As it turns out, the Kindercare I was to start at today and many other schools are actually closed until perhaps tomorrow due to the flooding. Because it is so humid here, it will take up to and perhaps over a week for the flooding to dissipate.
I was really disappointed to hear the news of the closure, as I was looking forward to getting started at volunteering with the kids this morning. So, instead, I am heading to the Musee this afternoon to learn about Senegalese history, and then out to a cooking class this evening.
Nevertheless, as an apparent foreigner in their midst, many children in the streets feel obliged to ask me for money. There are certainly children who look relatively well kept who ask you just to see if you'll give them something. There is also a group of children who appear quite destitute.
From what I have read and heard through other volunteers, there are several religiously oriented schools which teach and house children from poor families. In the past this was a way for families to send their kids somewhere where they would learn the Koran, and also have food and shelter. Of late however, the people in charge are increasingly interested in turning a bit of a profit. The children are sent out daily to beg for money in yellow dishes, and if they do not return with 100CFA (about 20 cents), consequences vary but are not good to say the least.
Before I came here, I decided not to be a part of perpetuating a culture of dependance on begging because it is simply an unsustainable livlihood. Money would come in during tourist season, and then what? Though some children I pass in the street are wearing dirty rags and have a hollow look to their faces, I continually find myself saying 'Non, Desole', No, sorry...
and I truly mean it.
I have never seen true poverty before. The closest I got was the decay of parts of Cuba but I am sure that is nothing in comparison.
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