baby beggar

As I was walking home from the subway tonight I saw a sad sight. A child, not more than three, sitting by himself on the overhead pedestrian bridge, highway underneath us, no parent or adult in sight, with a small tin can in front of him, begging for money, bowing his head as you walked past.

I didn’t know how to feel.

At first I was angry.

Angry towards his parents or whoever placed him there, I knew he couldn’t have been purely on his own it seemed to ‘placed’ for some reason, and angry for the adult using this innocent child to make people feel guilty, angry for teaching this child that begging is an ok thing to do, that this is how you can make money…and sadness for this child, that he may grow up to think this is an ok thing to do, sadness that his family had to resort to doing this, to put a child out on the road in the freezing cold of a shanghai winter, no hat on his little head, and frustration that I could be living in such luxury, one nice flat, nice job, enough money and there are children like this on the streets…

I didn’t know what to do.

I wanted to bundle him up in my arms and take him home.

But I just walked past…like every other person,

and then past the expensive shoes store

and flashing neon lights of a cosmetic advertisement

and wanted to cry

for the craziness of this all.

This world and its extremes,

it’s over indulgence

and its utter deprivation.

These are our children.

The human race’s children

And this is what we do with them?

who is responsible? really? if we are one family? who is responsible?

and what can be done?

what tools do we have?

I thought about all the children of the world, in every country nearly, who live in utter poverty, who don’t get an education because their parents cannot afford it, or perhaps they are orphans, who live just to survive…

I said a little prayer in my head that he, and all those millions of children in similar situations will be protected and safe, and develop to the fullest of their potential despite their physical circumstances.

It makes me realise how extremely lucky I am.

And that for whom much is given, much is expected.

I want to start a children’s class in my little lane.
I keep thinking about it. They play outside my front door each day I come home.
Now I know its time to just do it, tonight after seeing that sight i know i have to just try, i'm worried about language barriers blah blah, but i have some bi-lingual material...

They are our future.

there is no time to loose