If you travel to a country that is foreign from your own, you may often come across things on the way that are upsetting or distressing to you. Adventuring to regions where the cultural norm is different to what you have experienced growing up can often seem quite odd. What is the best way to approach these things? Do you let them depress you? Add it to your list of reasons why you want to change the world? Or do you just accept it as a new experience and move on?
When travelling in India, in 2011, I had one of my most memorable incidents such as this. In a remote village in Andhra Pradesh, a group of us paid a visit to a cashew factory where we met the workers. It was mostly women working in the factory, which was little more than a large shed, many of them fairly young, possibly working alongside their parents. The entire building was quite dirty and we were told that the workers worked very long hours for very little pay. Some of the workers seemed desperately unhappy to be there whilst some of them greeted us with warm smiles on their faces.
The opinion of this situation amongst the group of 10 or so people that I was with was incredibly divided. The first comments were in regards to the poor conditions of the workers and judgement was made against the owners of the small factory. Although we were given the opportunity to purchase bags of cashews, directly from the factory, many declined as they didn’t want to fund an organisation that treated the staff in such a way. However, one woman, who in my opinion was slightly more rational with her judgement, quite rightly pointed out that this job, for one person, probably supported entire families and without it, several more people may have lived in complete poverty.
Upon hearing her remarks, several more of our group made the decision to purchase bags of nuts from the owner. Personally I bought several large bags (at a fraction of the price they would cost in the UK) but still felt torn about the situation. There must have been more the owner could do to make his employees more comfortable, to increase their quality of life by paying even a marginally higher wage? Capitalism, it seems, is a universal concept that knows no bounds and in a place of such beauty, it seemed all the more upsetting that this was how things were.
A similar, but entirely different, experience that shocked me whilst travelling was in 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand. I had no rose tinted expectations when it came to the sex trade, however to see it so blatantly occurring with such brutality is a night I’ll not forget in any hurry. 4.am, an Australian bar on a Bangkok street, sitting with friends whilst waiting for a connecting bus to take us to the islands.
Behind me, being pushed into a toilet cubicle with much force by two American men, a Thai prostitute is being shouted at, “I want to check you’re a woman and not one of those fags”. Drunk patrons attempting to clarify the gender of their purchase before handing over any money.
Separate to this but at the same time, just down the street, I can see a police man, or at least a man dressed as though he were one, chasing a lady-boy and beating her in the back with his truncheon. Her crime? Who knows. Nobody stops to ask as they order more drinks and continue with their own revelry.
Needless to say I was more than happy to leave the streets of Bangkok when the time came to find our bus and I was happy never to return to this city, asides from catching my return flight to the UK….
The World is yet to go miles before we reach a place of fair deal for everybody.
Tragically true…
As we sit in our nicely heated homes, connected to the internet and switching our dishwashers on to clean our meals dishes, it is easy to forget that there is a large portion of the world out there that lives in grinding poverty and is taken advantage of by the same “modern” countries that we live in.
Travel can indeed be an enlightening experience, and as you’ve found, a deeply disturbing one.
Thanks for sharing this post and it’s sad imagery.
It really can be easy to forget which is a shame, thank you for visiting Words Fusion and leaving your comment
No worries, it’s always a pleasure!
Good and bad can be a matter of opinion. What appears bad to ourselves in the, on the whole, fairly rich Western World, may be extremely good to the persons in the relatively poor Eastern World. All are free to express their opinion, but unless you are a multi-Billionaire, when you could take these people under your wing and bring them from, what is assumed poverty, there is little you can do.
In fact, in some instances, to completely change a persons circumstances can cause them more harm than good.
Over the ages, many in the Western world have endeavoured to bring change on persons to whom they feel are not living life to the full. This was the case when Western missionaries decided it was their duty to bring the ‘hethern savages’ of Africa into Christianity. No thought by the missionaries that they were not respecting the native inhabitants of Africa, but that the teachings of the word of our Lord Jesus Christ should be thrust upon them, whether they wished for it or not. They thought that as they came, from the so called civilised western world, it was their right to do this, as Jesus had instructed for his word to be made known. I believe he would have been appalled at this, for making his word known is not the same as forcing it on people who have not requested it.
These days we call it ‘cold calling’ and that is also despised by many in the west.
I say be careful when expressing your opinion, for it may not be liked by many others. But that is my opinion and as you can see, I do not practice what I preach.
Having lived in Africa, I think I can understand what you might be trying to say, 61crissterry. I’ve often felt a little impatient with a sort of “western mind set” bias, which tends to see people of other cultures, perhaps more “primitive” in a material sense as being some sort of by-product of all the “isms” we believe in…that is, we seem to put ourselves in the center of the world, thinking that anything, bad or good, that happens in these countries is a result of OUR past and present. We don’t really look at the people, we don’t really see their culture or their asperations or their reality. What we see often is the reflection of our bad conscience, in psychology I’d say we’re “projecting”, even when we as westerners have nothing what so ever to do with the reality of that people.
This is not to say, that there isn’t real economical speculation and that our system is avid and greedy etc. It’s not to say that I haven’t seen how Americans and Europeans, and yes Chinese haven’t gone about trying to “save” the poor Africans, by picking their bones and stealing their resources. I’m just trying to say that we should try a different approach inlooking at the realities of other people and first and foremost stop trying to convert them into photocopies of what we are or what we think they should be.
Thank you Bastet.
Some in the west are conscious of our past and it could be said that the aid now being given to Africa and others, is a way of relieving the ways of our forefathers. For not only did missionaries go to preach the word, but our capitalist forefathers went to strip the counties of their riches to benefits themselves and others of so call note and achievement in Society.
Many of the long term rich of today reaped their rewards from plundering the resources of so called primitive cultures. These resources being not only mineral but also human. Unfortunately some have not learnt from their mistakes of the past and even some others do not acknowledge they made mistakes. Capitalists or is it now enterpretners, are still endeavouring to make from the labour and resources of others.
I agree…
I would have to agree with you there, the purpose of sharing this thought was not to demand change or to reprimand those involved, it was merely to share my brief experience with those who may not have seen something similar. I am not to suggest that we inflict our western ways upon people who are foreign to our ideals, however I think it is evident that a change, even the smallest change, is necessary in so many places.
Thanks for checking out our blog, I was very impressed with the extent of yours
Especially your section on religion. I’ll be visiting again!
It’s always disturbing to see anyone; but especially children slaving in meager and squalid conditions. In a perfect world this would never happen. Alas, tis not a perfect world.. Thank you for the like and the follow on my blog.
From a Westerner’s point of view, such circumstances in foreign lands are quite disturbing. I wonder when “celebrities” adopt children from these countries, what does that say to the millions of similar children left behind…they aren’t “good enough” to be adopted by some rich person, to be wisked off away from their families so they may have a better life? Is the money paid by these celebrities given to the families or villages or kept by the so-called government leaders for their own personal use. I wish I had answers but I don’t.
I thoroughly enjoy reading this blog. It makes me ever more grateful for what I have and more aware of how much more I need to give to others.
Natalie, I felt the same way when I saw the film “Last Train Home,” about factory workers in China. The couple leave their home and children, live in cramped quarters in a dirty, smoggy city, work long hours for little pay, all in the quest for a better life for their children. You see the piles of jeans destined for our malls and feel as if you are helping to perpetuate an exploitive system; on the other hand, why should we dictate the choices of others. I have friends who won’t buy anything made in China, but for the couple in the film, this was an opportunity to be seized. The saddest thing was that the daughter did not want the better life they envisioned for her; she quit school and went to work in a factory. The angst of parenting transcends cultures. Thanks for such a thoughtful post!
It’s indeed hard to know how to best react in such circumstances but one thing is sure, writing and talking about it helps raising the awareness! Cheap labour or child labour are hard to witness without a bleeding heart. I saw in Cambodia some 5 year-old kids checking garbage cans for recycling items…and decided to identify, support or create a program for street kids through education! If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a Miskito;-)
It’s sad to see these conditions. Perhaps raising awareness will help bring about change.
Very interesting post. Hard to know just what to do, whether your actions are helping or hurting in cases like these.
I haven’t traveled in Asia yet and this kind of stories catches the whole point of doing such trip: opening one’s eyes to the backyards of our western consumption society.
Figures and graphs tell us that these developing countries are experiencing substantial economic growth, but it misses the reality that large parts of the populations still experience on a daily basis.
When visiting in lands of different cultures, one needs to embrace the differences – to a point. While child labor can be a way for a family to have a better life, working conditions that do not affect health and safety should be the standard; cruelty and filth are not a revered part of any culture. And while some women chose prostitution (to afford food or other reasons), I doubt any of them want violence to be part of the job. Many, including myself, hope the world gets to a point where women have options and can make informed choices. Whether someone sells their body or any other service, they should be treated with dignity as a fellow human being.
P.S. Sex slavery is more visible in the nonWestern world, but is a growing problem in the US. (I do not know about the situation in other Western nations.)