Different culture, same human nature

“The buddhist philosophy teaches to let go of material desires” had commented a Cambodian friend of mine and former buddhist monk, while he was showing me around his small rural village, next to Siem Reap. 
“But the temples here are covered in gold and jewels. And in my country people starve, children get sick and die, because we can’t pay for doctors. If they were true Buddhist, they would give their gold to the poorest of us, the one who really need it. But they prefer to keep it for themselves”
My thoughts goes to the Catholic church in Europe. It’s funny. Religion practices might be different, but human nature is the same everywhere.