In every city, there are young boys, usually around 7-10 years old, with empty bowls on strings around their necks, begging for food or change. They are not homeless, but Koranic school students, who beg for food while away from their families pursuing their education. It is meant to teach humility. I write this not to pass judgement on this system, but to explain the reality of the situation. To give you an image of who these boys are.

Today I was walking down the street, and, like any time you walk down the street in Niamey, had a few of these boys ask me for a "cadeau," a gift. I happened to have a half eaten tin of potato chips in my bag, so I took it out to give them. Two hands snatched at the container with the alarming ferocity and desperate speed that can only be born of true hunger. One was faster than the other, grabbed it and started to quickly move away. Two more boys stood by who had been a few feet to far away to even try and grab the precious offering. The other three crowded around the boy with the chips, reaching, grabbing, preparing to fight for it if necessary.

"Ku duka kuna ci," I told them. "You will all eat it." They looked to me for a second, looked to the boy with the chips to make sure he had heard. Calmly, they began to dividing them up. Simple as that.

I couldn't help but think of so many American children, who will never know that hunger (or anything near it), and yet would kick and scream when asked to share a treat. What differing factors make these two reactions possible? Was it generosity, an "African" sense of community in contrast to American individualism that made the difference? Or simple obedience learned in schools and homes that demand it absolutely? I cannot explain it, and must stop trying. The differences are so vast, so numerous, that I cannot translate one culture to the other. I'm beginning to accept what is, without need to explain it all, and without judgement on either end (or at least, decreasing levels of it on both ends).