Tenneng Camara, 23, holds a law degree from England and wants to work as a children’s rights lawyer in The Gambia. But upon confrontation with poverty in the country, which forces less privileged into street begging, she realised that she has more to offer than prepared for.
Her encounter with the conditions of a female beggar at the bourgeoisie neighbourhood of Brusubi roundabout has moved her to announce a charity that will help beggars.
The story as she wrote it:
Last week, I saw poverty in person and it saddened me deep within. It was a feeling that didn't creep in but one which suddenly overpowered my emotions and sent tiny shivers down my spine. My heart filled with tears as I watched a beggar by turntable in Brusubi.
She is a woman with a child. I watched as she untied her head tie and wrapped it around her barely even 5 year old child to protect him from the scavenging mosquitos, dust and prying eyes. Thoughts started circulating in my head. Shouldn't this child be in a warm nice bed getting a good night’s sleep for school the next day? How much could his mother possibly earn from a night of beggary to provide for him and very possibly other siblings?
What quality of life would this kid have apart from the solid foundation of extreme poverty? Would he ever break free?
To be genuinely honest, like most people it didn't occur to me at first to donate, it was just a mere sight that many are accustomed to seeing, the familiar and ugly face of destitute. I watched as people passed her by without as much as a glance, talk of donation. I wondered why, maybe they were being intentionally oblivious or were equally destitute, or perhaps just desensitised. For me it was a raw feeling, don't get me wrong I came across a lot of beggars in England but if I'm being honest I have not once felt this much emotion for neither of them as I've felt for the woman I saw in Brusubi. Reason being that majority of homeless or poor people in England feel compelled to beg only to feed their drug habit or other addictions which most times are self-inflicted.
Mind you though this is my opinion and facts may vary. In these cases it's very hard to feel any sort of compassion or remorse for such people. I watched as my friend got out of the car and walked up to the woman to donate and only did it occur to me how selfish I was being. Then I realised that as much as there are many selfless philanthropists out there are also people who need that little extra push as motivation to do a good deed such as donating to the poor, not because they are selfish but because they have never seen the effects of living in destitute.
I am hereby making a proposal to start up a charity fund which would go towards helping beggars, especially those who beg with children at night to get off the streets of The Gambia, by guiding and assisting them to get on their feet, be it through helping them set up a petty trade, to any other ways of help to them. Most of these kids out on the streets do not go to school which is very appalling as I do believe that every child deserves the right to education and even poverty should not be an excuse.
I am quite shocked that there are no domestic laws being effectively enforced to get these children off the streets. What is the purpose of enacting legislations such as the Children's Act if it is not being effectively implemented? I have never done this before but with help and support, especially from The Gambian community I'm sure this would be a success.
If you have ideas how we can help the beggars in our country, please send me an e-mail: [email protected].”