Comments on: Slum tours http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/escapeartists/2009/05/15/slum-tours/ Escape Artists Star Tribune Blog Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:28:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Elizabeth Larsen http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/escapeartists/2009/05/15/slum-tours/#comment-563 Elizabeth Larsen Wed, 20 May 2009 12:04:59 +0000 http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/escapeartists/2009/05/15/slum-tours/#comment-563 Thanks so much for your thoughts. Can you tell us more about your experience in Cairo? Thanks so much for your thoughts. Can you tell us more about your experience in Cairo?

]]> By: travelgal http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/escapeartists/2009/05/15/slum-tours/#comment-562 travelgal Mon, 18 May 2009 14:55:51 +0000 http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/escapeartists/2009/05/15/slum-tours/#comment-562 It's hard to care about people you don't know and have never met. At it's best, "slum tourism" lets you meet -- maybe even like and admire -- people who would otherwise be, at best, an abstraction. I've never sought these experiences out in the past and generally avoided them. However, having attended worship services in Cairo's Christian garbage collector community, I see the value in including the poorest of the poor on our travel itineraries. These are real people, not some abstract concept or unknowable other. Yes, a meaningful service project would be a better way to come to know and be of assistance to this side of the world, but for most of us, simply meeting real people and gaining a small understanding who they are and how they live is an important step. It’s hard to care about people you don’t know and have never met. At it’s best, “slum tourism” lets you meet — maybe even like and admire — people who would otherwise be, at best, an abstraction.

I’ve never sought these experiences out in the past and generally avoided them. However, having attended worship services in Cairo’s Christian garbage collector community, I see the value in including the poorest of the poor on our travel itineraries. These are real people, not some abstract concept or unknowable other. Yes, a meaningful service project would be a better way to come to know and be of assistance to this side of the world, but for most of us, simply meeting real people and gaining a small understanding who they are and how they live is an important step.

]]>