The Children of West Africa

The children were one of the best, and the worst parts of the trip. Everywhere we went, especially in rural areas, groups of children would smile, point, and call out "toubab"--white person. Often they would run up to us for high-fives, and sometimes two children would take each of my hands and a whole entourage would form as groups of children walked along with us hand-in-hand.

However, I say "the worst" part as well because it was tragic to see how many of the children had sores and skin infections all over them. I saw a boy with ringworm fungus covering an entire arm. Some of the kids had scabies all over their arms and scalps. Most people bathed in the rivers--you could see them gathered there in the evenings--but I saw one or two children so caked with dust and dirt that it must have been months since they had had access to any spare water to wash with.

Many of the children in the villages also had clear signs of malnutrition--their black hair had turned a rusty red, their bellies were big and swollen--kwashiorkor, serious protein deficiency. Here some of the kids did not have any clothes at all to wear, or they had only a T-shirt and no pants. Looking at their bulging bellies I thought about the high rates of child death in the area: in Mali 1 in 5 children die before their 5th birthdays, in Gambia 1 in 10. These rural villages were probably below the national average. I wished I had peanuts or eggs or some form of high-protein food to give to these kids. They clearly needed it.

But then there was the problem of whether or not to give things to children. Were I to give food to them, how would it influence their perception of toubabs as they grew up?

Locals of all ages saw white tourists as a source of easy money. An unfortunate tension seems to have developed between foreigners and locals. The locals view the tourists as a source of income, a free drink or meal, some sort of handout, rather than as people with the potential for friendship and cultural exchange. They resent that tourists have much more money than they do and yet are not as generous as they think we should be with it. Although most locals start conversations with big smiles and by welcoming tourists to their country, it was extremely rare to have a genuine conversation with a local that did not end with them somehow asking for something. Sadly this left me trying to avoid talking with locals at times, usually the part of traveling I enjoy most as a way to understand a new place and culture.

Sometimes, especially in the cities, rather than joining us out of curiosity or to play, the children would approach to ask for pens, candies, soccer balls, or simply hold out their hands and demand "cadeau" - gifts. Some of the children asking would clearly be very poor and living by begging, but others would appear relatively well-off, which made me wonder about the culture that is now engrained at a young age of asking white people for gifts. Some children need things to survive, whereas others just want toys and candy. The tourists must give children things occasionally or the ones who don't need to beg wouldn't bother asking.

Yet for many there clearly is a need for assistance. In addition to the poor hygiene and malnutrition I mentioned, most children don't have any toys to speak of. They can often be seen racing old bike tires through the dusty streets. I saw some children playing with a "car" that they had made out of an old tin can and plastic bottles that they pulled along on a string. They drop out of school at a young age because their families can't afford their uniforms or school supplies.

And, unlike with adults, the things the children ask for are often inexpensive and therefore easier for us to give away. For instance, many children wanted used plastic water bottles which they would then reuse or play with as toys. The bottles had no value to me after they were empty, so I could hand them over almost without thinking about it, and giving them to the children was a good way to recycle them. Yet it was still a "gift" given to children by foreigners.

So, should we give gifts to children when visiting poor countries, or does this engender a culture of begging, of expecting to receive something for nothing, as well as a culture where children are sent to beg for the family because they arouse more sympathy and so are able to bring in more money? What if you give them something they need, like pens for school or protein-rich food, or even toys? What to do and how to help, or at least not harm, is not so black and white.

Photo: Children in a rural Dogon village in Mali mob our hiking companions, Justin and Jeremy