Article July 26, 2010 Issue

How I give TO THOSE ON THE STREET

BY CYRUS NJAGI

CHRISTIAN LIVING IS AN ADVENTURE. It takes one through trials and tribulations, but in it all, God is with us—and I've seen how we're never thrown into a challenge that we cannot overcome. There have been a few challenges and tests in which I've been unsuccessful, but there are those I've overcome, and they stand out as reference points in my spiritual growth.

Every day in nearly every street of my city, Nairobi, I've been encountering beggars. Some sit with melancholy, seeking the attention of passersby. Some wait just outside the shopping areas to beg from shoppers. Some walk along the streets approaching any smartly dressed person. Some are half-drunk. Underlying all these examples is the request for money.

My reaction to this has involved mixed feelings. Occasionally I would feel troubled, overwhelmed, full of pity, inadequate, or sometimes angry. Inadequate because I barely had enough cash in my own wallet at the time for the day's expenses, troubled for meeting the same beggar at the same spot each day, perturbed when I witnessed a beggar cursing a pedestrian for not giving money, or angry at parents who send their kids to the streets to beg and act as tricksters, telling sad stories so people will give cash.