Sing for Your Supper

Even though we see this daily, with my limited looking,
this was the best picture I was able to find!
There is a group of boys on the side of the road
way up there.

Often on Saturdays I'm walking home from Men's Fellowship around 7:30 or 8:00pm which is around the start of a normal supper time here. I noticed the other day what had become so commonplace that I don't even pay attention to it any more. About this time you will hear boys walking the streets calling out loudly repetitive words. They're not town criers announcing anything like that the children are all in bed. They are calling out for alms at each gate, hoping that someone will give them a portion of what is being cooked for dinner. These boys are disciples of different religious leaders around town who have agreed to take care of the boys for a period of time either because their parents want them to be formed into good Muslims by memorizing holy texts and experiencing suffering, or simply because their parents can't provide for them right now. You will also see them around town during the day carrying plastic or metal bowls for people to put things in. Some of the calling out is simply loud like a baseball stadium food hawker, but some boys have a melodic call or even like a sing-songy chant that they will do. As darkness has fallen, it can have a little romantic feel walking through my neighborhood hearing the different songs/calls and feeling like I'm walking trough a modified musical version of Oliver Twist. I hear this a less frequently around breakfast time as well, but then it’s much less romantic sounding.

-- El Padre