- Nickythump Travel

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Wandering about Asia by scooter has allowed me a much closer view of life than if I’d been Big-busing it.

A lot more stops, a lot more gas and butt-breaks, a lot more interaction with the people who inhabit these remote places. Seeing the abject poverty many folks live in is humbling, and heartbreaking.

Photo: Ms.Cassie Wilkins

I used to sit at home at night, Cheeto dust coating my fingers, watching idly while some beareded man, who kind of looked like Santa Claus, wandered some far away village, emaciated prop-child in hand.

My couch-guilt has bought more than a few cups of coffee for little Ubuntu, yet I never really felt like my money was going anywhere but towards overhead.

The last three years have been spent living and working in those villages. Wandering and talking and trying to get a feel for the realities of a world I barely know. It can be hard, far removed from the cheddary comforts of my couch. But perspective is a hard thing to come by, and to see something from all sides you usually have to get off the couch.

Once on the ground, the ability to help in small ways was immediate, and selfishly gratifying. I finally had the time and the relative money to gift the small things. The few liters of petrol the elderly Vietnamese lady needed to get home. The packs of colorful pens and markers the Indian schoolkids hounded me for. The 100lb sack of rice needed to feed the mass of sudden mourners to a Cambodian country funeral.

Some of these were big things. Most of them were very very small, a $1 roadside meal perhaps, but to the child starving on the streets of Aurangabad it may have made all the difference. They certainly tucked in like it did.

I always knew where my money was going. Watching the little ragamuffin inhale the sandwich, or omelette, or apple, I knew he didn’t trade it for crack. Boom.

This is the kind of oversight the big guys lack (i’m looking at you UNICEF).

I’ve spent stupid amounts on stupider things (oxygen bar). Yet every penny, paisa, and kip that I’ve given away has felt like the best money I’ve ever spent.

So, if you feel so inclined, I’ve outlined the costs for a few things most necessary to the children of the village. Should you feel like donating, on my honor, every penny will go to procuring school supplies, or clothes, or medicine. I’ll do my best to document the deliveries, so their smiles can be yours as well as mine.

I can’t claim to be a professional. I don’t know how to do this right. All I see is a need bigger than I can fill. If a child is starving, giving them something to eat will not make them dependent, or lazy, it will simply make them full. If they’re full – then maybe give them a bike. Every kid needs a bike.