"Give me money"

This phrase is so common in this area that I am beginning to think that maybe it just means hello. But for the tell-tale outstretched palm. I cannot believe how often I hear this here. Occasionally it is interspersed with the odd, "Give me sweet," or the more eloquent, "Please assist me one thousand to buy book," and I can only presume that this is the legacy of tourists who have in the past given money or sweets. Yet I wonder, how often are these requests granted? I suppose even if it is only once in a blue moon, it is still worth asking. I noticed that the children never asked when there were adults nearby and never when they were in school, so clearly it is not wholely acceptable.

It is so sad that this behaviour has been learned and, probably, encouraged. By people who get a kick out of seeing children fight each other for hand-outs, love the attention of being the giver, feel guilty, or think they are helping? I don't know.

This area, a scattering of small villages, is not wealthy by any stretch of the European or 'Western' imagination, but compared to other places, it is much better off. Three rafting companies employ guides, cooks, drivers. As do quad bike operators and horse riding outfits.There are numerous campsites, guesthouses and cafes all bringing in the tourist dollar, each employing dozens of locals. Softpower has built two schools, an education centre and has refurbished numerous other schools. Boda-boda drivers shuttle tourists and their kayaks round the countryside, women sell crafts and jewellery, villagers take tourists on guided walks. A similar village, or string of villages, elsewhere in the country, away from tourist spots and glorious rivers would have none of this. Employment would be rare, money much harder to come by and life would mostly be lived off the land. Yet visit these places, where mzungus rarely tread, where need is so much greater, and nobody will ask you for money.

In Rwanda, I was never asked for money, but over and over I was asked for my address or phone number. I was touched by these people, so eager to make friends, asking me please to tell them about my country and about my experience of theirs. How different.

At the education centre here, as well as teaching children, lessons in cooking, art, craft, pottery and I.T. give adults the chance to learn skills that will enable them to get dollars from mzungus from their work - this strikes me as a much healthier handout than money. Adults here never beg, nor are the knick-knack sellers and boda-boda drivers pushy. Who taught the children to beg? And who will teach them to stop? There are many ways, good ways, we can contibute to improving the lives of people in places such as this, but none of them involve giving coins to small children.