The hustle and bustle in commercial zones, which ratcheted up during the Yuletide, have their ups and downs. It is not easy to draw the line between those doing serious shopping and those doing window shopping.
They are all in the big crowd.
In the frenetic moments, you come across other situations which have the potential effect of freezing your movements. This comes only after taking a pause to see things for yourself. There you could be hit hard in the face by sombre moments within the exploding population.
Here you are with some alms beggars who got next to nothing in their appeal for funds to continue eking mere existence. The calabash which the professional beggars place by themselves contained only one coin, and in some cases they were empty after sitting on end in expectation.
The questions which come to mind are these; are Ghanaians losing interest in the art of alms-giving? Is the lack of charity the product of economic difficulties facing the populace or the religious component of it is whittling away? And how do these beggars survive the ordeal of having to beg for nothing?
American Love Critic, Dr. Leo Buscaglia said, “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”
Most alms beggars in Ghana are members of society’s vulnerable groups such as migrants, the elderly, the sick, and then children acting on behalf of poor adults.