Sad state of affairs

My teacher told me about one of his neighbors today. Apparently, the guy suffered some sort of sudden onset of a mental illness and his family is in a mess. It’s a bad scene, he can’t work, he needs medicine daily, his wife is illiterate, and he has 4 kids (the youngest being 2 weeks old). It was a thinly disguised appeal for money. He didn’t really ask, but he made it clear that he was collecting money to help this guy. I didn’t offer to help. Charity here is tough, there are so many people that need help and you can’t help them all. In the US, I don’t feel too bad about not giving to people on the street, they usually just drink whatever money they get. Here, people are mostly just poor and out of options. To add to the problem, westerners are universally better off than the locals and so they all see us as ready sources of money. My general strategy is to give to the lame and blind, not to give to people that use their (healthy) kids as pity magnets, and to never give to anyone begging between cars in the street. Even with these limits, there are way too many people that need help for me to give all the time. I feel bad, but what can I do?

I have no doubt that my teacher has a lower opinion of me now, but to be fair, he’s talking about a guy I’ve never met and I’ve only known my teacher for a week. I’m pretty sure that Adel is telling the truth, but I’ve been burned a few too many times by Yemenis looking for cash. Things would probably be different if I knew the guy… One of the things that happens when you live in an area as poor as this is that it hardens you to suffering a bit. It’s never easy to see, but it gets easier to not feel guilty. I hope the family can get along somehow…