Rich beggars poor professionals

Spreading their hands along the pavements offering greetings in any language they can speak, they will follow you even for a hundred meters, insisting, begging and pleading for some money. Women with children on their backs holding others by their hands on their sides, looking at you with pain stricken eyes, lines of sorrow drawn on their faces are the beggars of Addis Ababa.
One thing is certain; they are the most patient people on earth and most friendly when practicing their trade.
The other thing is that they are richer than most working people despite having to beg all day and most part of the night in the streets. Interestingly, if you go to places where the average people live they are fewer in number, but move around and stroll in places where the well-to-do and the rich live, they are there in numbers. In Addis Ababa, they are plenty especially along streets which host many shopping places and fancy restaurants.
First, poverty is one of the factors which contribute to begging, especially in a country where the gap between the rich and the poor is too wide. Secondly, beggars can make a hell lot of money to start a small scale business but looking at it in another perspective, begging brings in more money than even some forms of small scale business especially since the country has very religious, friendly people and those who have the virtue of sympathy and empathy.
“I always feel for them, they come with these faces of pain begging with all possible ways they can to get something. Some have children on their backs and you look at them and feel pity for them which makes you have a guilty conscience if you just pass by,” said Tsion, a hair saloon owner.
Funny thing is, when they spot a foreigner no matter how hard you try to disguise yourself, they even ignore the other Ethiopian friends you walk with. It is even disastrous when the Ethiopian friends try to dissuade them from bothering you. They will be abused and even lamented upon for distracting their source of income.
Mostly when the beggars come towards you begging, you are supposed to use words like “igziaber istelegn” which literally means God will provide. The hard part comes in when they say that its true God will provide but I need yours first and so on. Normally, you have to loosen your belt a little and give some few coins or one birr note. This is accepted with gratitude and grace from them especially if you are an African.
The whites have a more serious problem since when they give coins the beggars throw them away and smirk on their faces. I had a chance to observe one beggar who had taken the initiative to pamper one white guy with all sorts of words and praise for quite a distance only to be given a few coins which I estimated to have been around forty cents. The fellow looked at him with rage and threw the coins down, bounced away to the next target. This is a simple indication that they have been receiving some good cash from other people or rather they have more money in their stocks to accommodate a few coins.
Mostly, those who are young and have the agility to work should not be tolerated on the streets because they have the potential to do small jobs to earn a living, like those boys who are commonly known as “listros”.
Alemayu, a business man in Merkato-claimed to be the largest outdoor market in Africa- states that he cannot give money to those boys who are young and have the ability to work, stating that they are just lazy and some of them have even refused to go to school. Instead, he only gives the old and those who are disabled.

Beggars in need
Statistics reveal that there are over 300,000 beggars in Ethiopia of whom 70,000 are in Addis Ababa. Even so, we have other beggars who really nee help. They sit reserved in their isolated spaces, soaked in rain, not even glancing up. The look on their faces clearly describes their degree of need. They nibble on food remains, feeding their children mouthfuls of left over’s, some of which is expired and of course unclean. These are those that do not have anything to call wealth. You will always find them in the same spot whether despite of weather changes.
“Looking at them, we cannot interfere or tell them to move, they are desperate, they need food and water, and they camp at the same place today and tomorrow and usually do not move away. They do not even beg, cal out or react,” said a parking attendant.
Mostly, they are found in front and behind Bole MedhaniAlem, where the wonderfully constructed church is located. I usually feel great pain in my heart when I see them covering themselves in tattered shrouds and plastic papers when it is raining. The worst part comes when you cannot do anything for they are so many.
On the other hand, we also have those who are physically disabled and cannot tend to themselves without help. They are assisted to cross the roads, taken to the toilet, given food to feed and even taken to and from home. Mostly these are the kind of beggars that genuinely need help and assistance, some of them beg for food and not money.
“It is a disgrace for this country when foreigners are amazed at the number of beggars on the streets; it creates a very negative image especially when one can clearly see the difference between the rich and poor. The taxes are high and life is too hard as basic commodities are scarce,” said Elizabeth, a local NGO activist who owns a children’s home.

Beggars on the move
There are some who have the life similar to those of pastoralists, they move from one place to another using various like walking and even using public transport. At one time, I was walking along the streets of Mexico near the national theatre, admiring the old architecture and the marveling at various scenes that always pop up unexpectedly. I met this lady who always hangs around my home during the evening hours waiting for the usual coins that I give when I return from work.
After some few hours of exploring and wondering around Mexico, I take a taxi and head to Piaza, one old town in Addis Ababa with nice architectural designs from the Italian works. I meet her in Piaza, begging. I decide to ask her how she got here and she said that she took a taxi and came here to beg.
The thing is, begging is not a two-sided coin anymore but a complicated practice that involves passion, pain, fun and for most of the able ones, a profession. I was surprised to learn that there are some places where the beggars know themselves and cannot allow some others to filter into their territory. They have their own code of conduct, behavior and respect for fellow beggars. I would not be surprised if they had their own begging association.

The thieves
Unfortunately, every time you pass somewhere, you will hear stories of people having been robbed off valuables in a system. These kinds of beggars are professional pick-pockets. They can pick you pocket without you feeling a thing or sensing anything. It is unfortunate that most of them are children under the pretense of begging or sometimes begging you to buy small tissues or chewing gum.
What they do is when they see you approaching; one of the pick pockets who has mastered the art will take the box full of soft tissue or chewing gum and move towards you while the other stays behind waiting for you to pass. The master pampers you with endless “I love you” phrases in all possible languages he can speak while getting closer to you body as much as possible. By that time, you will have passed the second one, who in turn follows you from behind.
When the master has slid his hand- camouflaged by the box of gum or tissue- into your pocket and acquired your wallet or phone, he will pass it on the other one behind who will in turn separate and run off, while the master stills pumps you with pressure to buy the goods. Even when you realize that something is missing, the master does not take off because even if you frisk him/her you will not find it.
Many foreigners and locals have fallen for this trick and ended up yelling on top of their lungs on the streets having lost their valuables including passports and other important documents. The thing is, they are mostly children and you will not have the slightest clue that they are capable of doing such kind of robbery without violence!!
As much as there are some people who need genuine help, it is advisable not to indulge in giving handouts to them since in one way or another you might be donating your precious cash or items involuntarily.
Addis Ababa is a nice town in many other aspects with friendly people who are ready to assist you in anyway possible if you are a foreigner but begging is something that leaves a black cold hole on your heart as you see crowds of men, women old and young begging endlessly. In addition, poverty has sunk its teeth deep into many lives making it impossible to live but rather necessitating one to survive.
Many people live below the poverty line of 17 birr a day and have to do many jobs to make ends meet. It is a city that many uneducated consider themselves neither African nor Westerns.