jdc562
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
|
 p.1 #3 · Children in Namibia / Botswana | |
First, regarding sugar-free candy, look at the warning on the package label: sugar-free candies can cause "a laxative effect" in certain people, which is an understatement for the severe gas and diarrhea that some people get from the sugar alcohols (malitol, sorbitol, etc.,) in sugar free candies. In any case, don't promote any candy for kids in these cultures--you are contributing to a bad, teeth-destroying habit. If you want to provide a sweet treat, go to the local farmers market and get fruit. A watermelon or bag of local fruits (e.g., mangoes, various palm fruits) can be real treasures for people who rarely have these. Also, as a treat for you, the novelties of sights and sounds in these local markets are often very interesting in themselves.
I have bought hundreds of paper tablets and sets of colored pencils for kids in remote villages. Everyone in the family can use them. (Water color pens and plain graphite pencils also are good.) You can often get these inexpensively in-country--for example, in the city where you arrive. If you explain to the store manager/owner why you are making the purchase, you can often get a good bulk price.
Try to find out what pleases the kids in the specific local villages where you are going. This may depend on what is novel or hard to get in their location. I once went to a very remote location on a coast almost never visited by outsiders. As a special treat, I brought masks and snorkels. When I showed these to the kids, they ran off, then came back with their own masks and snorkels to share with me. I have found that simple t-shirts, even second-hand ones, are very desirable in many places. Why not lighten your load and give away your clothes at the end of your trip? I do this by asking if anyone would like to help me by taking these clothes so I don't have to carry them back to the U.S. After visiting a remote place with a group of grad students, we left the little village with the inhabitants proudly dressed in university t-shirts--a happy, moving, experience for all of us. Also little stuffed animals can be popular. It seems like kids everywhere like little toy trucks and similar toys--the brightly colored ones that cost less than a dollar each. I visited one remote village where one of the children (around 7 years old?) of a local chief's family took ownership of me. He proudly showed me off to his friends. He sat me down on a log bench, and the other kids put on a show with their little toy trucks "driving" around in the sand--and this was on a little coral island with no roads and no real vehicles. Check local mores with a local native source to be sure you are not going to do something regarded as offensive in the local culture. Pick up local language at least for the basics of hello, good morning/afternoon/evening, please, thank-you. Smiles and lots of hand language are also good when you are being the object of attention, as you describe--even if you don't have material treats to hand out--you, yourself, can be the novel, memorable, treat.
One other thing. If you are in a location where no cameras exist, take lots of photos, especially nice flattering ones. Then make plenty of durable copies to send back or bring back on your next trip. I can't tell you how moving these can be for people who don't have access to photography. Provide many extra copies so they can share with family in other villages.
|
