Question

Steve talked yesterday about most of the world not caring about the poverty in Africa. I also feel people who do care are confused about what they can do to help. So this lack of wisdom can limit Generosity. For example, in India I witnessed the effect of inappropriate giving where rich children actually quit school for the day to beg off tourists. Even fake schools being set up just to get money from the tourists. Sometimes it's difficult to know how and when best to help. Please comment.

Answer

When you're thinking of Generosity in the sense of money, there are certainly some organizations in the world that are dependable. The Red Cross is one. When the Tsunami hit and we decided to make a donation for the Tsunami, we did it through the Red Cross. We felt confident the money would go towards truly helping the situation. So that's something to consider whenever you're going to give money to a charity organization. Don't just give it to anyone who asks but consider are they worthy of it or not?

Now as to people on the streets: Here in Thailand Rosemary and I usually give to beggars, if they look like they deserve it. Now if it's a young man who is physically fit, we have never given them money but we have given them something else. Because we can talk in Thai, I will tell the young man he should not be on the street, he should go to a monastery where he will get food, he will get help, he can get new clothing and I tell him he should work. And every one of these young men who I've said this to will blush and turn their head. They know they've been caught. They know they shouldn't be on the street, they know they shouldn't be doing that. But if I see a man who's got no legs and missing half of his fingers, I give him the money, I don't even think of anything else. So to consider the worth of the person you're giving the money to, that's important.

But that should not stop you from giving whenever you can give. This is a problem a lot of Westerners have. "Oh I'm not sure who to give to so I won't give to anyone." That's a big reason why the world suffers. Yet there're clearly organizations that are worthy to give to. So there's no reason for a person to be confused about whether or not they should give. The matter is just who to give it to, so it goes to a good cause.

Our apologies if there are any errors in the above text. If anything seems to be wrong or confusing in any way, please feel free to contact the teachers for further clarification.