Young Entrepreneurs at the Border
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
I gave my three Canada flag pins away to children selling baby-bananas from flat baskets on their heads just before we arrived at the border-crossing area into Tanzania. Other children were selling little paper cones filled with roasted peanuts. It was about ten cents for a delicious little snack of peanuts and I think everybody ended up with at least two paper cones. It was a good way to get rid of pockets heavy with Kenyan coins.
Vicki had brought a bag of ball-point pens to give away, and the children jumped up and down with excitement as she handed them out the window of the truck. It was quite entertaining to watch the entrepreneurial little urchins run around to the other side of the vehicle and try to sell them back to us. And of course we bought them, trading US dollars and the last of our Kenyan shillings in exchange for Tanzanian money.
Vicki sighs and laughs. "So much for school supplies", she says, shaking her head.
Wayne had collected up our passports just before reaching the border, and disappears into an ugly building with them for a few minutes. The crossing does not take long.
Just on the other side of the border there is a large area of parched grass where a bandstand and stereo equipment are blasting out canned music to an assembled crowd of Africans who are all facing the direction the music is coming from, but looking bored and decidedly disinclined to dance.
" Cel-e-brate to-night!.....Come on! ", blasts the familiar tune encouragingly, but nobody but Simon and Wayne, who do a goofy little dance on the lawn, pays the slightest attention to the music.
More small African children swarm us with snacks for sale as soon as we leave the official area of the border-crossing in Tanzania. "You're quite the businessman", says Andy to one very persuasive little child.
Andy bought a long length of sugar-cane here, and stowed it in the over-head rack. Later, Pete brought out his machete and hacked it into pieces for everybody to share. It was chewy and fresh and sweet-tasting (of course), but not overwhelmingly so.
I gave my three Canada flag pins away to children selling baby-bananas from flat baskets on their heads just before we arrived at the border-crossing area into Tanzania. Other children were selling little paper cones filled with roasted peanuts. It was about ten cents for a delicious little snack of peanuts and I think everybody ended up with at least two paper cones. It was a good way to get rid of pockets heavy with Kenyan coins.
Vicki had brought a bag of ball-point pens to give away, and the children jumped up and down with excitement as she handed them out the window of the truck. It was quite entertaining to watch the entrepreneurial little urchins run around to the other side of the vehicle and try to sell them back to us. And of course we bought them, trading US dollars and the last of our Kenyan shillings in exchange for Tanzanian money.
Vicki sighs and laughs. "So much for school supplies", she says, shaking her head.
Wayne had collected up our passports just before reaching the border, and disappears into an ugly building with them for a few minutes. The crossing does not take long.
Just on the other side of the border there is a large area of parched grass where a bandstand and stereo equipment are blasting out canned music to an assembled crowd of Africans who are all facing the direction the music is coming from, but looking bored and decidedly disinclined to dance.
" Cel-e-brate to-night!.....Come on! ", blasts the familiar tune encouragingly, but nobody but Simon and Wayne, who do a goofy little dance on the lawn, pays the slightest attention to the music.
More small African children swarm us with snacks for sale as soon as we leave the official area of the border-crossing in Tanzania. "You're quite the businessman", says Andy to one very persuasive little child.
Andy bought a long length of sugar-cane here, and stowed it in the over-head rack. Later, Pete brought out his machete and hacked it into pieces for everybody to share. It was chewy and fresh and sweet-tasting (of course), but not overwhelmingly so.
posted by Spider Girl | 10:44 AM
1 Comments:
This was a really great story and it illustrates a point that many economists have long known--people want JOBS, not a handout. So naturally the kids wanted to engage in commerce and re-sell the pens for cash.
I was in the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree forum recently where a huge debate was going on about whether to hand out items, and it was generally agreed upon that handing out candy is bad (it ruins the kids beautiful teeth and don't forget, many of them cannot afford toothpaste or dental treatments) but pens are okay. Preferably, tourists should give to charitable organizations if they want to help, because doling out "treats" creates a beggar-culture and doesn't do any good for the people.
Post a Comment
<< Home