Slum Tourism
A featured post on WorldHum by a writer for the New York Times takes an important stand on a growing enterprise, slum tourism. Travelers eager to gain perspective on poverty are guided through areas of cities like Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro and Mexico City. Slumdog Millionaire’s success has actually boosted business in this niche industry. Those who support the somewhat controversial type of travel say that it increases cultural awareness and ciphens funds into the hands of some of the poorest people in the world. Opponents argue slum tourism is the “worst kind of travel voyeurism, degrading and utterly without redeeming qualities.”
A view of the Dharavi slum in Mumbai, India.
The writer supports the industry, but warns that there must be rules surrounding its operation, e.g. no photos when on a tour of a slum, small & inconspicuous groups and donations of tourism profit to slum dwellers. The cross-cultural value of tourism remains inherent, regardless of its being in a slum or in an affluent enclave. Cultural immersion is one of the best ways to grasp the reality of life in locations distant both physically and culturally, so slum tourism is surely capable of extending a valuable point of view to people who would otherwise not have the opportunity to comprehend the reality of living in a slum.
It’s totally voyeurism, it’s nothing new either. Folks have been “slumming it” for ever; ask someone over 40
When I look at the homeless in Canada…hold my breath and recoil because of smell,the dirt under their nails, in their hair, on their clothes, when
I see the condition of their teeth and imagine their lack of hygiene
and disease, when I see the condition of their feet in the summer and the unhealthy structure of their bodies, I see “slumdogs” in Canada.
Only, we have winter which exasperates the tenuous lives our homeless have
living on a sidewalk, in an alley, in a tunnel being punched and kicked etc.
Nothing grows in the winter except frost and freezing temperatures.
God Bless.