Look, I'm not saying it's easy. But I think that if you really wanted to help those kids there are other things you could do.MoodyMac wrote:But if you are going to follow advice that might have a positive long term effect, don't look past Giblet and Andy's posts.
I volunteered at an organization at home that worked with homeless teenagers. That experience made me believe that giving money to people on the street usually harms more than it helps. At home, I made donations every year to several organizations that offer services to the homeless, instead. For me, this was a good compromise.
Here, the answers aren't so simple. Finding organizations that you trust can be difficult. Many expats choose to help specific individuals rather than give to organizations, by sending a young person to school, etc. Or, they give to organizations that they have some sort of familiarity with. I don't think the fact that a person chooses to do that rather than hand out AFL jerseys or candy canes to street kids makes them jerks or somehow insensitive to the issue of poverty in Cambodia.