State of Kerala Travel Forum

I am going to Kerala in the next 3 weeks. I would like to take small gifts for the children instead of giving to beggars. What would you suggest! Any other info would be great. We are staying at Kovalam and love seafood any good restaurants that you could recommend would be great. Thanks

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Sweets are nice for kids and better than giving money. In Goa I was asked for left over shampoo/toiletries by local people who I would see every day and chat to. I was also asked for old mobile phones, so rather than throwing that stuff in the bin it would be nice to give it to someone else.

Enjoy your stay

An extremely sought after and appreciated gift is pens! I was in India recently taking part in a road rally, and everywhere we went we handed out pens to kids. As well as adults. We were literally mobbed at times for a pen.

Pens are good because children can use them at school or at home. I brought a large box of perhaps 1000 pens.

I had the same experience when distributing pens and pencils to children in Kenya - their Dads suddenly appeared all wearing the distinctive dress of the Maasai and carrying spears. It was a bit unnerving to begin with but there were big smiles all round when I dug deep into my bag and brought out more pencils. My friend who runs a school and orphanage in South Africa told me pencils are actually more popular because the children tie them to their arm to keep them safe without marking their prescious school shirts, and they can be used right down to the last stub.

There are a thousand friends in India with VT pens now ;)

You may carry post cards of famous places or pencil/pen sets. There are many good restaurents in and around Trivandrum where you can get good sea food. Kerala dishes are too spicy but very tasty.

Hi, Pens (School pens!) are always asked for in Kerala- plus toiletries, clothes etc.
You'll probably find locals asking what date You are leaving, then request your left over stuff - children and adults alike.

I left lots of my clothing, old walkman, toiletries,books, batteries, medications etc. with locals that I'd met during my stay. (Left me room in my case, for the new clothes etc. that I'd bought!)

Be aware that discarded half empty sun lotion bottles might be retrieved from your bin and topped up with moisturiser, coconut oil etc and re sold - I noticed a few kiosks in Kovalam selling an odd assortment of sun protection.



I found that children asked for pens first, then money. Adults just asked for money - especially when the tour buses were leaving - there was a crowd gathering around demanding cash - I'd run out of rupees, and ended up giving sterling coins and a dollar note.
Small badges, stickers, post cards, exercise books etc might be welcome gifts.

Be prepared for demands for 'baksheesh'- a tip for taking a photo, for the fruit sellars bringing fruit to you etc.

I found in Kovalam, that on my first day, there was one beggar near my hotel, by the end of my first week, there were half a dozen - I was a bit suspicious that there was some organisation behind this -a few days later, I read in the paper that there were organised gangs depositing beggars near hotels!! This might have stopped now.

There is at least one orphanage in Kovalam - our rep took clothes, pens etc there regularly.
Again, during my visit, I read in the newspapers of 'orphanages' being set up at the beginning of the tourist season, only to 'disappear' when the tourist season ended. Not sure exactly how much of this was true.


The seafood in Kovalam was great - I especially enjoyed the HUGE Tiger prawns in ginger at Coconut Grove. I also enjoyed my meals at Fusion and the German Bakery. This was in 2004, so not sure if these places are still there, or if the management has changed.Friends recently visited Lonely Planet restaurant, and recommended it.

Please feel free to contact me for more info and check out my (and other VTers) Kovalam, Kerala pages for more info re places to eat etc.

Have A Great Trip!
Best Wishes,
Sue X

Are you interested to visit a children's home. Then I recommend please visit Janaseva Sisubavan Aluva near to Cochin, their service to rehabilate kids from begger Mafia is very notable.

Regards,
fazeelyns1@gmail.com

generally wat i do for street children is buy them food instead of giving money.any foreign goods are well appreciated.but mostly wat happens is they resell it and make money

I would strongly recommend giving money to reputable charities; or to school principals. They will spend your largesse on worthwhile causes - not just meeting the wants of vocal or aggressive beggars - as could well be the case if you react to pushy others.

Pen , pencils , visitng cards from 7 wonders would be the ebst as mentioned by others in posts. Fusion, german bakery, lonely planet, coconut grove r still functioning well but managements always change. Better try in all these differnt places once a time & that too with friends when u r there plz do try differnt dishes so u r sure wht comes out good..All sun protection & toiletries can be bought from Chit-chat shop (Binu or Anil) at the corner end of hawaii beach near to Sea face Hotel.
All the best...
NB: never entertain beggers nor children with money & valuable gifts.
Any more info plz do write to anilkollam@gmail.com

Pens are the right answer, as is the suggestion to give to a reputable charity. Sweets have too many negative aspects and money is clearly the wrong answer.

One thing I'd add is you don't need to bring pens. You can 'multiply' your giving by buying the pens from a local shop and then distributing these among the kids. That way, your same money is working twice.

Another giveaway that was very well received was an old copy of National Geographic that featured India. The little scholar I gave it to loved it.