One of the things that has time and time again caused me to stop in my tracks and really made me think is the enormous number of beggars in Morocco. It sometimes feels impossible to walk two while city blocks without encountering at least one. And if you are clearly not Moroccan it’s even worse. One look at someone who they know isn’t local and they assume that you have money to spare.

 Panhandlers and beggars have always made me sad. Even in the states I hate it. It’s a strange feeling because it makes me uncomfortable and I don’t like seeing them, but I also feel such a large pit in my stomach that this is what a human person has been reduced to. Begging on the streets. It’s not that panhandlers are an uncommon occurrence in America because that’s not true. You can see people holding signs asking for money in many places. However, at home it usually seems to be older men and therefore doesn’t make you nearly as sad as when a mother and her child are sleeping on a cardboard box or when a 10-year-old asks you for money. It’s insane that there are so many people in this world with nothing that we are able to decide that a 40-year-old homeless man just isn’t as sad as a mother and child asking for money.

The sheer number of people who beg for money in Morocco is crazy. At every major tourist location, you can see them. At ATM’s. Outside mosques. In the Medina. The list goes on and on. It makes you wonder, are there no systems in place to help? Are there no government funds that go to help those who have nothing? America’s welfare system is flawed to say the least, but it does help those who need it. Struggling young mothers left on the street makes me depressed but what can you do? I certainly can’t afford to give everyone money I don’t have enough. And then how do you pick who gets the money you can give. How do you decide who needs it more who is more deserving? And does giving them money really placate your feelings of pity? 5 dirhams isn’t going to buy much more than a couple loaves of bread or water. What do you when it seems that there is no true way to help?

The whole situation of begging has been one of the things in Morocco that has struck me for reasons I don’t really understand. I give what I can but I continuously feel likeits not enough and it still makes me incredibly sad.