Barefoot Souls

A short piece about street children.

The sight of young children on the streets, whether I'm near a church or simply walking by, always brings an undeniable pain. At their tender age, they wander and scavenge busy streets and highways, searching for food for themselves and for their younger siblings who wait patiently in their makeshift homes along dump sites. Their bare, calloused feet stumble over dirt, often burning on the hot concrete roads. One might be fortunate enough to own a ruined slipper, sometimes not even a matching pair, unearthed from a huge pile of garbage or snatched from a nearby store. Or perhaps they are lucky to have rugged, tattered clothes, darkened with soil and stains, signs of never having been washed since they first acquired them. Others, however, scavenging through garbage bins, wear nothing but their dark skin, scorched by the midday heat. Two or three of them might fight over a small piece of leftover food, and the bravest one will win the scrap, saving their ever-grumbling stomach for the entire day.

You've likely seen them too, on every street corner, outside churches and cemeteries. Or perhaps you've heard their ceaseless knocks on your door, begging for a spare meal or a bit of leftover. But you simply shooed them away, giving nothing. Or perhaps you easily get irritated by their "Alms, Sir, Ma'am" calls as you recite your lengthy prayers in the chapel. Or you might have slapped their dirty hands that touched you the moment you exited a grocery store or mall. Or perhaps you've sneered at them with insulting remarks, scolding them whenever they approached you while you were eating lunch at a restaurant or a well-known diner. It truly hurts to see you savoring your delicious meal while these hungry children outside stare with mouths agape at your every swallow.

It's a good thing if you possess a kind heart that pities them. You might have dropped a coin or two into their begging hands, and felt relieved by their wide smiles. You might have shared your meal with them or opened your door, inviting them in for supper. Or perhaps you've given a generous amount to various foundations dedicated to their welfare. If only all of us possessed this "kind heart," there would be no more street children enduring such pain and misery. They would have the chance to live normally, to go to school, to live in a safe home with their family and siblings, to live in harmony and free from danger, to protect themselves against warmth and cold, to be nourished, and most of all, the chance to live a truly wonderful life.