Shanty Town

[TAH]

We have brought school supplies before and brought them directly to a school. Years ago we used to bring old computer equiptment to a lady who had an internet cafe in the west end and she brought it to a school and used it to teach kids. I agree that handouts justs feeds the problem but i dont think i will ever be able to keep my lady from bringing loads of candy to give out to every kid she sees when we are out and about in jamaica lol.

You should have her read this thread, and the linked article. This really isn't some abstract idea, it's a real problem, and any and all tourists giving hand outs only contributes to the issue. I don't say that to be rude in any way, but it's reality. I won't even attempt to get involved in that TA thread, but I like to think the posters here are more receptive to the facts.

[captaind]

Hey Lenbert,

Just do your best!

Cap (you know me as "ah foo"

[MikeyNYC]

I brought stuff for the kiddos in "shanty town" once and saw the mayhem it created. That made me question it. Then, while stopping for a roadside beer on a later trip, a little girl came running up to beg a bag juice. My driver told her that she shouldn't beg, that it wasn't good. It wasn't a "leave the man alone" type of way, but more like he was trying to teach her. I took a mental note and stopped giving hand outs to the kids on the pub crawl. I accepted that five minutes of me feeling good and patting myself on the back doesn't validate reinforcing unproductive behavior.

[Mike_D]

We had a similar experience as MikeyNYC, once, while having dinner at Sweet Spice. As we were finishing up and paying our bill, the waitress told us to wait inside until our driver arrived. Thinking that was an odd request, I looked through the front window and saw a few kids outside who were watching us tourists and waiting for us leave. Our driver finally arrived and came into the restaurant and walked us to his car. Sure enough, the kids followed us asking for a hand-out. I politely said, "Sorry, I spent all my money on dinner". My driver said something harsher in Patois that sounded something like, "wash your feet and go to bed!"

[lisapat]

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

[Markospoon]

Amen, Lenbert.

[saeyedoc]

so if one person wants to donate the improper way, he's going to ruin the trip for everyone else? Makes sense to me.

[gregandkelly63]

so if one person wants to donate the improper way, he's going to ruin the trip for everyone else? Makes sense to me.

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.

To each their own. Jah Bless

[HarryS]

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?

[M&G Montreal]

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 .....