Amid the devastation of South Asia, where the earthquake and tsunamis have killed more than 150,000 people, a striking story is quietly emerging.

Western tourists — those ne’er-do-wells better known for lounging on the beach, sipping tropical drinks and haggling over the price of $4 hotel rooms in poverty-stricken towns — are doing some good.

Proclaimed Reuters: “Tsunami turns tourists into aid workers.”

Declared The Independent in Great Britain: “The tourists still come — only now they want to help.”

Instead of fleeing the devastated areas, some Western travelers are actually seeking them out, offering to lend a hand to overburdened relief agencies and local officials. The phenomenon is repeating itself, according to reports, in Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

Too many travelers, we are told, export their own culture when they go abroad, bringing Western demands with their dollars and Euros, encouraging old worlds to abandon traditions prematurely.

Long before the tsunamis struck, a subtle shift was occurring. More travelers than ever are seeking meaningful cultural exchange overseas. They are searching for ways to see the world, if only briefly, through others’ eyes, to understand foreign cultures in a way they hadn’t before.

They are signing on with organizations like Global Exchange and Cross-Cultural Solutions, which lead trips, often to little-visited places, that focus on education, understanding and, occasionally, volunteer work.

At its worst, travel in the developing world only highlights the disparities between the haves and have-nots, fostering resentment toward Western tourists.

But more often than we hear about, travel forges connections between peoples across great economic and cultural divides. It brings us together. And even in the worst of times, it can reveal us at our best.

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