Poverty Simulation Camps, How the Rich Learn What It's Like to Be Poor

Poverty Simulation Camps, How the Rich Learn What It's Like to Be Poor - Fortune:
‘Poverty simulation’ camps are popular, and controversial.
Tiela Chalmers, an accomplished lawyer, went to her first “poverty simulation” workshop kit when she was working for a group that helped domestic violence victims.
Assigned an identity — married grandmother raising two grandkids — she was directed to navigate a series of challenges that actual poor people face, such as trying to live on a budget (frequently $300 to $400 a month in such simulations), scraping together money for utilities and children’s eyeglasses, and dealing with health issues without losing hours at work (and income).
She quickly found the logistics overwhelming.
...What was done with little attention in the past has become a small cottage industry, as the privileged try to understand at least a bit of what the poor and refugees face. 
The World Economic Forum annual January meeting, where the business and political elite gather in Davos, has held a refugee simulation for the last eight years.
Advocates say the goal is to encourage the affluent to use their time, money and influence to help find solutions.
But critics point to a darker side, where participants can become what you might call misery tourists, collecting experiences and assuaging discomfort by having now done their part. 
The Singapore Island Country Club, for instance, was recently criticized when it planned a poverty simulation for its club members; it costs $21,000 a year to belong to the club.
Some people accused the club of “trying to humiliate the poor” and called the undertaking an “exercise in futility.”
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Lots of weird stuff goin' on...