I have brought more than 50 instruments to Lenbert. We don't pass them out to the kids, but we turn them over to Lenbert to let him get them into the correct hands. After our last trip, Lenbert posted a video of all the kids on the bus playing our musical instruments after a day at the beach. Not one child knew how to play an instrument but the cacophony of noise was music to our ears. I can't stop smiling every time I watch that video. We are already stockpiling instruments for our November trip and can't wait to turn them over to Lenbert. I have promised him that with every trip we will bring better quality instruments each time.
Giving is a good thing, but give intelligently. We hope by our giving of musical instruments at least one child will become focused in school and possibly even excel in music and their education. We love Jamaica and we trust Lenbert to do what he thinks is best for his community. His love for his community and his commitment to help his neighbors is one of the things we have come to love about Lenbert and the spirit of the people of Jamaica.
We look forward to many more trips to Negril and to giving back as much as we can to the people and place we have come to love.
One Love and Jah Bless!
Informative response.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob
I get most perspectives on this, and am conflicted myself on several. You can hate on Lenbert all you want, yet his heart that he shows these folks cannot be contested.
"The real tragedy of the poor is the poverty of their aspirations". Adam Smith. I see Rob's point of view, by providing for the poor without empowering them to provide for themselves takes away their ability to ever be able to care for themselves. Yet Lenbert's heart is too big to see it go unnoticed. Education is the only tried and true method of ending poverty and to that end musical instruments may spark aspirations so I see value in that method. Perhaps Lenbert needs help with the educational aspect of this problem, and perhaps it is time for him to become political and approach local government as an advocate for this change. Just to provide for those living in poverty is a daily solution and a long term disaster. We all love those people and worry for their children, it will be a long road without the grass roots movement from the government.
Another excellent organization with whom to leave donations is the Negril Rotary. I had the pleasure of attending one of their meetings in July (Negril Escape, 6:30 on Thursday evenings). This group does amazing things, including funding scholarships for those 18+ who can swim and read - advanced lifeguard training - which can lead to a rewarding career on an island such as Jamaica. I was amazed at the number of people who attended and are a regular part of the Rotary, and by the wide array of programs supported and funded - for Jamaicans. Please consider donating to this group. They know the ins and outs of donations and the best repository for them. http://7020.org/clubInfo/negril
That settles it. Next time I take the One Love Bus (again), I will give extra money to Lenbert, over and above his normal "tip", to let him be my "organization" that I donate to so he can support the kids as he sees fit. I love his idea of donating musical instruments, but USD's fit better in my suitcase than a saxophone, so I will just make a cash donation instead!
I think Lenbert's heart is in the right place.
I commented on this situation a couple weeks ago with my brief trip report. I will continue to defer to those with boots on the ground. I said previously I donate through reputable Negril Charities and will continue to do so. While I understand what Lenbert is doing and as Rob stated Lenbert sees the results it provides and that is clearly good enough for him. Like other complex issues there likely isn't a right or a wrong and its based on perspective. I do feel that the brief self gratification we get as tourists for directly donating is eventually overcome by the furthering behaviors that ultimately are negative to the greater good.
We cruise about three times and were initially suprised last year when the Ochi port ranked near the bottom of Carnival Cruises customer satisfaction ratings and was in the top three on the chop block. Similar reports surfaced recently with the Falmouth report althought they were a bit more muddy. We had heard from passengers on three different cruise lines talk negativley about Jamaica due to the aggressive begging culture. We hate that these folks miss the inner beauty of the country and the people all because of a brief experience. But I do beleive we as tourists have also added to that culture with our well intentioned, but albeit misguided donations.
As I said, I am simply a tourist and won't be so arrogant as to suggest I have the answer. I will defer to those on the ground whose opinions I respect and will continue to donate through organizations. I am now especially intrigued by the Negril Rotary, I will look furhter into that as well!
One Love!