The Hypocrisy of Charity

One of the main reasons I decided to come to South Africa had to do with charity and volunteerism. When I was looking at various study abroad programs, I realized that I was interested in using my time in a foreign country to give back to others. Upon arrival at UCT we were bombarded with all of the various community service opportunities, and everyone excitedly talked about which organizations and causes they wanted to work for. Part of our orientation even included tours of various volunteer sites, and a great emphasis was placed on volunteering.

All this is well and good, but it fails to address many of the real problems that South Africa, and indeed even many parts of America face. Walking down the street here I am a target in many ways. I am white, and according to some, obviously American looking. This means that countless times during the day people will come up and ask me for money. This is nothing new, as similar things have happened to me in many major cities in America, but here my gentle refusal comes with considerable more guilt.

While grocery shopping in Woolworths this past weekend I was approached by a man. He called to me and said, “Miss? Miss excuse me, hello miss? I am so sorry but I only brought R70 to shop for my family, could I have R3? Miss, miss please? Please miss my family is very hungry.” I simply did nothing, continued on looking at the frozen prepared foods as though they were the most interesting things I had ever seen, examining the kilojoules count as though I understood what it meant. Finally, the man gave up and went on his way.

This situation made me uncomfortable for a few reasons. At first, I was upset about being bothered while I was grocery shopping! There I was, minding my own business, trying to pick out things for dinner when out of nowhere I was accosted and asked for money, the nerve! Immediately following this however I felt extremely ashamed. There I was, an entire basketful of food, prepared to spend almost R300 (~$50) when I couldn’t even be bothered to give someone less than a dollar. In that moment I was confronted with the hypocrisy of the charity that I was so prepared and excited to perform. I chose South Africa because I wanted to make a difference in other people’s lives, yet I was angry and bristled at the thought of actually giving someone a small fraction of my money. It occurs to me that this is not unusual, that people are often excited about charity in theory, and yet when confronted with moments in which they can act charitably they are unwilling to. This realization was difficult for me, and it is a moment that I am sure I will think about often while here in S.A. At what point is it acceptable to divorce yourself from day to day charity while espousing a liberal, help others frame of mind? 

Everyone said that studying abroad is about more than the classroom experience, and visiting tourist attractions and I am beginning to see how true that is.