“Slum Tourism” Causing Controversy

by Jonathon Morgan on

Kenya’s Kibera slum is emblematic of the country’s poverty — used by politicians, journalists, even filmmakers to as a symbol of economic depravity.

And now it’s a tourist attraction.

Some feel the extra attention could bring reform to the region, putting pressure on the government to provide aid for the slum-dwellers. But others feel these are nothing more than “pity tours” that, according to Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper, label the Kiberan people as the “custodians of backwardness, filth, misery and absolute deprivation.”

“They see us like puppets, they want to come and take pictures, have a little walk, tell their friends they’ve been to the worst slum in Africa,” car-wash worker David Kabala told Reuters.

The tours, like most attention the region receives, fail to pick up on the “untold stories,” said Christine Ochieng, a 20-year-old office worker. There’s a number of middle-class Kiberans who have the money to leave, but decide to stay because moving out would mean a life of relative solitude. Plus, there’s an enormous amount of art, dance, drama and sports projects in the area that are overlooked by those focused on the poverty.

What do you think? Would you take a slum tour? Do you think it’s important for people to see, or is this just another way we’re exploiting the people of Kibera?

Worldmapper

by Erik Olsen on

A very cool use of technology, geography and demographics can be found over at the site Worldmapper. They have developed a really amazing algorithm that allows you to see the world and the various sizes of the country therein, through various statistics. Countries look skinny or fat according to their share of wealth or trade or population or education or whatever gets plugged in, but they maintain their familiar boundaries and shapes. Some of the results make the countries look silly (i.e. a Chile-shaped USA), but they are scientifically precise.

For example, the map here shows the break down for tourism. Now this is fascinating, right? It seems that Western Europe is the most popular destination for international tourists, receiving 46% of world tourist trips, while on the other end 0.1% of world tourist trips are made to Central African territories. Hmmm, I guess that’s not too surprising, though. More interesting perhaps is the map here that shows countries that receive more international tourist visits than international visits are made by their residents. Anyway, that’s just a sampling. There are a lot more fascinating maps to see at the site.

Worldmapper was created by geographers from the University of Sheffield’s Social and Spatial Inequalities Research Group (There’s an innovative college major!) and by Mark Newman, a physicist at the University of Michigan. Really neat.

Global Giving

by Erik Olsen on

Bill Gates and Warren Buffet aside, we Americans tend to be a rather stringy bunch. Hey, I’m right there with you. I don’t think I’ve ever given more than a few hundred dollars to a cause, be it saving Spotted Owls, feeding the poor in Africa or shrinking the ozone hole. I’m sure some of you out there want to scream from the mountaintops, “Hey! I give a lot.” Well, thank you. I’m not talking about you here. I’m talking about the average American who, it turns out, gives about 2 percent to charitable causes. It’s something we all might think about a little more. And since this is a travel site, what about giving overseas?

Well, take a look at the site GlobalGiving.com which shows how the Internet can transform how you support causes you believe in. They have created an Ebay-like marketplace where the “sellers” are groups in poor countries who run environmental, public-health, educational, or human-rights projects. You can go on and contribute amounts ranging from a few dollars to a few thousand dollars…depending, I suppose, on the size of that Christmas bonus you got. It’s Ebay similarity is actual quite intriguing, such that you can easily compare offerings, find possibilities you hadn’t been aware of, etc.

If you want to learn more, check out this story over at NPR about the group.

Beach Trash? Small Solutions to a Big Problem

by Jamie Rhein on

Erik’s post Global Trash Ruins Hawaiian Beaches reminded me of participating in a beach clean-up in Singapore. Some trash, like Erik’s post mentioned, are from ships that either dumped trash on purpose or landed in the water by mistake. Strong gusts of wind? Someone eating at a ship’s railing and a plastic fork dropped or a shoe came off? Because Singapore is a major port, ship trash is a big problem.

The clean-up I participated in several years ago was part of the International Coastal Clean-up organized by the Ocean Conservancy. For the past 20 years the conservancy assigns groups to particular beaches to clean up what they can and keep track of what’s being dumped. According to their website, 300,000 people participated in 2005. The 2006 tally is not entered.

I remember that when we picked up trash we kept track by counting the number of pieces and the category. During this past year’s event, September 16, 2006, 1,865 people participated in Singapore. You can see the total results here. It’s amazing to see the variety of things collected. The photo was taken by Steve Early, a friend of mine, who still teaches science at the Singapore American School. I just happened to find this out when I went poking around looking for a photograph. Small world. The school’s trash duty assignment was at the Kranji Mangroves.

The next International Coastal Clean-up is not until this coming September, but there are plenty of other smaller opportunities to pick trash up along beaches until then. Here are a sampling of three that happen every month. If you know of more, tell us. It would be neat to participate in a beach clean-up in other parts of the world. All this reminds me that when I’m at a beach somewhere and see that piece of trash that doesn’t belong, it’s not that much work to bend down and pick it up.

  • Save Our Shores out of Santa Cruz, CA offers Interpretive Beach Clean-ups where participants learn about the ecosystem of the area as well. There are clean-ups scheduled almost every month.
  • The 3rd Saturday of every month there’s “Justin Rudd’s 30-minute Beach Clean-up” in Long Beach, CA. The site also has a terrific video ad.
  • Blue Ocean organizes beach clean-ups in New Hampshire.

Best Bathrooms, Home and Abroad

by Neil Woodburn on

As a public service to our readers, last month we posted about the world’s worst bathrooms. Telling travelers where to avoid is certainly a nice tip, but we never took the next step and pointed bowel-clenching travelers where to go.

Thankfully, this has been enough of a concern that someone has launched a website detailing the very best bathrooms to visit while abroad. The Bathroom Diaries is conveniently categorized by country and then by city. If lavatory hygiene is an important part of your travels, be sure to check this out before leaving home.

The Bathroom Diaries also awards The Golden Plunger for the best of the best. The above photograph of the Shoji Tabuchi Theatre bathroom in Branson, Missouri was the last recipient of the award.