The Pity and Voyeurism — and Authenticity — Of Poverty Tourism

Does peeking at how the other five-sixths lives preserve culture – or commodify it?

Mayange, Rwanda — Jeanne d’Arc Mukamurigo and her daughter sit on a bench in the shade of a tree, twisting stiff, skinny threads of red bamboo into place mats. Weaving isn’t something she grew up doing, and place mats aren’t particularly Rwandan, but she spends a few days a week turning finicky threads into things white people will buy when they visit this village, about an hour’s drive south of Rwanda’s capital, Kigali.