Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

One of the biggest issues we run into traveling in the countries we have been in is that we are a very visible minority. We had become quite used to standing out after living in Korea for a year but in Ethiopia it’s a different story. As a white person in Ethiopia we are often seen as money on legs.

This is something I struggle to wrap my head around because on one hand I know that I am privileged with much more than most of these people will ever know but on the other hand, I don’t just have money to throw around. I also don’t necessarily agree that by handing out money I’m helping anyone. Usually I feel the opposite, as it encourages people to beg instead of being productive.

There are some people who have no other option other than to beg, disabled or elderly people with no family. But in some places children are trained and rented out in order to beg because they know they will get more money than an adult. It’s becoming a real problem on the streets, especially here, where little children are taught to run up to any foreigner and ask for ‘1 Birr, 1 Birr’. We even had it happen when we were in the bush and where there weren’t any stores for hundreds of kilometres around.

It’s not just homeless people or beggars either that see us as a source of income. We’ve found that when going out for dinner or coffee here we are often expected to pick up a major portion of the bill. There are lots of people that tag along just to have a free ride. I’ve learned here that being ‘rich and famous’ isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, especially when in reality you are neither.