When I tell people I have a degree in public health and then explain what that means and how I want to work overseas, I often get stories of when they were in Mexico or the Caribbean and saw poor kids. It’s their way of identifying with me. It gets old but it’s interesting to hear other people’s opinions of slums. Or informal settlements. Whichever you think is the politically correct term.
The most common is: rich, white kids feeling sorry for the kids begging outside the “catered to tourists” restaurant thinking their couple dollars will make a difference… I don’t fault the rich, white kids; they were trying to be helpful, they saw a problem and tried to solve it in a way they could, and they didn’t realize that the money and food they were giving those kids was likely going to go to the person in charge of those particular beggars and not the kids themselves. But it’s sad and such a vicious cycle.
