It's fast becoming a trend these days to spend vacations on "reality tours". That's when socially-conscious travelers sign up to get up-close with life in the slums or alongside those on the frontlines of humanitarian crises like modern-day slavery. The main purpose of these tours is to educate, with the hope that people, like ambassadors, will tell others about their first-hand experiences and help create greater global awareness about social injustices. Some outfits also serve a secondary cause, like the ones aimed at favelas (shanty towns) in Rio, which train local children to be tour guides as an alternative to begging.But I wrestle with whether these tours really benefit the people who are living the hard life. Is a 300-rupee tip to take a photo of a child digging through garbage a charitable gesture? Critics call these kinds of tours voyeuristic and accuse tour guides of making money from the plight of others. For now, I tend to agree...
1 comment:
yeah, that's a tough one. it gives them money - but, at the same times, keeps them down. i like the other type of trip - going over to these places to help them, not stare at them. - A
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