In Reply to: Women with babies begging in Ubud... posted by Freogal on Wednesday, 11. July 2012 at 07:05 Bali Time:
whenever I have seen a woman begging with a child, that child is absolutely lifeless. This is not normal for a child. That child is being drugged so that someone can make money. That's not on in my book, and they get no money from me.
In April when I was dining in Legian, there were 2 little girls who were selling wrist bands. they could understand and speak perfectly fluent english. A genuinely poor balinese child would not be able to afford basic schooling let alone know how to speak fluent english. These are SCAMS.
Buying them food is a great idea, it will help sought out the genuine from the fakes and probably will leave you feeling better about the situation.