BEGGING AND HAWKING AS A PROFESSION

In many African metropolitan areas, hawkers, commonly referred to as vendors, are seen everywhere. They sell a wide range of goods such as fish, fruits, vegetables, and books. In suburban areas, they go door to door, and in more commercial areas, they usually have stands or lay their goods on the ground. In the afternoon, many of them sell commercial goods in the more crowded parts of the cities, and at night, they sell juices, tea and snacks. On the highway, they go from one car to another in a traffic jam. This reminds me of a man who once said, while in a public transport, a woman on my row started begging people for financial assistance.
The man sitting directly in front of me dug hand in his wallet and gave her N500, then others followed, she eventually got over a thousand naira within that short period.
Not long after that, the same man that gave this woman N500 then wanted to buy a bottled water, and the hawker had to run to catch up with us because the man wanted to give him N100 and he had to collect his N50 change first before handing him the N100.
The scenario touched me!
Immediately, I requested for a bottle too and gave the guy N200!
A woman beside me shouted: "Ahh, let him give you your change first before giving him money".
She looked at me as if I'm a "mutula", a new person in New area who has never been duped.
As the guy was struggling to run and give me change, I bade him good bye not to worry!
The most touching part of the story is, even when I thought we've left this guy far behind as the traffic had moved, he ran to still catch up with the bus and prayed whole heartedly in show of appreciation!
You know why? He knows the value of that money, he knows how much bottle or satchet of water he would sell running from bus to cars before getting that.
The woman who saw me as mutula eventually went speechless!
Lesson passed in the bus! Simple
We all feel comfortable giving beggars big money but find it difficult leaving small change for genuine hustlers.
We unconsciously encourage begging at the expense of those who work so hard, that's why you see corporate beggars increasing on a daily basis on the streets.
Please, we want to use this opportunity to start a:
#LeaveTheChangeForHawkersCampaign .
If you share our sentiment, please share this post and spread love and encouragement for the street hustlers.
Please, next time you buy something inside traffic or anywhere from these street hawkers, leave the change if you have more in your pocket.
Reference: Abdullahi Bin Isah, daud tijani