While having our family day at the park, where my children enjoy the playground, I always enjoyed buying the goods of the young vendors; chiclets, candies, popcorn, cold drinks and the like. It never ceases to amaze me that kids the ages of 3 to 5 are actually working, and it may well be the work they will do the rest of their lives because if the family is poor enough to have the kids working at these ages, you know they are not going to school and will very likely get caught in the trap of no education and poverty.
One experience stands out in my mind. After the park, my family went to a restaurant, for a hamburger and fries. As we went in, there was a woman begging at the door and she had with her a young boy who I would guess was about 2 years old. I sat and watched him from inside. He was only about 2 feet tall, very fine built with a head that seemed perfectly round about the size of a cantaloupe, and short black hair. His face was dirty, not so much in an unkempt way, but more like a young boy who had been left to his own devices and his smile shone like none other I have ever seen.
The more I watched him the more I was drawn to him. He was playing with a stick almost as tall as he is, on the front step and as people left, if he was not too enraptured in playing with his stick, he would flash a mischievous smile and hold his hand out for the Peso. You could tell he did not care if he got one or not, he was just trying to help out his Mom who was doing the real begging.
He was simply the epitome of freedom, joy and childhood innocence. My children noticed how enraptured I was, watching him, we decided that we wanted to do something for him, but we were not sure what. Money…no that would go to the entire family and we wanted to give him a gift. Clothes…where could we find clothes that small and we probably would not be able to run and get something and make it back before he and his mother moved on to their next spot.
It was then that I focused on his toy, this tiny dirty stick that through the imagination of a child at one moment was a sword, then a cane, then a pointer, and then a donkey. lt was then that it occurred to me: my children asked us to buy them some toys being sold at the park. Instantly, my children at a young age, readily agreed to my plan, a meal complete with a toy. So I went and got a meal and made my way to the door almost feeling guilty as I interrupted his enchantment with his stick. I handed him his toy car first which he was hesitant to take but I smiled and he beamed his smile at me. Then I handed him the bag of food. He was so thrilled by a simple toy. He grabbed the bag and ran across the step to his mother, “Mama, Mama, Mama.”
I went back inside and finished my meal. My whole family was so happy, me the most, because as a parent I was so proud of my children, being able to share to others what they have. We could not see him anywhere and we wondered if he ran off somewhere with his treasure or if his mom took the meal to be shared by the family. I wondered if one small fast-food meal and a cheap plastic toy would really make any difference at all for the little guy who stole our heart.
As we left the restaurant, tucked into the corner of the step with his mother beside him, was a beaming little boy with fries hanging out of his mouth and his new plastic treasure clamped in his left hand. With his right hand he waved furiously at us and then shouted, “Thank you very much!”
We had a wonderful family day, and that little boy and the meal was a reminder to us that the point of life and living is to reach out, make a difference and most importantly, that pure acts of giving and receiving are the most powerful experiences of love.
I believe that by starting from ourselves to the little communities where we belong, we can help in fighting poverty. I have seen some foundation who help fight poverty. One of which is IAM Group Limited (Ltd.) Korea. They have a preponderance of citizens from South East Asia, including Bangkok, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Yokohama Japan, and others. IAM Group Limited, Korea is a loose group of Christians worldwide with the idea of bringing back basic giving and sharing. Joining any similar group will create awareness of simply educating everyone in need to eliminate causes poverty. They welcome all contributors from anywhere in the world.
