Beggar Boys

Did your mom or dad ever tell you to eat the food on your plate simply because there were "starving children in Africa who would be glad to have the food you have"?  Did you ever wonder if they exist?  Well, our family has discovered that what your mom or dad told you was true.  (Just another of the many reasons that children should always listen to their parents).  Now as to the fact that they would be happy to be eating what you have....I'm not so sure.  

There are boys here that our kids call the 'beggar boys'.  They are boys between 5-10 years that are taken to live at the Mosque and are taken care of by the Mosque's spiritual teacher.  They are sent to the streets to beg for their food, and they each carry around a metal bowl.  They come to our gate throughout the day and chant an Arabic phrase to let you know they are there waiting for food or a monetary gift.  There is one particular boy who we have agreed to pay a small fee for taking our trash and compost to the nearby dump.  Last week as he was wheeling it out the gate, our rickety wheelbarrow tipped.  Before James was able to get the shovel and scoop it back in the boy began rummaging through our compost to eat the last bits of watermelon off the rind, or the mangos that were too rotten for any of our kids to eat.  I was humbled and saddened for this boy who was hungry enough to eat out of our trash.  At the same time, I wouldn't say that these boys would be glad to have the food that we have.  Interestingly enough, there have been a handful of times that we go to the gate to share some food with the boys, and because it is food that we have cooked and not Chadian food they have rejected it, or perhaps passed it on to the smallest boy.  So, I guess whoever said "beggars can't be choosers" didn't know exactly what they were talking about.