Somebody asked me recently,
“When you see poverty in a place like Vietnam or Peru or India, how do you deal with it?”

It’s a good question.

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This wasn’t going to be the topic of my blog this week, but I read an Op-Ed piece in today’s NY Times that compels me to share my answer to this serious (but hopeful) question.

Kennedy Odede, now 29 years old, grew up in Nairobi’s Kibera slum and never went to school, yet secured a scholarship to study in the U.S. He founded Shining Hope for Communities, which runs the tuition-free Kibera School for Girls (the WOW! Travel Club WOWees and I visited there about 18 months ago). His life story is fascinating. His intelligence is undeniable and his commitment to his community is admirable. Deservedly, he just made Forbes’ second annual list of 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs.

But back to the question: “How do I deal with poverty?”

My first international travel experience – fresh out of college at age 23 – was to one of the poorest places in the world: Manila. Coming from modest midwest roots, I was appalled to see how people lived – crowded together in tiny, squalid shacks – living in dirt (which often turns to mud). No proper sanitation, water or sewage systems. Open-air markets. Flies and filth. Chaos and crowding. Although I stayed in decent accommodations, I learned the “asian squat” and the art of bucket baths. I met a girl, years younger than me, who was “indentured” to a wealthy couple. Linda had no opportunity for freedom because her impoverished parents owed money to the couple and supported the arrangement.

Despite it all, to my great surprise, people seemed happy. Maybe they complained among themselves, but I would have expected to feel a (deserved) sense of victimization. I would have expected them to be envious of my relative prosperity, freedom and opportunity. “Happy” is probably the wrong word, but they seemed content. Obviously, one who doesn’t have high expectations is more content with what (little) one has.

And so, in the late 70s, over the course of my 8-month adventure through what was then called the Third World, I developed an appreciation for “impoverished” places.

Fast forward to a sunny August morning in 2012, as I walked with several of my WOW travelers through the Kibera slum – Africa’s largest. People went about their business and paid little attention to us. Many were smiling or laughing or singing. They didn’t look emaciated or unhappy or brutal. I tried to imagine the horrors of the tribal violence in 2008 which flared in response to the contested presidential elections, when Luo and Kikuyu people murdered each other. Thousands died or were injured. Entire neighborhoods of homes (hovels) were torched. How could these nice people have done that to each other?

We walked to one of Kennedy Odede’s Shining Hope projects. Standing in the shade of a huge water tank, we learned how women (and children) spend hours locating a vendor (often part of a water mafia), queuing up and balancing a 4-gallon jug of questionably clean water on their head. We learned that Kibera residents pay more for water than wealthier Kenyans in suburban neighborhoods, and more than even New Yorkers pay for water. They can pay up to 20% of their income on something as basic as water!

We visited the Girl’s School, where dozens of lively, bright, enthusiastic young girls were getting a free education.

Hope was all around us – if you looked for it.

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And that’s the answer to the question. I focus on the hope – not the horror. I focus on the people who are finding solutions – like Kennedy Odede and Marsha Wallace and the other 29 social entrepreneurs recognized in the Forbes article. I will continue to lead travelers to these destinations so they can see, learn and appreciate our similarities and meet the people who are creating hope.

I know I’ll never be one of the “30 Under 30,” and am quickly running out of time to make a 60-Under-60 list (if there is such a thing!), but I fervently believe in the power of travel to educate, employ and empower people on all sides of the question. Travel is another part of the answer.