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Great responses, all. Thank you. As I was reading, I was also reminded that while I traveled a lot as a kid, I wasn't really exposed to poverty in developing countries. It wasn't until I was 18 and spent a summer teaching in rural Thailand that I learned what it meant to be poor on a whole other level.
Also, when I was part of a youth group in high school, the lot of them (not me) went on a "mission trip" to rural Mexico, and most came back in a state of shock. Most were children of very affluent, evangelical families, and had never imagined how poor people could be in other countries. I am not a fan of the religious part of the exercise, but I would imagine that taking kids to do some hands-on development work instead of another vacation at Disneyland each year would influence them phenomenally.
When I was in college, they had a program where you could sign up to spend a weekend living on the streets of Seattle, living essentially as a homeless person would (of course, the reality isn't anything close to that, but at least it's some way of learning to have compassion). You are given one dollar or so, and sent out in pairs basically (with a cell phone only to be used in emergencies). You have to find places to sleep and eat on your own. Of course, this is a pretty extreme experience, but it had a powerful effect on a lot of kids who would otherwise have never even glanced at a homeless person... and here they are talking, sleeping, eating with them for a few days.
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And think not you can direct the course of Love;
for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
--Khalil Gibran
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